Schism...Top Iranian Cleric Group Breaks With Government

I think Khameni is going to have a hard time spinning such an important clerical group in the country as a bunch of foreign lackeys.

A pro-reform clerical group protested against the official results of Iran's June 12 presidential election, in a statement made available to AFP.

Blasting the official electoral watchdog, the Guardians Council, the Assembly of Qom Seminary Scholars and Researchers said it no longer had the "right to judge in this case as some of its members have lost their impartial image in the eyes of the public."

On Tuesday, the unelected 12-member council upheld the re-election of hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over complaints of fraud from his challengers that had brought hundreds of thousands out onto the streets.

Government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham is a council member.

The reformist clerics said the council "did not pay attention" to the complaints lodged by defeated candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.

This statement comes just a few days after "reformist" former Iranian President Mohammad Khatam said the elections were "tantamount to a coup".

The government has lost the backing of the people and now the clerics based in the holy Shia city of Qom (so much for the Islamic part of the "Islamic Republic"). Even the most in the tank apologists for Iran have to admit it's nothing more than a military backed autocracy.

Obviously, now is the time to begin negotiations with them.

posted by DrewM. at 10:14 AM

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