Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Dual Power in Tehran?


By Tony Karon

"The reasons for the resignation of Ali Larijani as Iran’s nuclear negotiator may not be as simple as many of the analyses suggest, i.e. the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei throwing his weight behind President Ahmadijenad’s harder line. It seems that Larijani will continue, at least for now, to join the talks with the West, no longer as the government’s chief negotiator but as the direct representative of the Supreme Leader. That may be a sign of an emerging struggle between Khamenei and Ahmadinejad to control the nuclear issue. Still, it doesn’t make a diplomatic breakthrough any easier......"

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