Caught on tape: Ahmadinejad and clerics conspire to eliminate Iranian democracy?

I’m flying almost completely blind here — not only is the clip in Farsi but I don’t know when it was taken or who he’s addressing — yet trusted Iranian Tweeters have been buzzing about it since this morning. The description at iReport is as follows:

DISCLAIMER:this video was sent to me from Iran which has video proof of ahmadinejad proposing to change the islamic republic system in IRan at the moment to chane it to a dictatorship where people do not have the right to vote. The Voter Fraud of June 12 is a direct result of this proposition. PLEASE RT

PLEASE USE YOUR FARSI TRANSLATORS TO VERIFY THIS.

That’s exactly what Howie at Jawa Report did, enlisting an Iranian dissident to translate. The translator’s reaction at first blush:

This is an extremely important meeting taken place in the holy city of Qom between Ahmadinejad and his mentor Ayatollah Masbah Yazdi and other clerics in which they speak of pure Islamic theocracy and implantation of it into the society more forcefully. I am between 10 different projects, I will send you something between the hours of 11:00 and 1:00.PM. FBI and CIA must get their hands on this video. It appears they want bloodshed in Iran.

And here’s the translator’s summary after watching the whole thing:

Apparently Mesbah Yazdi has spoken and it is Ahmadinejad’s turn to speak.

He thanks the audience with common Arabic courtesies:

Ahmadinejad humbly requests that special attention be paid to what he is to say which is about staring pure Islamic rule, not only in Iran but all over the world. He said we had a set back because we were not doing our Islamic duty to pressure people be more enlightened with Mohammadan Islam.

Islamic rule should not and cannot be limited only to Iran. Our efforts to expand it throughout the world are soon to be materialized with the help from God.

Struggle against corruption is of course enjoyable, but the ultimate joy will be the time when we realize the final heart-desired aim. We are always at work to realize that ultimate objective. I believe that revolution is beginning to find its way and a renewed evolution is taking place in it.

The revolution was hard and, began with difficulty, and the road ahead is even harder and more difficult. But this difficult road is exactly what to be expected.

There is enormous energy which has started within the country and is serving the country and is expanding, but needs guidance and supervision/management.

All the things that we have planned and talked about, is becoming a reality.

This plan needs strong ideological and operational support from you. The best place to start it is right here and in front of you. Who have the foresight, passion, experience and fortitude to ensure that it takes shape and becomes a reality.

I think timing is right, all necessary arrangements have been made. I seek your support and help. I am almost nobody compared to you in this struggle, in this grand movement. This is a blessing and is the beginning of a grand evolution in the world. I think this can become a reality. And building Iran as an example for others to follow and be a witness to on the road to realize the grand Islam.

It is possible to accomplish this, otherwise I would not be here sitting with you. Tehran is ready; the university is working on implementing it. Everything is taken care of in Tehran; we need your endorsement and approval.

It’s impossible to tell if this is Dinnerjacket’s standard nutty boilerplate about the Islamic paradise eventually conquering the world or if he’s talking about a more specific “plan” for hardliners to assert themselves in Iran by rigging the election in his favor. FYI, Mesbah Yazdi is not only Ahmadinejad’s mentor and a notorious fanatic even by Iranian standards, but he’s Rafsanjani’s chief rival on the Assembly of Experts, which has the power to appoint (and remove) the supreme leader. He leads the hardliner wing whereas Rafsanjani leads the, ahem, “pragmatists.” If the other attendees here are also members of the Assembly, this could be Ahmadinejad’s way of asking them to pressure Khamenei into endorsing the sham election results. And yes, it’s unlikely that a meeting to plot about this would be taped and leaked — but given the splits that have formed within the regime since the election, not unthinkable.

Howie has his own post on this with more from the translator, including an ominous observation about how deliberately Ahmadinejad seems to be speaking in code. I realize that aside from Tapper and a few people at Fox virtually no one in big media reads our site, but I’d like to think we have enough of an audience to collectively figure out what’s going on here. Any Farsi speakers/Iran experts willing and able to help? I’m 90% sure this can’t be as significant as it seems, but the 10% chance makes it worth investigating.

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