3/5/12- The major rift in Iranian politics between supporters of President Ahmadinejad and those who back the Supreme Leader Khamenei appears to have been resolved in favor of the Supreme Leader.
If the results from last week's parliamentary elections are any indication, Khamenei's supporters are unquestionably in the ascendancy. This is certainly troubling news for those who are fed up with the corruption of the clerical class in Iranian society, for it seems that the conservative clergy, ever vigilant in defense of self-interest have brought their power to bear on Ahmadinejad.
How, the reader may ask, did Ahmadinejad run afoul of so many in the clerical establishment? He messed with their money, to put it bluntly. Ahmadinejad, after being elected in 2005 adopted an uncompromising stance against the corruption and outright thievery of certain elements of the clergy. For example, he ended the clergy's flouting of import duties for certain foreign goods, and rendered impossible the registration of stolen cars imported from abroad. Needless to say these measures infuriated those clergymen with parasitic tendencies.
What is more, Ahmadinejad displayed a fiercely independent drive that put him at odds with the Supreme Leader on matters of policy, such as Ahmadinejad's support for the attendance of women at sporting events, his dismissal of Mottaki as foreign minister, his dismissal of Moslehi as Intelligence minister, his mild criticism of Syria's tactics, and his emphasis on Iranian nationalism and national identity.
And now it appears as if the Supreme Leader's camp has succeeded in using the economic uncertainty felt by many Iranians to derail Ahmadinejad's presidency in its final year.
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