Ahmadinejad’s Government; Danger or God’s Blessing

Maryam Kashani, Rooz Online:

Mesbah Yazdi, the ultra-conservative cleric who is a close ally of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran’s new president, thinks that his government is God’s gift to enact Islamic values. This while three prominent and veteran Iranian politicians, former president Mohammad Khatami, former president Hashemi Rafsanjani and former chief of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Hassan Rouhani believe that Ahmadinejad’s presidency is an era filled with dangers that will deeply hurt the country and the Islamic Republic.

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In an unprecedented move, Rafsanjani, the powerful man leading the regime’s Expediency Council that oversees the performance of the three branches of government, talks about the dangers that threaten the nation, and implicitly criticizes Ahmadinejad’s aggressive behavior and his unqualified, undeserving and incapable administration. On the other hand, ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, the influential clergy and spiritual supporter of Ahmadinejad praises the Islamic values of his government and expresses deep satisfaction with the revival of divine values and beliefs after many years.

It appears that Mesbah Yazdi doesn’t care that Hashemi believes that the new generation of Iranians could start believing that Iranian politicians have deceived them for 25 years. It seems that it’s not important for him to lose the trust of the youth today and not regain it. It also doesn’t seem that Mesbah Yazdi minds the positive and constructive measures that had been taken for the country in the past. He doesn’t seem to be concerned about national unity and the increasing socio-economic gap that has been brought about, and about bringing those that are responsible to it to justice. Yazdi does not mind that destroying national unity in fact helps the enemy to carry out its plots against the regime with less resistance.

In a recent gathering of Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps commanders, the radical-minded cleric called on the audience to keep those who criticize Ahmadinejad at bay.

Hassan Rowhani, the former secretary general of Iran’s National Security Council believes that resolving the country’s hot international issues is more challenging during Ahmadinejad’s period. He points out that while Rafsanjani is known as a moderate and pragmatist, former president Khatami’s 8-year term is internationally recognized as a government that was open to domestic political development and democracy.

The former reform-minded president Khatami too has made warning statements about Ahmadinejad’s government, which he says is promoting a Taliban-like fundamentalist movement in Iran which insists on its violent and extremism to make its ideology known to the world.

But despite these calls and observations, cleric Mesbah Yazdi calls Ahmadinejad’s government a blessing. One wonders about those in his audience and his circle of friends and enemies. One also wonders how can an Iranian be thankful to God for sending such a wonderful and blessed administration to lead them.