Saturday
Oct162010
Iran Snapshot: The Regime Show Moves to Qom
There is still post-game cheerleading for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's trip to Lebanon. Press TV headlines the joint statement of the Shi'a parties Hezbollah and Amal expressing gratitude to the President for his assurances of support for the Lebanese people and adds the praise of Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati at Tehran Prayers (while ignoring Jannati's sharp criticism of Ahmadinejad over impending subsidy cuts). IRNA hands over a chunk of space to Ahmadinejad's media spokesman to declare, "A New Chapter in Relations Between Iran and Lebanon Has Been Opened".
But make no mistake: the lights are going out on this show. And it is only the prelude to a much bigger, much more important one.