Ahmadinejad Under Attack From Reformers Hard Liners Over VP Selection

The strange, strange world of Iranian politics.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad showed rare defiance of his strongest backer, Iran's supreme leader, by insisting on his choice for vice president Wednesday despite vehement opposition from hard-liners that has opened a deep rift in the conservative leadership.

...Conservative clerics and politicians have denounced Ahmadinejad's choice for the post of first vice president, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, because Mashai said last year that Iranians are friends with Israelis. There are also concerns because Mashai is a relative of Ahmadinejad — his daughter is married to the president's son.

Ahmadinejad must really be feeling pretty good about things if he thinks he can take on reformers and Khamenei at the same time. Or he's just nuts.

Either way, it's not reassuring that the Obama administration has pretty much let the cat out of the bag and announced that yes, Iran will get nuclear weapons at some point.

"We want Iran to calculate what I think is a fair assessment ... that if the U.S. extends a defense umbrella over the region, if we do even more to support the military capacity of those in the Gulf, it's unlikely that Iran will be any stronger or safer because they won't be able to intimidate and dominate as they apparently believe they can once they have a nuclear weapon."

A senior U.S. official said Clinton's comments should be seen as a public argument that the United States is making to dissuade Iran from pursuing nuclear arms rather than a sign that the United States is becoming resigned to the prospect.

Yeah, that 'senior U.S. official"? Whoever it is that person is an idiot. Of course Iran is going to read it that way and of course they are going to be bolder once they have nuclear weapons than they already are.

Oh and that 'umbrella' we are promising to extend? Does that include all the "unproven" missile defense systems we hear so much about and that are being cut left and right?

I'll be interested to see if this comes up in tonight's press conference..."Mr. President, what enchants you most about the Iranians getting nuclear weapons? Is it the world oil supply being held hostage? The prospects of them increasing their support for terrorists? Or is it the prospect of Israel being wiped off that face of the Earth? And for a follow up...I loved your "mom jeans". I realize that wasn't a question but I had to let you know."

posted by DrewM. at 04:51 PM

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