15th
About the Recount - An Iranian’s Opinion
From a friend in Ira who emailed me to express his opinion about the recount of the ballots in Iran:
I think Khamenei and his establishment are taken aback by the strength and scale of people’s reaction to the election result. It is pretty amazing that after declaring Ahamdinejad victory a victory for the nation and essentially ordering the other candidates to join in backing him, he has now done a U turn in ordering a recount and/or investigation.
His priority is above all else the survival of the Islamic Republic regime, even if it means losing face and even if it means sidelining Ahmadinejad, although I doubt it’ll come to that. The recount and the investigation could simply a be formality.
This may be a bigger story of Rafsanjani trying to oust Khamenei. He wants to remove the Supreme Leader post in the Islamic Republic and replace it with a Leadership Council. A change in the Constitution.
It also has personal dimensions. Think of every high ranking clergy as the “boss” of a family in the Godfather with bits of their own “interest”.
Goes back to the family feud. Don Corleone died and now the rest are jostling for position.
Strange as it may sound the only cleric candidate Karrubi is the mostreformist of the lot. He’s much more outspoken, his plans for reforms more radical, including women’s rights…
One is for sure: all the above people will argue, fight, defame each other, but ultimately behind closed doors will do what’s need to make sure the Islamic Republic survives. “The Firm” must live.
