Ali Larijani, second from right, the newly elected parliament speaker, with Saeed Jalili, a top nuclear negotiator, right, during the opening ceremony of Iran’s new parliament in Tehran on Tuesday – Photo: Vahid Salemi - Associated Press
Iraqi born [Najaf - Iraq in 1958] and son of a Mullah, conservative Ali Larijani was recently elected as the new speaker of Iranian Parliament (Majlis) by overwhelming majority (232 to 31) - these are not votes by the public.
Ali Larijani replaces former Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel, who apparently tried to curb any criticism of Ahmadinejad, and came across as a weak leader.
Larijani has been an ardent critic of Ahmadinejad’s “style”, and the top former nuclear negotiator of IRI, who, almost a year ago, resigned his post “due to differences with Ahmadinejad”. Larijani later surfaced in Egypt and is set by the Mullah Guardian Council (Jurisprudence), to run for the next Presidential “selections” in Iran in 2009, with full support from the Supreme Mullah Ali Khamenei.
You can read my previous posts and links about Larijani. He is a significant and a diehard supporter of IRI’s nuclear program and is not a Moderate, but seen as a “Pragmatist Conservative” - see comments.
It would be very safe to say that Reform within IRI is well and truly dead and buried; IRI’s Nuclear Development Program will continue unabated, and I say watch this guy very carefully.
Full story about recent Parliamentary Elections by NY Times - and - BBC - May 28 and 29, 2008
All we need in the USA now is the President Obama a liberal kissin’ mullahs butts and sayin’ mullahs shouldnt have nukes, jeez
Steve: In a way, it is an astute observation you make.
IRI has tried to mirror the U.S. since just before Reagan, in conservatism and then liberalism as related to Iran & its various IRI factions, and their affects globally.
I say the next President of the U.S. will have much to deal with, including much the Bush administration has so far and, presumably, will leave behind. It will not bode well for the West or Iranian People.
IMO, while much is “fairly” clear with McCain for example, much is and will be hidden with Obama, for example.
IRI will intensify its lobby in favor of the one (potential U.S. President) it sees suiting its purposes in the next 4 years, at least.
I think the U.S. voters should remember this.
P.S. -
As a side note, did you know “Gholam” as in the name of the previous IRI Parliament Speaker “Gholam-Ali” is a very deragatory term the Muslim-Arabs assigned to the newly Iranian Muslim converts centuries ago?
“Gholam”, the name for a male, actually is an equivalent of “Huri” for a female version (a virgin). It is a name for a “Slave” - which newly converted Iranian-Muslim were & were given in the Muslim Arabs’ eyes. Funny, some don’t know it & continue to name and worship their Muslim-Arab masters, while believing they are following their perfect religion.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/imageviewer.asp?ean=9781418459536