Just Like the Taliban and Al Qaeda

Roozonline:

“It is no honor after twenty five years to pretend that we are like the Taliban and Al Qaeda.” These are the words of Iran’s outgoing President Mohammad Khatami who will be soon active in his center for “Dialogue Among Civilizations” and the “Ayin-e Goftegoo” journal. But who is he talking about?

Several events that follow the appointment of Golam Hossein Elham to be president elect Ahmadinejad’s Chief of Staff, are worth noting.

Eftekhar Jahromi, the French educated lawyer who has survived almost all government changes in Iran and has been leading many positions including Vice President in charge of Iran’s legal and commercial disputes with the US and other countries, and also the boss of the three hundred Guardian Council’s election observers, is tipped to become the next Minister of the Interior, a post that monitors and controls events of the country outside Tehran.

Ali Larijani, an advisor to the Leader has been tipped as the next Foreign Minister or the Chairman of the Supreme National Security Council that directs Iran’s sensitive negotiations with the Europeans. Larijani, supported by the Motalefe political group, is known for his hardline postures in foreign and even domestic issues. “Emrouz” website belonging to the progressive reformists interprets Larijani’s accent to the helms of the country’s diplomacy apparatus as strengthening the cooperation-with-UK attitude in Tehran. The site adds that the British believe that the expansion and strengthening of Iran’s foreign relations, including those with the US should be carried out through them. It is noteworthy that the British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw too has expressed his hope for cooperating with the government of the newly elected President in Iran. Keyhan newspaper, the bastion of the ultra conservatists, heralds that Ahmadinejad’s cabinet members are of the same heart and ideals, adding that these individuals will be ideologues, another term for what is commonly knows as fundamentalists.

While there are plenty of rumors about the composition of the cabinet, nothing is known about the role of women at the cabinet level and whether Maryam Behrouzi’s list of 18 women for various posts is used at all. She is a prominent women’s rights advocate and head of the Followers of Imam and Leadership Front, in addition to heading the Zainabl Society, a woman’s NGO. Now even the head of Iran’s Majlis (Parliament) Haddad Adel complains that no consultations have been held with the Majlis regarding the cabinet. The concern is so great that he even calls on the President to respect the independence of the Majlis. It is quite strange that the Majlis Speaker should be worried about the independence of a Majlis whose majority members drink the same kind of tea as the President. One wonders where is the threat from. Perhaps it lies in the “Commanders of the Passdaran”, as pointed out by Alavi Tabar in an editorial piece. Or is pointing to events such as the brutal public hanging of two young men accused of being gays in Mashad? Is this the true indication of what is coming and what will be normal sites in the future?

The Iranian preparatory group on the talks with the E-3 (three European states negotiating with Iran on its nuclear policy) met this week in London and Ali Aga Mohammad, who is the defacto leader of the Iranian negotiation team, insists on holding on to the nuclear fuel cycle. This, while International Atomic Energy chief Al Baradei cautions Iran not to resume its enrichment activities. In his view, the nuclear issue is only one of several between Iran and the international community.

Human rights in Iran have now become synonymous with Akbar Ganji and his fate. We now hear that another political prisoner who was a student movement leader and even visited some Western capitals a few years ago including the US, is also on a hunger strike with a deteriorating health condition. Still another political prisoner, Amir Hossein Heshmat writes from Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj, a town close to Tehran, that he too will start his second hunger-to-death strike if Akbar Ganji loses his life through his strike. READ MORE

More hunger strikers and thoughts on Iran's new cabinet.