Iran and World

It is becoming increasingly clear that the opposition protests that have rocked Iran over the past month have seriously undermined the credibility of the regime. In the last month, four of Iran's highest ranking ayatollahs have issued statements defiantly declaring the current regime "illegitimate." Iranian Nobel Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has asked the international community to refuse to negotiate with the Ahmadinejad presidency until the crackdown on opposition ends. And two of the most important groups within the Shi'ite clerical establishment--Majma' Rohaniyat-e Mobarez and Majma' Moddaresin o Mohaggegin Hozeye Elmiye Qom--have issued statements doubting the legitimacy of the election.

Milani (7/15/09): The New Democrats--An Intellectual History Of The Green Wave

Milani (6/17/09): Clerical Error--Ayatollah Khamenei's Massive Miscalculation About The Extent Of His Power

But Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lives in a parallel universe peopled by corrupt sycophants whose continued presence at the trough of public funds is dependent on his continued presidency. He is as willfully ignorant of the sentiments of Iranian society as of the realities of the modern world. He talks constantly of his desire to help the world's poor and dispossessed, and expedite the return of Shiism's hidden imam. In a speech delivered about two weeks after his electoral coup in June, he claimed that his election "heralded the death of liberal democracy in the world." Though Ahmadinejad will probably be even more deluded during his second term, the changing domestic and international dynamics will likely force him back to reality.