POINT

Thank you Anonymous

Thank you Anonymous Observer...your comments are very much appreciated...  

Ba Arezu-ye Movafaghiat, Sadegh

Sadehgh Jaan - Nice Article

It's always good to see an in depth analysis of issues by a well read person like you as opposed to crime statistics about Jews around the world (cut and pasted from neo-Nazi websites) and videos of gay parades in Israel that are posted on this site by the likes of this "Enki Catena" (formerly known as "Sadai-qesa") character. 

I do have to point out that anti-Semitism among the Iranian regime - at least the right wing of the regime- is much more widespread.  Here's an article about Ahmadnejad's education ministry publishing a book of "cartoons about the Holocaust" and distributing them in the country.   

//www.mehrnews.com/fa/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=755751

I think that all rational human beigns (Enki Catena excepted, of course) can agree that human tragedies like the Holocaust, the genocide in Darfur and the Balkans, or even the opression of Palestinians in the occupied territories are not subjects that should be made fun of in a "book of cartoons".

I agree that Iran's relations with Israel are more complicated than is portrayed.  I also do not belive that Israel will undertake an attack againt Iran because it knows that not only an air or missle strike will not get rid of Iran's nuclear program, but tha it will also accelerate Iran's work toward a nuclear weapons program even if does not have one at this time.  I think that people running the Israeli government are much smarter than Bush, McCain or the Alaskan "lipstick redneck" Sarah Palin.  Some times they say that the threat of doing something is more effective than the act itself, and I belive that this is what is happening here....but we will see.

Persia is Eternal.

Dear Enki thanks very much

Dear Enki thanks very much for your kind comments...  

Ba Arezu-ye Movafaghiat, Sadegh

sadegh-Jan

THANKS for the eloquent and in-depth analysis.

Keep the light ON.

Ahamdinejad is a despicable presidnet but he is spot on about...

Zionism and the Zionists. Zionism and Islamism are two sides of the same coin. Both of these pseudo-religious extremist political movements must be eradicated for peace to visit the Middle East.

Dear Jaleho,  

Dear Jaleho,

1-     Israel was formed by the United Nations, and recognized by most, if not all countries in the world, including the Soviet block prior to 1990, and even Iran prior to 1979. even Arab countries, according to the King Abdullah peace offer, are willing to establish normal ties with Israel if Israel gives back Arab land. Only a fanatic madman like Khomeini or his successor Khamenei are claiming that Israel will and should be “wiped out”. Jordan and Pakistan and Iraq were formed by the U.N too, and in the year 2008, since the world has progressed, the questions of legality of states is not argued, but rather , the legality of governments. Second, yes, they had. Actually in Pakistan’s case, most Hindus were forced out of Pakistan to India and most Muslims were forced out of India to Pakistan. We all agree that Palestinians have been kicked out of their homes, but that argument is made by many ethnic minorities in the world, including the Kurds in Iran. Again, the question is whether Israel has the right to exist.

That monkey’s approach is a call for world war III because he is threatening the existence of a nation recognized by most, if not all the world. Again, the argument here is whether we, or the world, should take an “irrational” approach to the Israeli action, or “rational”? Lets all help Palestinians get their land back, any means, lets lobby in U.N, lets lobby in U.S, lets lobby in Israel, lets send help to Fattah Group, all those are fine with me, but taking it to the next level and calling for the replacement of Israel, is “irrational".

Frankly, I think the problem is we are looking at modern issues with historical lens.

No Jaleho you are wrong

I don't believe in the logic of you or Ahmadinejad. The logic of having votes specially just for the poor "colonized" Palestinians but not for the other people in the world who have been unfairly been disposed of property through historic tragedies just to fool the Arab populace. I won't make a special case just for Israel. If you want to go that route, according to Ahmadi's logic, we have to do it for all disposed people. for Jews like you and your friend Ahmadinejad attempt to do because of your rabid idiotic anti-Semitic views. Again, I gave you the flaws in your (and Ahmadinejad's) logic below with specific historical cases (and it was only a small percentage of the disposessed). I will not repeat them.

If I was not clear for you, I'll clarify so you have no excuses:

By the way- I do believe that the Palestinians deserve their own homeland in the territories currently occupied by the Zionist regime in the West Bank and Gaza. Does this make you happy now?

