Breaking: Ahmedinejad Gets His Ass Kicked
Ahmadinejad rival chosen as Tehran mayor
By NASSER KARIMI Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press
TEHRAN, Iran — The moderate-leaning mayor of Iran’s capital was re-elected Wednesday in a city council vote that signaled waning support for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who campaigned hard against the choice.
Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf is considered a likely rival to Ahmadinejad in the 2009 presidential election. The mayor is a conservative who backs the Islamic government, but also a pragmatist who has stressed efficiency over hard-line ideology in running Tehran.
Qalibaf’s rise is the result of the conservatives’ increasing discontent with the hard-line president. Since Ahmadinejad’s 2005 election victory, many conservatives have accused him of failing to tackle Iran’s economic problems and needlessly exacerbating conflicts with the West with his fiery rhetoric.
“This is an important event. It shows that conservatives are distancing themselves from radicals headed by Ahmadinejad,” said Saeed Laylaz, a political analyst and columnist in independent papers.
Tehran city council members were under tremendous pressure from the government not to vote for Qalibaf. Mohsen Mirdamadi, the leader of Iran’s largest reformist party, said Ahmadinejad’s allies pushed council members to elect any other candidate — even a more liberal one — rather than Qalibaf.
But in Wednesday’s vote, Qalibaf won with the backing of eight of the council’s 15 members.
Ahmadinejad was Qalibaf’s predecessor as Tehran mayor and used the high-profile post as a stepping stone to win the presidential election — and he clearly worries Qalibaf could follow that path.
Qalibaf’s efforts to modernize Tehran’s administration have appealed to Iranians seeking greater efficiency in the city. He has completed construction of expressways and tunnels, improved the subway and expanded green areas and public parks. And he has pushed construction of a movie theater complex even though hard-liners frown on cinema.
Although he supports Iran’s clerical leadership, Qalibaf has not pushed an agenda of Islamic rules. Female staffers at the Tehran municipality, for example, have not been forced to wear the chador, a head-to-toe robe that is the most conservative of Islamic dress.
“Qalibaf’s record as Tehran mayor indicates his skill in strategic management, something that has rarely been applied in the capital,” said Mohammad Khoshchehreh, a conservative lawmaker who campaigned for Ahmadinejad in 2005 but later became a vocal critic.
Qalibaf, 46, ran in the last presidential election but did not make it to the runoff. However, he could be Ahmadinejad’s strongest opponent in the election expected in June 2009. Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of the country’s most powerful politicians, lost in 2005 and the 72-year-old likely won’t run again because of his age.
For years, Iran’s political scene has been divided between two camps. On one side were reformists who support better ties with the West and have sought to dismantle Iran’s strict Islamic restrictions, including dress codes for women and segregation of the sexes.
On the other side were hard-liners — backed by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei — who are pushing for a toughening of the restrictions and sharply oppose relations with the West.
Ahmadinejad’s election solidified the hard-liners’ hold on power. But during his time in office, tensions have mounted dramatically with Washington — stirring fears here of U.S. military action — and the United Nations has imposed sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.
At the same time, the economy has worsened, with prices spiraling. Hard-liners have used the confrontation with the West as a pretext to crack down on opponents and launch morality campaigns, such as one last month in which women were arrested for not meeting Islamic dress codes.
Discontent with Ahmadinejad has brought the emergence of “moderate conservatives” who don’t support the reformists’ agenda but oppose the hard-liners’ approach. In December, moderate conservatives dealt Ahmadinejad’s more radical allies an embarrassing defeat in local elections, gaining majorities in city councils across the country.
Qalibaf has become one of the most prominent figure in the faction.
As head of Iran’s national police before becoming mayor in 2005, he won praise for dealing peacefully with pro-democracy student protests. Unlike his predecessors, he did not put down the demonstrations and restrained hard-line vigilantes who are often unleashed against protesters.
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Well, this could be good news. I’m cautiously optimistic. Allmadinthehead may try to end this before it really begins. It definitely sends a message to the hard liners, but their tendency seems to be one of thoughtless reaction instead of consideration and then action.
Isn’t Khameini seriously ill with cancer? If he dies, the hard liners may lose even more ground, and that will be a good thing.
Interesting development regardless of the outcome.
May 9th, 2007 at 12:56 pmOne thing available is the free flow of info on the internet and it is making it harder and harder to keep a population under control using propaganda. The sane residents of iran have no wish to live under coalition authority. The truth of progress in Iraq and Afghanistan societies are adding pressure. The dark cloak of extremism is less than 40 yrs old, a large amount of the population, while not happy with the shah at least enjoyed being part of the world community. That group joins the youth. Since iran wants to lead the world, in doing so it has exposed educated citizens to the west and the successes they enjoy. They do not want to live as pariahs.
