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Iranian moderates battle Ahmadinejad
IRANS moderates are intensifying criticism of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, landing their first blows in a bitter political fight ahead of elections next year.The moderate heavyweights Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani have been unusually explicit in their criticism of Ahmadinejads economic policies and his analysis of the threat posed by the United States. Ahmadinejad has shot back using language colourful even by his standards, warning he would expose traitors in the nuclear standoff and accusing critics of being less intelligent than a goat. The sharp rhetoric is the upshot of concerns over the mounting international crisis over the Iranian nuclear programme and a sign of the proximity of legislative elections on March 14. There is exasperation among moderates over Ahmadinejads brushing-off of UN sanctions action as just pieces of paper and his refusal to even countenance the possibility of a US military attack. Political exchanges in Iran are normally marked by the utmost courtesy. But the differences in visions of the countrys future means the tensions between the factions are now abundantly clear. Mohammad Atrianfar, a confidant of Rafsanjani, said the explicit criticism had been triggered by the degree of concern amongst moderates about the state of the country under Ahmadinejad. Rafsanjani is genuinely worried, the leading newspaper editor told AFP. He was one of those who created this (Islamic) system and as he was a leader in the (1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war) he knows what war means and what price people have to pay. Ahmadinejad does not have a true idea about reality. He has no sense of fear. He thinks that if he adopts radical positions his rivals will step back. The attacks are set to multiply ahead of the elections. Posted by: Fred 2007-11-16 |
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