I gave you the Jordanian examples to show you the Arab state of mind when it comes to "Palestine". It was not an excuse to allow the "zionists" to keep the West Bank and Gaza. They were almost all quotes from Arab leaders not Zionists who take advantage of such foolish statements.

Try again.

Zion Fred or Mehdi-Mazloom can speak for themselves. I don't need their help. I promise to you that I am not them and it really does not matter because you are "Jaleho" anyway. Nice try.

LorIrooni, I mean

Zion or Fred or Mehdi-Mazloom, you said :

"By the way- I do believe that the Palestinians deserve their own homeland."

And, you made it abundantly clear with the entire MASSIVE BS preceeding that statement what you mean by that homeland: JORDAN!!

That is, you repeat the dirtiest of the Zionist agenda that everthing to the west of the Jordan river must be annexed by Israel in addition to the land that they have alreay stolen!!

After all, you repeat the logic of people who claim that West Bank's real name is "Judea and Samaria," its Jewsih biblical name, and God have given it to Jews few thousands years ago, forget about the natives living there for 13 consecutive centuries. Yahveh said so.

Besides, you "proved" that Palestinians never had a home land and now they ALREADY have one, JORDAN!

Thanks for your generosity buddy! BUT...

Dream on, it won't work! History goes forward by the force of REAL HISTORICAL EVENTS, not your make believe ones. In the ensuing events, you'll find out that not only you can not steal more, you have to cough up good chunk of stolen lands to. Hopefully, the reverse process won't be as bloody as the other way around.

Jaleho Logic 2nd Edition

I forgot to mention the Russians and what they did to Chechnya (MUSLIMS JALEHO_ TO MUSLIMS) and Georgia. Great "logical" politics.

Jaleho Logic

Since the USA, Canada, Australia are colonized by whites who are not natives to the land, lets allow the Natives to vote on what to do and what kind of government they want now since they were forcefully removed out of their habitats.

Same thing for China who is colonizing Tibet and Mongolia.

Oh- But the problem is that there was never an entity/nation state called "Palestine" in world history. There were never entities called Iraq, Jordan Saudi Arbia, Oman, UAE.......

Would Jaleho still complain if all this territory was still in the hands of the Ottoman Turks? Oh, and were would "Palestine" or "Palestinians" be with the Ottoman's in Charge? Same place were the Syrians, Jordanians, Lebanees, Saudis, Iraquis, Kuwaitis....... be?

Oh but wait, The majority of Arabs in Jordan are Palestinian (about 60%) and Jordan was set up by a colonial entity called Great Britan where the minority controls the majority why not also let them vote?

Why should there only be an exception for the Palestinians in the West bank of the river? In the east bank (called Jordan) native people of the land have been forced by a colonial foreign group to call the country Jordan.

Oh wait! Syria is ruled by a tiny minority of Arabs called Alawite.

And what is the justice of just limiting free election to only where "the native people of the land have been expelled by force to make place for a colonial foreign group to come and occupy their homes"?

Why not all places were a minority rules over a majority Simultaneously as its happening in Palestine? Lets have free elections every where and let the people decide- Including in Iran- Since the IRI is made up of a group of people who follow the rulings of colonizers of Iranian lands. These colonizers were Arabs and invaded Iran 1400 years ago.

Where does it stop Jaleho? Why only Israel since you and Ahmadinejad are so much for "Justice" and "Fairness"? There are plenty more places in the World than the Palestinians where we would need "elections" The Plaestinians never had a formally recognized nationality in the history of the world until this century, never had a government (until the Israelis allowed them to setup a quasi government), never had an army, never had a distinct language and were not considered distinct by the Ottomans and never controlled any piece of territory in an official capacity now deserve to vote because of "colonialism"?

By the way, below are some quotes by Jordianians and others regarding Jordan:

If Jordan's majority population is Palestinian, why are we trying to give them a second homeland?

* Concerning Palestine East Of The River Jordan

On August 23,1959, the Prime Minister of Jordan stated, "We are the Government of Palestine, the army of Palestine and the refugees of Palestine."

Each day brings me closer to the realization that Palestine, as it wants to exist within the boundary of Israel, and impose this view on the world community, is a farce... an imaginative place with imaginative people. History proves over and over again that JORDAN IS INDEED PALESTINE.

Here are several quotes from "officials" in the so-called Palestinian community. LET THEM SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES!!!!
* "Palestine and Transjordan are one, for Palestine is the coastline and Transjordan the hinterland of the same country."

