Leading clerics defy Ayatollah on Iran election

Act against supreme leader is most public sign of split in establishment

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31745151/ns/world_news-the_new_york_times/

This is a significant encouragement for the reform movement.  The final chapter hasn't been written yet, but I believe it's almost possible to see the writing on the wall for the current regime....

 

 "CAIRO - The most important group of religious leaders in Iran called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate on Saturday, an act of defiance against the country’s supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country’s clerical establishment.

"A statement by the group, the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum, represents a significant, if so far symbolic, setback for the government and especially the authority of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose word is supposed to be final. The government has tried to paint the opposition and its top presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, as criminals and traitors, a strategy that now becomes more difficult — if not impossible.

“This crack in the clerical establishment, and the fact they are siding with the people and Moussavi, in my view is the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic,” said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. “Remember, they are going against an election verified and sanctified by Khamenei.”

This is a significant encouragement for the reform movement.  The final chapter hasn't been written yet, but I believe it's almost possible to see the writing on the wall for the current regime....

 

 "CAIRO - The most important group of religious leaders in Iran called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate on Saturday, an act of defiance against the country’s supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country’s clerical establishment.

"A statement by the group, the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum, represents a significant, if so far symbolic, setback for the government and especially the authority of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose word is supposed to be final. The government has tried to paint the opposition and its top presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, as criminals and traitors, a strategy that now becomes more difficult — if not impossible.

“This crack in the clerical establishment, and the fact they are siding with the people and Moussavi, in my view is the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic,” said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. “Remember, they are going against an election verified and sanctified by Khamenei.”

Khamenei warns West over meddling in Iran

'Interventionist remarks' might have 'negative impact,' top cleric says

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31763430/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

 

I think his turban is wrapped a little too tightly.

Iran president declares a new era

Top reformists seek to rekindle opposition movement

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31786488/

Thousands protest, defy crackdown in Iran

Security forces wield batons as crowds chant ‘death to the dictator’

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31828921/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

 

"...The protesters appeared to reach several thousand, but their full numbers were difficult to determine, since marches took place in several parts of the city at once and mingled with passers-by. There was no immediate word on arrests or injuries.

It did not compare to the hundreds of thousands who joined the marches that erupted after the June 12 presidential election, protesting what the opposition said were fraudulent results. But it was a show of determination despite a crackdown that has cowed protesters for nearly two weeks.

Onlookers and pedestrians often gave their support. In side streets near the university, police were chasing young activists, and when they caught one, passers-by chanted "let him go, let him go," until the policemen released him. Elsewhere, residents let fleeing demonstrators slip into their homes to elude police, witnesses said....

"Many of the marchers were young men and women, some wearing green surgical masks, the color of Mousavi's movement, but older people joined them in some places. Vehicles caught in traffic honked their horns in support of the marchers, witnesses said. Police were seen with a pile of license plates, apparently pried off honking cars in order to investigate the drivers later, the witnesses said."

"......Demonstrators dispersed by nightfall. But after sunset, shouts of "death to the dictator" could be heard from rooftops around the city — a half-hour nightly ritual by Mousavi supporters that has continued even since the previous crackdown."

 

It must be kinda embarrassing for Ahmadinejad and Komeini to know the majority of Iranians detest them so publicly.

September may bring push for Iran sanctions

President sets timeline for Tehran to show willingness to end nukes regime

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31854164/ns/politics-white_house/

"We're not going to just wait indefinitely and allow for the development of the nuclear weapon," [Obama] said.

Obama said that in September "we will re-evaluate Iran's posture toward negotiating the cessation of a nuclear weapons policy." If by then it has not accepted the offer of talks, the United States and "potentially a lot of other countries" are going to say "we need to take further steps," he said.

The president did not say what steps he has in mind. He mentioned neither sanctions nor military force. But it seems clear that a next step to pressure Iran would entail some form of sanctions.

"The administration and the other powers would probably like to leave the toughest forms of sanctions to be used if they feel that diplomacy has not gone anywhere — not in this pre-diplomacy period," said Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council, which supports expanded U.S.-Iranian contacts.