Hearing footsteps in Iran?

Chicago Tribune ^ | June 3, 2008 | Editorial

[Schnucki]

Iran's bull rush into the nuclear club is a popular rallying point for Iranian national pride. If there's much of an argument among the mullahs and top officials about the wisdom of continuing in the face of three sets of UN Security Council sanctions, there's not much public evidence of it.

That's why the election last week of former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani to be the speaker of Iran's parliament was surprising. Before resigned after clashing with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Larijani reportedly favored some sort of a nuclear deal to ease Western pressure. He lost that argument—and his job as nuclear negotiator.

Now he's back. We don't want to read too much into his lopsided 232-31 victory. Larijani's only a moderate compared to ultra hard-liners like Ahmadinejad and his backers.

What's clear is that Larijani's rise is a direct rebuke to Ahmadinejad and his abysmal economic policies. Thousands of people across Iran suffered through rolling blackouts last winter, left without heat or electricity. Inflation is high. Jobs have dried up. And all this, even as Iran rakes in billions from oil. Try explaining that to Iranian citizens.

What's less clear is whether Larijani's election presages a change in Iran's defiance of the UN on its nuclear ambitions.

[mkjessup]

I read the election of Larijani a bit differently:

The lopsided vote suggests that the so-called ‘parliament’ is attempting to goad Ahmadinnerjacket into even more radical actions against Israel, the U.S. and the Middle East region in general.

Their message might well be “Mahmoud, if you can’t make it happen with the Mahdi-baiting and the Big & Little Satan-bashing franchise you got going, Larijani will be the wave of the future.”

And you can be sure that the little runt is not going to let his moment pass from his fingers and will not go quietly.