Iran Snapshot: Politics, Propaganda, and Denial Special

UPDATE 1120 GMT: According to Rah-e-Sabz, the President's media advisor, Javanfekr, has asked Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to name Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai as the supervisor of issues with the Islamic Republic News Agency.

UPDATE 0750 GMT: While we're talking propaganda, might as well note this development: in his meeting with staff of the Islamic Republic News Agency on Tuesday, President Ahmadinejad “promoted” IRNA into a sub-organization of the president’s office, increasing its budget and preparing it for “history-making media battle on an international level”.

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Lots of political grandstanding to cope with today. The international media will be occupied with all  the posturing on the eve of resumed nuclear talks in Turkey. Press TV is already giving them the raw material with hard-hitting articles such as "'Iran Won't Negotiate over Nuclear rights'" and "'IAEA Inspections of Iran, Most Robust'".

We already know that script, however, as the Ahmadinejad Government gives itself space to negotiate by showing how tough it is and as the "West" gives itself room with the story-lines that 1) its efforts, and those of Israel, have delayed the date of Iran's nuclear weapons capability and 2) Ahmadinejad is not actually crazy but very practical.

More intriguing today are the domestic showpieces. President Ahmadinejad's office has put out the release for his visit to Yazd Province in central Iran: "[He[ was warmly welcomed by the provincial governor and local officials" before his speech this morning.

And for the in-depth observer of Iranian politics, there is today's contest over the image of key Ahmadinejad aide Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai. His outlets are featuring this image:

For the opponents of Rahim-Mashai within the Iranian establishment, this is a signal that he intends to run for the Presidency in 2013. That is because the photo, they claim, is a deliberate reminder of "Shahid Rajai" (Martyr Rajai). Pictured on the left below is Mohammad Ali Rajai, theIranian President who was killed in 1981 by a bomb.

But there is even more. Khabar Online, the outlet of Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, has been putting out the story that Ahmadinejad's officials have been meeting with former President Hashemi Rafsanjani. If true, this would complicate the narrative that the President and his advisors have been standing firm against their long-time foe Rafsanjani, who challenged the legitimacy of Ahmadinejad's re-election in 2009. 

Yesterday, Khabar Online happily published the outcome of their venture: The Government Information Center explained that Khabar's account was "far from the truth": the encounter was not about political reconciliation but about control of the Central Bank and the case of Rafsanjani's son Mehdi Hashemi, who is wanted in Iran on charges of fraud and electoral manipulation.