Word: hossein
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...wheels coming off the Iranian regime bus? On July 26, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fired the country's Intelligence Minister, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie, a man who customarily reported directly to the Supreme Leader, Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, rather than to the President. The move came a day after Khamenei had forced Ahmadinejad to drop Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie as his candidate for Vice President. But in an act of flagrant defiance of Khamenei, Ahmadinejad appointed Mashaie as his chief of staff. All this suggests that a political brawl is raging within the corridors of power, the likes of which the world...
...taboo. When Rafsanjani referred to detainees, the crowd interrupted by roaring, "Political prisoners must be freed!" Calling for support of Iran's Supreme Leader, who backed the crackdown, another prayer official intoned, "We are all your soldiers, Khamenei! We await your orders!" But supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi shouted back, "We are your soldiers, Mousavi! We await your orders!" And when told to shout "Down with America!" the crowd instead chanted "Down with Russia!" - whose leaders had congratulated President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his re-election and hosted him four days later. (See pictures of people around...
...pictures of Mir-Hossein Mousavi...
...streets, when hundreds of thousands of people called for a do-over of the June 12 presidential election officially won by incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, many Iranians have wondered if Rafsanjani, one of the Islamic Republic's most powerful men and a leading supporter of defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, would mount a challenge to Ahmadinejad's main patron, the Supreme Leader Ayatullah Khamenei...
Iran's ethnic tensions were an issue during the presidential election campaign, not least because two of the key challengers to Ahmadinejad, Mehdi Karroubi (a Lor) and Mir-Hossein Mousavi (an Azeri) are from minority communities. The two campaigned in minority areas to an unprecedented degree, and their strong support at campaign events outside Tehran belies the government claim that opposition demonstrators represent an urban élite out of touch with the pro-Ahmadinejad countryside. But since the election, little has been heard from the provinces, besides reports of clashes in Iranian Kurdistan. The Western press has been restricted...