Al Khaleej stuns Al Hilal with 3-2 victory, ending 57-match unbeaten run    Turki Al-Sheikh crowned "Most Influential Personality in the Last Decade" at MENA Effie Awards 2024    Saudi Arabia arrests 19,696 illegals in a week    SFDA move to impose travel ban on workers of food outlets in the event of food poisoning    GACA: 1029 complaints recorded against airlines, with least complaints in Riyadh and Buraidah airports during October    CMA plans to allow former expatriates in Saudi and other Gulf states to invest in TASI    11 killed, 23 injured in Israeli airstrike on Beirut    Trump picks billionaire Scott Bessent for Treasury Secretary    WHO: Mpox remains an international public health emergency    2 Pakistanis arrested for promoting methamphetamine    Move to ban on establishing zoos in residential neighborhoods    Moody's upgrades Saudi Arabia's credit rating to Aa3 with stable outlook    Al Okhdood halts Al Shabab's winning streak with a 1-1 draw in Saudi Pro League    Mahrez leads Al Ahli to victory over Al Fayha in Saudi Pro League    Saudi musical marvels takes center stage in Tokyo's iconic opera hall    Saudi Arabia and Japan to collaborate on training Saudi students in Manga comics Saudi Minister of Culture discusses cultural collaboration during Tokyo visit    Al Khaleej qualifies for Asian Men's Club League Handball Championship final    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Sitting too much linked to heart disease –– even if you work out    Denmark's Victoria Kjær Theilvig wins Miss Universe 2024    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Ayoon Wa Azan (Will the Wounded Regime Try and Amend its Policies?)
Published in AL HAYAT on 28 - 06 - 2009

The crisis brought by the results of the Iranian elections, with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remaining in power, and the religious authority in Qom being challenged, will all serve the interests of the Arab countries in and outside the Gulf. This is because Iranian policies, whether towards its greed and ambitions to extend Iran's sphere of influence, or towards its nuclear program, will not change with a different president. Nevertheless, Ahmadinejad remains a lousy advocate of his countries issues and causes, and if he were to be replaced by a “moderate” president, the latter would only sugar-coat the same policies, and render them more exploitable in foreign affairs. It may even be possible that Ahmadinejad's victory serves Israel, since he is a denier of the Holocaust who repeats his threats to wipe Israel off the map, and makes frequent claims about Zionist conspiracies - even in those demonstrations that took place in protest against the election results in Iran. That kind of extremism does not benefit Iran's cause abroad, although if a moderate had been elected President instead, Israel would have found it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to incite the global public opinion, especially the American one, against Iran.
I want to pause here and mention a side note. I do not read “secret” websites or those that do not reveal their sources. However, I do not hold it against them if they provide me with material where my name was mentioned. As such, I recently read an article posted on an American website that claims that I was in agreement with Israel when I said there is no difference at all between the hardliners and the moderates in Iranian leadership, since they all are in favour of Iran's nuclear program.
This is half true, and the fact that Israel thinks the same does not invalidate the truthfulness of this half. The other half, however, is that I support Iran's bid in possessing nuclear arms as long as Israel possesses them, and this definitely is not a position that any Israel government would take, while it was and will continue to be my own stated position.
Going back to Iran, its elections and its reinstated President, I think that he [Ahmadinejad] definitely won the election. This is because his support base – which includes the working class, the poor, and the farmers and peasants in rural areas – represents the vast majority of Iranians, a majority that is not represented by the intellectuals, reformers, and liberal women in Tehran and some other cities. However, the demonstrations against this result, as well as the violence and the incitement that followed, have all caused the Islamic Revolution a wound that will not heal easily.
Will the wounded regime then try and amend its policies? Will the regime ease down its policies to render them more acceptable both at home and abroad? I doubt that. Quite the contrary, I think – and this is my personal opinion and I could be wrong – that the regime will intensify its dosage of hawkishness, just to reassert its abilities. This will be translated into more support for Hezbollah and Hamas, and a more barefaced hostility to the West, with a focus on the Zionist enemy, holding the latter directly responsible for the violence and accompanying plots and conspiracies.
I had noted earlier that President Barack Obama committed himself to moderation in the early comments he made about the Iranian elections, to the extent that neo-conservatives and the known Likudian supporters of Israel started attacking him. He only started criticizing Iran and changed his tone when violence erupted against the demonstrators, and when many were killed or injured. This is when he condemned the violence and defended the right of people to demonstrate and express their opinion. Ahmadinejad's response was, as usual, inappropriate. He asked Obama not to interfere in Iranian internal affairs of Iran, even when the President clearly didn't.
In fact, the U.S. President tried to keep all the lines open with Iran, while the Iranian President responded in a manner that disrupts attempts for future contacts and renders any agreements even more difficult. In fact, this is what a moderate president –or one who claims to be moderate - would not have done.
Meanwhile, just as Arab countries will benefit from the extremism of Ahmadinejad's foreign policies, they will also benefit from the hostilities which he unleashed at home and which will probably keep him occupied throughout his second term.
In this regard, the defeated candidate Hussein Mousavi remains less important than Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and the other pillars of the Islamic Republic. Whether extremists or moderates, Ahmadinejad had antagonized them and entered in personal battles against them, when he accused them or their children of corruption, to which they replied by accusing him of stealing the election. Furthermore, the attendance by only 105 deputies out of 290 deputies of his victory party is only further evidence to the size of the internal difficulties it he will face. In fact, the parliament is dominated by conservatives, and if this is its stance towards the President, one can only imagine what the reformists' and moderates' stances will be.
The elections are over, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the new president for the next four years. However, all real power is in the hands of the religious establishment behind the government. Nevertheless, the lingering aftermath of the elections will definitely weaken the Islamic revolution, following its 30 years of reigning supreme, and of not facing any challenge to its full control of the country's fortunes.


Clic here to read the story from its source.