If Ahmadinejad got everything he ever wanted in terms of uranium, there’d still be thousands of people who haven’t been paid in months, high double-digit unemployment, serious economic and infrastructure problems that seem to be off the radar for him. He could stand at a podium and announce his triumph, but people would still be hungry.

I agree for two reasons. One, her info, esp. on Raf. and family, has been good. Two, read Pg. 27 from this 2-year old Sadjadpour piece. I read this, oh, 2 months ago, and it’s stuck with me.

If they agree to the deal and send out almost all of the uranium that they’d produced it would hurt the anti-imperialist nationalist image they have developed out of the existence of the very nuclear program that enriched that uranium.

That in itself might not be so terrible and may lead to major diplomatic progress but what if at some future point there is a snag in the diplomatic process and relations with the west grow strained again? What if the deal is broken off and there are no returns on the uranium (it wouldn’t be the first time)? That would spell political disaster for the portion of the political establishment that green-lighted the deal (and it seems that would go all the way up to the supreme leader on this kind of decision) and could therefore be used to force further political concessions.

I suspect that this is the reasoning employed by decision-makers in Tehran leading to their weariness of accepting the nuclear deal and not just simply pride.

Anyway, hopefully diplomatic progress can be made in spite of this.

Ahmadinejad’s talk of national sovereign rights is irrelevant. A good leader should be willing to comply with regulations, even if they’re crazy and based on prejudice, to get sanctions lifted for his people to prosper. He should be willing to say, “You guys are making a huge mistake. We’re peaceful, I’m peaceful, I would never make a weapon with this. But SINCE YOU SUSPECT US UNFAIRLY, here you go, here’s all the uranium, just take it. Lift the sanctions so my people can thrive.” You know you’re a dictator when you put pride before your people’s welfare.

Thank you for the additional info.

S.

Who better to lead a counter-coup with disgruntled IRGC members than a popular war hero and technically competent political leader?

You may be right.

BUT – remember Stalin’s famous quip “The Pope? How many Divisions does he have?”

That piece of past history is relevant here – in regards to any possible moves to eject the “Supreme Leader”.

“Supreme Leader – doesn’t that have a marvelous ring about it? I used to think that it might be nice to be a President, or a King – or better yet, an Emperor. But “Supreme Leader” does have that ring to it – it’s so descriptive.

Barry

I believe there is fire behind Oxford’s smoke….

S.

Kudos to PBS for a job well done. Very good, if gut-wrenching, to watch.

I was wondering when Hashemi would resurface. Question with the one quote you use. Many will assume he’s warning against radicalizing the opposition. That’s probably what he meant, but could it ALSO be a roundabout reference to Hojjatieh bunch (whom Raf hates) too?

Finally, to be taken with a grain of salt, but an interesting tweet from oxfordgirl.