According to Russian media, current(and not permanent) President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is leaving for that Asian summit in Russian afterall!
Think he'll be welcomed back after his trip? Think the snakes will start to turn on each other? Ahmad is either getting out while he can, or he's even more insanely-stupid than I thought.
Many of the clerics seem to have turned on Ahmadinejad. Is it too late to save their theocracy?
Update:
He has landed in Russia.
Update:
The thugs return to beat up on more protesters. Ahmadi might have left so that it won't be blamed on him if things get especially nasty, but I don't think it will work out as he thinks it will.
Plus, the Guardian Council agrees to a recount. The opposition should reject the offer.
Diary "Der Spiegel: Ahmadinejad Prepares For A Showdown"
According to the German newspaper Der Spiegel, current(but not permanent) President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is preparing for a "showdown" with the protesters in Tehran that could involve importing thousands of members of Hezbollah(Not Hezbollah members from Lebanon). Understandably rattled after the hundreds of thousands(more likely "millions") of people who showed up to an officially-banned rally, in which the uniformed riot-police took off their helmets and made no attempts at breaking it up, Ahmadinejad might realize that he isn't the hero of the people that he so often proclaims himself to be.
Indeed, what hero of the people would bring in 5,000 members of Hezbollah to crack the skulls of the people? If you don't think that's possible, just remember that it was the paramilitaries that shot at the crowd in Tehran, and Mahmoud is their hero for a reason.
There may have been a lot to be hopeful about after the massively-mass rally in Tehran, but trust me; there will be blood. I have constantly called the Iranian-establishment a government of thuggish-fundamentalists, by thuggish-fundamentalists, and for thuggish-fundamentalists. Well, since when do thugs easily give up power? Hezbollah(Iranian and Lebanese) along with the other paramilitaries have a lot to lose if Ahmadinejad falters. They'll have even more to lose if Khamenei loses power, which is distinctly possible.
Cracks are growing larger and larger. There is now a report(which seems legitimate, despite the source) that 16 senior members of the Revolutionary Guard were arrested. The Washington Times cites a foreign news agency that I cannot read, but it seems legit.
According to the Cyrus News Agency, Tuesday morning 16 senior members of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps were arrested. "These commanders have been in contact with members of the Iranian army to join the people's movement," CNA reports. "Three of the commanders are veterans of Iran-Iraq war. They have been moved to an undisclosed location in East Tehran."
Speaking of the opposition , there were seven points distributed amongst the people which have shown up on all the blogs and sites tracking the situation in Iran. Per Nico Pitney of the Huffington Post, the conditions that the protesters seem to be in agreement about;
- Dismissal of Khamenei for not being a fair leader
- Dismissal of Ahmadinejad for his illegal acts
- Temporary appointment of Ayatollah Montazeri as the Supreme Leader
- Recognition of Mousavi as the President
- Forming the Cabinet by Mousavi to prepare for revising the Constitution
- unconditional and immediate release of all political prisoners
- Dissolution of all organs of repression, public or secret.
More protests are planned for Tuesday. The fact that people were shot up, and one even killed by the paramilitaries, is not deterring these brave men and women. Lines are being drawn in the sands of Persia. There is no turning back, and undoubtedly the path is going to be littered by the bodies of patriots and tyrants. Their blood is, as Thomas Jefferson put it, a natural fertilizer for the tree of liberty.
Also, sort-of and sort-of-not unrelated;
Not something I'm surprised about, but Republican Senator Dick Lugar of Indiana gives Obama an "A" for foreign policy. I would add a "+".