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Iranian opposition figures living abroad have long insisted that the majority of those living in the country were opposed to the Islamic Republic. They've found an unlikely ally in a top aide to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, who made some curious statements to supporters.

According to the hard-line Panjereh weekly, published by the former head of the hard-line Basiji Students Organization, Mashaei said Ahmadinejad received only 4 million votes from his supporters in the June 12 presidential election. In total, Ahmadinejad received about 24 million of the 40 million votes cast in the heavily disputed election. 

"The remaining 20 million [who voted for Ahmadinejad] were in fact critical of the regime and they are more serious than the 13 million" who voted for Mousavi, the weekly quoted Mashaei as saying in its Sunday edition, according to an account on the news website Ayanadenews.com.

"These 13 million voters only questioned the four-year performance of Ahmadinejad," he continued.  "But the 20 million were critical of all the years before Ahmadinejad took office."

His comment suggests that Mashaei believes the vast majority of those who voted for Ahmadinejad rejected the performance of the governm... >>>