Word: khamenei
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...ongoing tumult of Iranian politics, Ayatullah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has made few public pronouncements - even though he is said to be the main guiding force behind the scenes for those in the regime who are opposed to the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, and President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. But on Tuesday, Rafsanjani, looking fatigued and thinner than in recent months, made a rare semi-public speech, covered in part by Iran's official television news. Ostensibly, he called for harmony and promoted unity - notions that probably do not sit well with the activist elements of the protest movement...
...legend that many Iranians hold as truth, Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini on his deathbed joined the hands of his chief disciples, Ali Khamenei - who would become Supreme Leader - and Ali Akbar Rafsanjani - the cleric who is now Khamenei's most powerful rival - and warned that if the two should ever be divided, the Islamic Republic would fall. Since the controversial presidential election in June, the growing rift between the two men has been playing out not only on the streets but also, just as important, behind closed doors in a game of chess that their adherents follow but the moves...
...developments in Iran's drama. Last week, the pro-government press ignored a visit to Beheshti's home by Hassan Khomeini, the grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic. Khomeini visited Beheshti's family after making an early departure from a ceremony commemorating his grandfather, attended by both Khamenei and Ahmadinejad. Khomeini left before the President began his speech. On the day after the event, newspapers aligned with the conservatives printed front-page photographs showing the Supreme Leader kneeling beside Khomeini's tomb alone, while newspapers associated with the reformists pictured Khamenei standing alongside an expressionless Hassan Khomeini. Meanwhile...
...Leader has given a green light to pro-government forces, like the Basij paramilitaries, to engage in the toughest possible action against protesters who may try to disrupt or hijack Thursday's official rallies. "Those who stand against the greatness of the Iranian nation are not of the people," Khamenei said on Monday in words reminiscent of his first call for a crackdown on protests at Friday prayers the week after the June election. "They have nothing to do with the masses...
...lite military branch that controls much of the economy, which the opposition accuses of orchestrating the post-election crackdown. But the Iranian government has in the past effectively used American and Western pressure to delegitimize internal dissent, and it is doing so again. Supreme Leader Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, who in the past has accused demonstrators of being agents of foreign intelligence services, said on Monday that the celebration for the anniversary of the revolution would be a "punch in the mouth" to the arrogance of foreign powers. Hopefully, the dispute between Iran and American will be limited to verbal fisticuffs...