Word: iran
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...Egypt, which receives an annual $1.3 billion in U.S. military aid, the equivalent of Iran's election drama hasn't unfolded yet. Parliamentary elections are still several months away, and presidential elections aren't slated until next year. But there are signs of an imminent crackdown on opposition groups. U.S. silence on the issue suggests that Cairo may be able to avoid the international spotlight in a way that Tehran did not. (See the line of political succession in Egypt...
...Ahmadinejad's government. But that muffled noise is all that can be mustered nowadays. Speaking via official media, Rafsanjani may be signaling, louder than he has since the crisis began, that the time for squabbling should come to an end with some kind of compromise so that a united Iran can resolve its many other serious challenges. Whether his hard-line rivals in the regime will actually listen to him is another question...
...main guiding force behind the scenes for those in the regime who are opposed to the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, and President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But on Tuesday, Rafsanjani, looking fatigued and thinner than in recent months, made a rare semi-public speech, covered in part by Iran's official television news. Ostensibly, he called for harmony and promoted unity - notions that probably do not sit well with the activist elements of the protest movement that has shaken Iran since the controversial re-election of Ahmadinejad last June. But Rafsanjani also pointed out the divisions within the society...
...richest men in the country and one of the Islamic Republic's most powerful players since its inception 31 years ago. He and his family vocally opposed the re-election of Ahmadinejad. His daughter Faezeh has spent time in jail; his son Mehdi, who is currently outside of Iran, will potentially be subject to arrest if he returns. Rafsanjani, who was President of Iran for two terms ending in 1997, lost to Ahmadinejad in the 2005 presidential race. In the months since the street protests blossomed, there has been wide speculation of private spats between Rafsanjani and Khamenei...
...speech before the Assembly, therefore, shores up Rafsanjani's position as a patriot and revolutionary at a critical time. Iran sees new threats from the West, both economically and militarily. In his address, Rafsanjani referred to America's "unprecedented presence in the region" and how it was meant "to exert pressure on the Islamic Republic," citing U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's accusation that Iran was turning into a "military dictatorship" as part of some Washington plan of intimidation. In that context, Rafsanjani's words made it clear that he (and, by extension, those he sympathizes with) believes...