- King Abdullah, at the Meeting of the Arab League, Cairo, 12th April 1948

* "Let us not forget the East Bank of the (River) Jordan, where seventy per cent of the inhabitants belong to the Palestinian nation."

- George Habash, leader of the PFLP section of the PLO, writing in the PLO publication Sha-un Falastinia, February 1970

* "Palestine is Jordan and Jordan is Palestine; there is one people and one land, with one history and one and the same fate."

- Prince Hassan, brother of King Hussein, addressing the Jordanian National Assembly, 2nd February 1970

* "There is no family on the East Bank of the river (Jordan) that does not have relatives on the West Bank ... no family in the west that does not have branches in the east."

- King Hussein, addressing the Jordanian National Assembly, 2nd February 1972

* "We consider it necessary to clarify to one and all, in the Arab world and outside, that the PALESTINIAN PEOPLE with its nobility and conscience is to be found HERE on the EAST Bank (of the Jordan River), The WEST Bank and the Gaza Strip. Its overwhelming majority is HERE and nowhere else."

- King Hussein, quoted in An-Hahar, Beirut, 24th August 1972

* "The Palestinians here constitute not less than one half of the members of the armed forces. They and their brothers, the sons of Transjordan, constitute the members of one family who are equal in everything, in rights and duties." (Quoted by BBC Monitoring Service)

- King Hussein, on Amman Radio, 3rd February 1973

* "There are, as well, links of geography and history, and a wide range of interests between the two Banks (of the River Jordan) which have grown stronger over the past twenty years. Let us not forget that el-Salt and Nablus were within the same district - el-Balka - during the Ottoman period, and that family and commercial ties bound the two cities together."

- Hamdi Ken'an, former Mayor of Nablus, writing in the newspaper Al-Quds, 14th March 1973

* "The new Jordan, which emerged in 1949, was the creation of the Palestinians of the West Bank and their brothers in the East. While Israel was the negation of the Palestinian right of self-determination, unified Jordan was the expression of it."

- Sherif Al-Hamid Sharaf, Representative of Jordan at the UN Security Council, 11th June 1973

* Past "President Bourguiba (of Tunisia) considers Jordan an artificial creation presented by Great Britain to King Abdullah. But he accepts Palestine and the Palestinians as an existing and primary fact since the days of the Pharaohs. Israel, too, he considers as a primary entity. However, Arab history makes no distinction between Jordanians, Syrians and Palestinians. Most of them hail from the same Arab race, which arrived in the region with the Arab Moslem conquest."

- Editorial Comment in the Jordanian Armed Forces' weekly, Al-Aqsa, Amman, 11th July 1973

* "With all respect to King Hussein, I suggest that the Emirate of Transjordan was created from oil cloth by Great Britain, which for this purpose cut up ancient Palestine. To this desert territory to the bast of the Jordan (River)., it gave the name Transjordan. But there is nothing in history which carries this name. While since our earliest time there was Palestine and Palestinians. I maintain that the matter of Transjordan is an artificial one, and that Palestine is the basic problem. King Hussein should submit to the wishes of the people, in accordance with the principles of democracy and self-determination, so as-to avoid the fate of his grandfather, Abdullah, or of his cousin, Feisal, both of whom were assassinated."

- Past President Bourguiba of Tunisia, in a public statement, July 1973

* "The Palestinians and the Jordanians have created on this soil since 1948 one family - all of whose children have equal rights and obligations."

- King Hussein, addressing an American Delegation, 19th February 1975

* "How much better off Hussein would be if he had been induced to abandon his pose as a benevolent 'host' to 'refugees' and to affirm the fact that Jordan is the Palestinian Arab nation-state, just as Israel is the Palestinian Jewish nation-state."

- Editorial Comment in the publication The Economist of 19th July 1975

* "Palestine and Jordan were both (by then) under British Mandate, but as my grandfather pointed out in his memoirs, they were hardly separate countries. Transjordan being to the east of the River Jordan, it formed in a sense, the interior of Palestine."

- King Hussein, writing in his Memoirs

* "...those fishing in troubled waters will not succeed in dividing our people, which extends to both sides of the (River) Jordan, in spite of the artificial boundaries established by the Colonial Office and Winston Churchill half a century ago."

