Word: atrianfar
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...letter decrying his policies, which have frozen investment and precipitated a 26% drop in the value of the Tehran stock market. In January some of the President's former allies formed a faction to oppose him. "The Parliament today is at the point of explosion," says Mohammed Atrianfar, a Rafsanjani adviser. "The volume of criticism emanating out is unprecedented in the last century of Iranian politics...
...Imam, the last in a line of descendants of the Prophet Muhammad, who Shi'ites believe will return at the end of the world to bring absolute justice to mankind. "Not only does he not talk about the sort of things a President is supposed to talk about," says Atrianfar, "but he talks about religious beliefs, a subject for which he is wholly unfit. This is not appreciated...
...little over two years left in his term. Impeachment proceedings require approval of the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, who has yet to repudiate Ahmadinejad. "If Parliament senses for a second that Khamenei has withdrawn his support, the government will fall," says Atrianfar. A politician close to Rafsanjani tells Time, "Most of the decision makers and the élite are against him. If he becomes less popular, even the Supreme Leader will withdraw his support...
...Within minutes of the phone call, Atrianfar's mobile began to ring incessantly. Busy with a television crew clearing out of his office, he handed it to me to answer, but asked me not to confirm the closure yet. I recognized the voice of the first caller, a distraught reformist and former official who was clearly careening down a highway. "Can we tell Saeed Laylaz?" I asked Atrianfar. He nodded. Laylaz is a contributor to Shargh and a member of the reformist inner clique, who is always the first to hear about everything. At such moments, reformists give up their...
...Mohammad Quchani, the newspaper's renowned columnist, edged his way into the room, and asked Atrianfar whether he thought the closure might be temporary. They argued briefly over the most appropriate metaphor for the situation. Was banning a newspaper more like a car breaking down on the road, or a plane shutting off mid-flight? Was this going to be a crash or a stall? As they discussed, I sat thinking about how much I would miss Shargh, with its ironic headlines, perfectly pitched gibes at the government, and relentless reporting on Iran's social ills. Who else is going...