Friday, December 25, 2009

IRAN'S TWITTER REVOLUTION



Thus, the first warning that the adventurous project to mount a "Twitter revolution" in Iran was doomed to fail had to come from the Israelis
Saudi Arabian media's unprecedented, vicious personal
attack on both Khamenei and President Mahmud Ahmadinejad -
Its principal interlocutor, former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, has vanished from the chessboard
Meir Dagan, head of Israel's Mossad, let it be known that a win by Iranian opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi in the presidential election on June 12 would have spelled "big problems" for Israel.
In an extraordinary media leak
Mousavi is
the one who began Iran's nuclear program when he was prime minister."
Israel signaled to Tehran it had nothing to do with any "color" revolution
there is no scope for a "color" revolution in today's Iran.
Amir Taheri admits:
Mousavi kindled hopes in the West - notably London, Paris and Berlin - and some "pro-West" Arab capitals.
a known factor as foreign minister
prime minister during 1981-89

never that he was a modernist or reforme
Mousavi when he was in power, "developed a wide network of contacts in the US, Europe and the Arab countries".
He recalls that the man who led the lengthy Algiers
talks, which resulted in the release of the American hostages in 1981, Behzad Nabvi, is still assisting Mousavi. So is Abbas Kangarioo who held secret negotiations with the Ronald Reagan administration in what came to be known as the Iran-Contra deal. Kangarioo, a key advisor and friend of Mousavi, also has the distinction of having "developed a network of contacts in intelligence and diplomatic circles in Europe and the US".
his principal appeal at home is confined to the urban middle classes who wish the "Khomeinist revolution would just fade away ... People like Mousavi and former presidents Mohammad Khatami and Hashemi Rafsanjani have long ceased to be regarded as genuine revolutionaries".
a weak interlocutor without a "Khomeinist base" like Mousavi could never make concessions

clipped from: www.atimes.com
Ahmadinejad restored the connectivity of the regime with the radical populist discourse. "Four years ago", Taheri writes, "the image of the regime was one of a clique of mid-ranking mullahs and their business associates running the country as a private company in their own interest
'downtrodden' base saw itself as the victim of a great historic swindle
he hit at many corrupt practices and threatened to bring key figures to justice, but stopped short of landing the big catch. The big question is whether Ahmadinejad will cast his net wide in his second term.
Last week's power-play showed that Khamenei effectively thwarted Rafsanjani's attempt to rally the clerical establishment in Qom.
members of the Assembly of Experts said in a statement that "enemies of Iran" were masterminding the "unrest and riots" over the presidential vote through its "hired elements" Berlin - and some "pro-West" Arab capitals.
a known factor as foreign minister

prime minister during 1981-89

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