- Yassir Arafat, in a statement to Eric Roleau

* "Palestinian Arabs hold seventy-five per cent of all government jobs in Jordan."

- The Sunday newspaper The Observer of 2nd March 1976

* "Palestinian Arabs control over seventy per cent of Jordan's economy."

- The Egyptian newspaper Al Ahram of 5th March 1976

* "There should be a kind of linkage because Jordanians and Palestinians are considered by the PLO as one people."

- Farouk Kadoumi, head of the PLO Political Department, quoted in Newsweek, 14th March 1977

* "Along these lines, the West German Der Spiegel magazine this month cited Dr George Habash, leader of one of the Palestinian organizations, as saying that 70 per cent of Jordan's population are Palestinians and that the power in Jordan should be seized." (Translated by BBC Monitoring Service)

- From a commentary which was broadcast by Radio Amman, 30th June 1980

* "Jordan is not just another Arab state with regard to Palestine but, rather, Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan in terms of territory, national identity, sufferings, hopes and aspirations, both day and night. Though we are all Arabs and our point of departure is that we are all members of the same people, the Palestinian-Jordanian nation is one and unique, and different from those of the other Arab states."

- Marwan al Hamoud, member of the Jordanian National Consultative Council and former Minister of Agriculture, quoted by Al Rai, Amman, 24th September 1980

* "The potential weak spot in Jordan is that most of the population are not, strictly speaking, Jordanian at all, but Palestinian. An estimated 60 per cent of the country's 2,500,000 people are Palestinians ... Most of these hold Jordanian passports, and many are integrated into Jordanian society."

- Richard Owen, in an article published in The Times, 14th November 1980

* "There is no moral justification for a second Palestine

By the way- I do believe that the Palestinians deserve their own homeland. I just don't believe the BS of Ahmadinejad and his supporters.

Jaleho...sorry...it was a

Jaleho...sorry...it was a spelling mistake...happens sometimes when rapidly typing...

Ba Arezu-ye Movafaghiat, Sadegh

Sadegh and Kashani

Sadegh, frankly I thought you'd be above the low-level games of the average Iranian.com contributor who makes pathetic jokes with "Jaleh" and "jahel". I still enjoy majority of your writings though.

Mr. Kashani,  you said:

"And as far as Israel, lets agree on this, are you willing to “wipe out”
Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, all gulf states, Pakistan, from the map
also? Because their establishment was in the same fashion as Israel."

First of all, I did not say that "I" am willing to wipe out Israel from the map, I said that the Zionist regime as one of the last outposts of apartheid and colonialism is bound to death by history's mandate.

Second,  In none of the other countries you mentioned, the native people of the land have been expelled by force to make  place for a colonial foreign group to come and occupy their homes. Do I like the lackey governments of Jordan or Pakistan? Not at all. You'll see me smile when the NATIVES of those countries kick out the western pimps just like Iran did with Shah.

you said:

"2- If we wanna blame Israel for “not adhering to U.N resolutions” and
if we have to set that as an standard (which we should), then, almost
all countries in the world, including Iran, have to be “wiped out the
map” for the same reason. Iran is clearly not adhering to U.N
resolutions regarding its nuclear energy issue."

I never said such things. I do believe that the UNSC has turned into a political tool of the US. I just argued with Sadegh that EVEN if we want to ignore some UN resolutions from 1848 to 1967, and ASSUMING that 242 is an international consensus as he suggests, still it does not offer a solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the reasons I stated. Thus Ahmadinejad's fresh approach is a much smarter solution since it addresses the core of the problem.

you siad:

"3- The dream of 1- keeping the mullah regime in power 2- Destroying
Israel and the U.S 3- Establishment of Islamic – leftist government in
Iran, which only a tiny minority of Iranians have it, is exactly what
it is, a DREAM."

This is a statement that can not be proved or disproved. I gave my opinion on who is really dreaming and you gave yours. The event of the past 30 years CONSISTANTLY have supported my postualte, not yours.

