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Ahmadinejad was reelected as the president of Iran last June against a background of an unusually open, divisive and acrimonious election campaign.

The vote was followed by unprecedented levels of street protests and growing international pressure and isolation led by the US, despite the stated intentions of Barack Obama, the US president.

But now, several months on, Ahmadinejad's government appears to have emerged stronger and more self-confident than it was before the contentious elections.

Withering opposition

Not only did he maintain his position on some of the most controversial foreign policy issues, he also made a direct challenge to the power of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was the second most powerful man in the country after Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader.

This included the arrest of Rafsanjani's family members, and his subsequent falling in line behind the regime in the face of mass protests.

In the process, Ahmadinejad also continued to elevate the position of the Revolutionary Guards at the expense of the old guards of the revolution, led by the likes of the late Ayatollah Montazeri.

The government and security forces have managed to suppress any serious challenge to the government and what looked like an increasingly popular movement has withered away as a result of a brutal crackdown and political gamesmanship.

This has been greatly assisted by foreign plots against the regime, which made ... >>>