giance to democracy, freedom, and progress were harming the reputation of the revolutionary country in the Islamic world [Iran]” and added, “They are competing with the Taliban in calling for violence and in carrying out extremist crimes that are counter to the religion…”
Iranian Leader Khamenei, on his part, is trying to prevent the media from exposing this struggle. In an attempt to calm matters, he took up a position next to Ahmadinejad, praising him and his functioning, requesting that none criticize him, and calling for the support of all the political forces in the government. Khamenei pointed out that Iran is now in a sensitive stage, and called for putting aside political rivalries – and indeed, Khatami’s comments were not subsequently reported in the Iranian press.
In our assessment, however, these measures are not sufficient to prevent the continuation of the internal struggle in the upper echelons of the Iranian regime. Indeed, every day there are new reports reflecting the tip of the iceberg. The reformist paper Sharq reported on November 15 that Majlis members denied that there was any plan to impeach Ahmadinejad, while the Iranian www.roozonline.com reported today, November 16, that “sources close to the Ahmadinejad speak of the existence of a secret group to overthrow the president.”
Amir Taheri, meanwhile, reports on the sutehdelan – the wealthy sophisticates who’ve found themselves sidelined in Ahmadinejad’s brave new Iran:
Since they were booted out of ministerial offices and the boardrooms of public companies, the sutehdelan have been coming together in regular lunch and dinner parties where, we are told, the food is excellent but the mood is fouled by an intense hatred of Ahmadinejad.
In the first lunches and dinners after Ahmadinejad’s victory, the sutehdelan comforted each other by talk of revenge. Hashemi Rafsanjani, the businessman-mullah who had represented the so-called “reformist” camp in last June’s election, had talked of contesting the results and forming a mass party to oppose Ahmadinejad. Another businessman-mullah, Mahdi Karrubi, had promised to set up a television channel to “expose and oppose” Ahmadinejad.
A third mullah, Mohammad Khatami, the outgoing president, had threatened to “appeal to the masses” against the new president.
Now, however, it is clear that, having lost most of their positions of power within the regime, the sutehdelan have no hope of winning any favours from the people. In fact, a good number of Iranians hold them responsible for the tragedies that the nation has suffered since the mullahs seized power in 1979.
Nevertheless, one should not write them off. They still have lots of money and powerful positions, often as representatives of giant Western and Japanese corporations, in Iran. They also have the immense advantages of being able to gather together and even to criticise the system without being murdered – a privilege denied to most other Iranians. But there is one thing the sutehdelan can no longer do: try to deceive everyone by claiming that they want to reform a system that is incapable of reform. The days of a two-faced mullah speaking with a forked tongue may well have come to an end with Ahmadinejad’s coming to power. And that, believe me, is no bad thing.
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