Jaleho, 1- The clergy is

Jaleho, 1- The clergy is not “anti colonial”, is “xenophobic”. They have showed a zillion times that their issue is not with colonialism, but the fact that those colonials are not “Muslims”. The same clergy defends “the colonization of Iran by the Arabs”, they defend the “colonization of Egypt by the Arabs”, they defend the “colonization of Sham by the Arabs”, but they have an issue with European colonialism! Maybe you didn’t know, but colonialism existed far before the European colonization. Iran colonized countries too. We are guilty of that too. Furthermore, someone can claim to be “anti colonial” who values human rights and dignity of its people, how on earth can a regime that massacres his people and takes away all their rights, can speak in defense of people under colonialism? They certainly have no credibility and they know it too. And as far as Israel, lets agree on this, are you willing to “wipe out” Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, all gulf states, Pakistan, from the map also? Because their establishment was in the same fashion as Israel. None of them were countries before WWII, they were people yes, but not countries. Israel’s problem is not with its establishment, but rather, what it did after that.

2- If we wanna blame Israel for “not adhering to U.N resolutions” and if we have to set that as an standard (which we should), then, almost all countries in the world, including Iran, have to be “wiped out the map” for the same reason. Iran is clearly not adhering to U.N resolutions regarding its nuclear energy issue.

 3- The dream of 1- keeping the mullah regime in power 2- Destroying Israel and the U.S 3- Establishment of Islamic – leftist government in Iran, which only a tiny minority of Iranians have it, is exactly what it is, a DREAM. You cannot stop the movement of the Iranian people to remove the regime and establish good relations with the world.

You're too kind

You're too kind IranDokht...thanks again...It is from an antiwar stance...it's point is not apologetics, despite some of the usual accusations here, but to debunk the case for war against Iran...  

Ba Arezu-ye Movafaghiat, Sadegh

Jaleho...thanks for you

Jaleho...thanks for you comments...very much appreciated...

Anonymous Irooni, did you read the essay? I have said quite clearly that Ahmadinejad's comments often blur the distinction between an attack on Zionism and anti-Semitism...This is unfortunate and ignorant...

It should be said that the Shah thought pretty much the same thing. Rather hypocritically Shimon Peres boasts of playing to the Shah's feeling that "the Jews" control world financial institutions and the media, so that he could use it against the Shah for political leverage even though there was in actual fact no truth to it (and he obviously had no power to quell the negative press the Shah was receiving around the world for human rights violations). Now he denounces Ahmadinejad for saying the same thing. Both are inexcusable and ought to be condemned as totally ignorant. 

The power of the Israeli lobby AIPAC is very real, but it requires a far more sophiscated analysis to understand how AIPAC's power is deployed, and of course AIPAC is not just made up of Jews, but people of all walks of life and backgrounds...Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer's understanding is one of the best around...

//www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/mear01_.html 

Ba Arezu-ye Movafaghiat, Sadegh

What a great article Sadegh jan

You're absolutely right on your anti-war stance and I hope there is no military attacks based on just some verbal comments and disagreements.

The leaders of the countries in the region (and the ones involved from the west) should be more careful in choosing their words, finding peaceful ways of communicating with each other and also in protecting the people's lives.   

Thanks for another well written piece.

IRANdokht

PS: I feel smarter just by reading this! ;-)

Sadegh, few points:

1. I believe you underestimate the role of political Islam, Shia Islam in particular, which stems from its fundamental PROGRESSIVE anti-colonial element. You are correct that the rhetoric of some clergy against Israel is "occupation of Ghods Sharif" and similar language, but their REAL strength comes from  opposition to the colonial nature of the Israeli state.

As far as Iranian revolutionary dynamics is concerned, Iran's anti-Israel stance is the continuation of the same anti-colonial and anti-despotic struggle that has unified Iranian merchant class, intelligentsia, and clergy for over a hundred years. From Tobacco rebellion of late 19th century and Constitutional Revolution to fights against Capitulation, ghiam Khordad and the Islamic Revolution of 1979, all have this progressive anti-estebdad and anti-esteemar essence while all had the Shia religion language to unify the masses.

The anti-Israel stance of Iran stems precisely from that essential opposition to colonialism. Since Israel is installed as a colonial base among the oil producing countries of the Middle East, it has come directly in the path of Iran's regional aspirations. Therefore, just like the Tobacco rebellion or Constitutional Revolution and the Islamic Revolution had "clerical intonation," but they were essentially anti-colonial, Iran's stance against Israel is the continuation of the same, and it is purely for Iran's interest. Iran would not be as much interested in anti-colonial fights in Africa since it is not in its region of interest, although it tries to represent an Islamic moral foreign policy to attract the disenfranchised masses regardless of the geography.