May 9th, 2007 at 1:33 pmThis will result in either a violent crackdown or a violent uprising or military action to neuter the iranian backed threat to free society. Violence is on the horizon, it’s form is yet to be decided.
Conservatives are winning in France
Moderates are winning in Iran
Whats next Al Qaeda starts feeding the sick and the MSM starts reporting the truth?
May 9th, 2007 at 1:47 pmGreetings:
It ain’t over ’til the fat Mullah yodels.
If not Iran then somewhere else. My thought is you’d better book your trip to Mecca soon while you can go with out a lead lined suit.
I wonder if these fanatics are fanatical to blow their own shrine up to incite the faithful. No matter how bad things are in this country I just can’t see Radical Islam doing to this country what they did to Europe. I think at some point they will be backed into a corner and then we’ll see the turbans come off.
Tim Roesch
May 9th, 2007 at 2:28 pmCommand Private Major
Yea, if I was an Iranian I would be very afraid, too. No doubt they remember how Imperialism was cured.
May 9th, 2007 at 2:48 pmThe curious thing to me is, how did any moderate survive after the radical takeover during the Carter Administration? How do they exist today? How is moderate defined?
Example:
May 9th, 2007 at 4:39 pmModerate Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said today, “The roads are paved, the tunnels rebuilt, and the parks are expanded and well cared for. But how many infidels have we beheaded today? Our quota shrank last week.”.
sadly , there are no real moderates in iran politics since they answer directly to the mullahs. Katami was considered moderate but he still was in line with muslim jiohad and hatred for the US etc.
the only real reform in iran would be an overthrow of the mullahs. Time for another revolution!
May 9th, 2007 at 5:20 pmBet he falls down the stairs or something before the 2009 election. In’sh Allah.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:33 pmSome thing that suprises me is why none of the Iraqi violence spills over into Iran. This Iamajerkandope is a dangerous guy. I am wondering why some enterprising individual or group hasn’t fragged him and his handler’s yet. Beats getting the whole country bombed to smithereens by the USA.
May 9th, 2007 at 5:51 pmI have come to think that the term ‘moderate muslims’ in that part of the world is an oxymoron. Remember our friends in Ass-crackistan wanted to stone a man to death because he converted to Christianity? A religion of love and peace? My ass.
May 9th, 2007 at 7:24 pmMike Swann,
The answer to that is really really simple. The violence in Iraq doesn’t spill into Iran because the Iranians are running the violence in Iraq.
May 9th, 2007 at 8:14 pmthis douche bag and the rest of the world are learning what happens when you fuck with America. You either die politically or you die for real
May 9th, 2007 at 10:34 pmsnarfy bobo ,
i understand your sentiments but Iran will always be iran if the mullahs are in charge, ahmedinijad and the rest are puppets.
May 10th, 2007 at 5:58 amAhmadine-jackass and the ass-ahollah ayatollahs and mullahs will never allow someone moderate to come to power. NEVER.
May 10th, 2007 at 8:12 amI’m at the point where I am all for getting out of Iraq, and going straight to Iran and start kicking ass there.
May 10th, 2007 at 10:06 amThat might work to bring the shithead Iranians back to Iran. This could be just the stategery we have been looking for to get the shitheads out of Iraq.
Ayatollah runs the country. A moderate in Iran is all relative. Ahdshitmyself doesn’t believe the holocaust happened. So does that mean a moderate believes the holocaust might have happened? Iran is a fake democracy on par with the Soviet satelites of the Cold War.
Zoal:
May 10th, 2007 at 10:26 amSharp and true.
We can celebrate a little, but let’s not put away the rifles yet. We have to remember that there are a lot of moderate that are not heard from in Iran anymore… they just sort of disappear, and I do not think Ahmadinjad would lose any sleep if any potential threat to his presidency were to dissappear either.
May 10th, 2007 at 12:42 pmJust getting to know my enemy and watchin the john stewart show. This guy Reza Aslan calls Iran “the most successful Democracy in the history of the world.” Fucking secular progressive fucks!!
May 10th, 2007 at 7:42 pmThank Allah if this is true. I wish the students there would rise up… I hear they and others in opposition are growing in numbers everyday.
TJ— you’re right, sadly it’s the Mullahs run the show.
May 11th, 2007 at 6:35 am