FG

A NY Times report has some fascinating items. Apparently the conservatives has suffered several other setbacks as well.

1. Apparently tremendous pressure from major politicians forced the release of Moussavi's top aide, Alireza Hosseini-Beheshti.

2. In what appeared to be a sign of support for Mr. Beheshti from other
veteran figures, Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini, the founder of the 1979 revolution, visited Mr. Beheshti at
his home after his release on Saturday, ILNA reported.

3. A source close to Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a powerful
politician whose family supported Mr. Moussavi’s campaign, on Sunday
corroborated reports that Mr. Rafsanjani threatened to resign his posts
a few weeks ago after Ayatollah Khamenei issued an order for Mr.
Karroubi’s arrest.

It remains unclear why that order was never carried out, but it may
reflect a continuing power struggle between Ayatollah Khamenei and Mr.
Rafsanjani, who is the head of the Council of Experts, which has the
legal power to dismiss the supreme leader.

4. Several Iranian Web sites sympathetic to Mr. Moussavi, including
mowjcamp.com, reported last week that Hussein Nouri Hamedani, the only
senior cleric to have congratulated Mr. Ahmadinejad, had expressed
regret and had said he was “tricked” by Mr. Ahmadinejad’s supporters.

5. Several Iranian Web sites sympathetic to Mr. Moussavi, including
mowjcamp.com, reported last week that Hussein Nouri Hamedani, the only
senior cleric to have congratulated Mr. Ahmadinejad, had expressed
regret and had said he was “tricked” by Mr. Ahmadinejad’s supporters.

Senior clerics in Iran’s holy city of Qum have historically given
religious legitimacy to the government. Mohsen Kadivar, a senior cleric
and a visiting professor at Duke University, who has ties with clerics
in Qum, said that the number of clerics who were withdrawing their
support for the government was increasing.

6. It is possible that the government is delaying Mr. Karroubi’s arrest
until after this Friday, the date of Iran’s annual pro-Palestinian
rally, to avoid further tension. Protesters and opposition leaders,
including Mr. Karroubi, have said that they will use the occasion to
hold antigovernment street protests.

//www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/wo...ef=global-home