2. You say: "Though I personally disagree with his proposal because it diverges from the international consensus enshrined in United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, it is worthy of quotation. The Iranian president has argued on numerous occasions that "We believe that all the people who live there, the Jews, Muslims, and Christians, should take part in a free referendum and choose their government."

First of all, there are myriad of other UN Resolutions prior to the last illegal annexation of land by Israel , but assuming that your pick of 242 really has an international consensus, what has it done since 1967?  Has Israel even accepted that resolution which calls it to get out of the territory obtained by war and keeping the generous terms that western powers granted Israelis from other people's land?? NO! They kept on expanding the settlements and annexing more of the stolen land! They would continue to do so as far as they have the power to do so. Israel's short history has proven that fact even to the blind!

And, that's precisely Ahmadinejad's point! It is this fundamental nature of the colonial occupation that no amount of negotiation will solve as at most it will give a hegemonic terms for a peace, and an unjust peace would not last. Thus goes his solution which BTW he nicely explained in Larry King's interview last night.

3. This entire war propaganda against Iran will remain a dream of the the US neo-cons and the Zionists and few regulars of the Iranian.com. Iranians have been extremely smart to understand the fact that Zionism is a bound-to-death historical aberration, belonging to the colonial 19th and  at most 20th century, and just like all the other colonial and apartheid projects it will undo itself. And, historically speaking SOON!

Israel has been kept afloat by the political, economic and military power of the United State, and that's fading. Soon, the US has to dump the Israeli extra expensive project where it belongs, down the historical toilet, else, the US itself will continue to go down with Israel. AIPAC has been able to convince the US that American-Israeli interest coincide, and they did up to the fall of the Soviet Union. Past that, Israel has proven to be a monumental burden to the US. The wars that used to benefit both America and Israel now only benefits the Israelis at the expense of American blood and money. It won't last.

The breakdown of American economy has to do with this as I explained in my recent blog, and it has to end. US is FORCED to dump its Israeli-used condom way before attempting a war with Iran!!

//iranian.com/main/blog/jaleho/near-trill...

Practicing one's own advice

To take a page from an Islamist who once said: “it is intransitive and not transitive”. The transitive missed punch-line was, Is the bar being lowered to allow Islamist prez to pass as a mythical Islamist centrist or even a left-winger? Is the Islamist republic so unique that it takes one to know one? Hence the diffrent hues of darkness.

Sadegh, How are you going to defend this new one?

This is from Ahmadinejad's speech at the UN yesterday:

"The dignity, integrity and rights of the American and European people are being played with by a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists. Although they are a miniscule minority, they have been dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers as well as the political decision-making centers of some European countries and the US in a deceitful, complex and furtive manner."

Sadegh, is this a proper statement that a world leader should makes at a UN speech? Yes or No? & Why?

For the Germans in the 1930's it was the "jews" who controlled the financial systems of the world. Now for the Islamists "Jew" has been replaced with "zionists".

Is AIPAC also active in Europe? I did not know that.

Don't you think the statements above are anti-Semitic? Yes or NO Sadegh? and Why?

The point is that you are trying to make excuses and defenses for people with statements that simply can not be defended. These statements are made on purpose as a negotiating tool. I think, however, that this anti-Semitic policy and tactic of the IRI regime will backfire at the end. Just my 2 cents.

Read more carefully

"It must be said, however, that Ahmadinejad has slightly fudged the issue to quell the tide of vitriol emanating from the right-wing establishment of which he is an integral part."

Ba Arezu-ye Movafaghiat, Sadegh

The different hues of darkness

You say: “Though Mashaei's comments predictably sparked the ire of the rightwing establishment (and have since been in part rebutted by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at last week's Friday Prayers, which remains problematic), President Ahmadinejad at a news conference in Tehran has gone on record as saying : "Mashaei's position represents that of the government".

Aside from Ahmadinejad’s defense of Moshai being prior to Khamenei’s speech in which he “not in part” rather point blank and in its entirety condemned the lovey-dovey talk, and Mashai’s subsequent public recantation, there is an interesting logic to your analysis.

 If as stated “the ire of the rightwing establishment” has been sparked by Mr. Moshai, logic dictates that he and his defender do not belong to this “rightwing establishment “. Is the bar being lowered to allow Islamist prez to pass as a mythical Islamist centrist or even a left-winger? Is the Islamist republic so unique that it takes one to know one?