Tag Archives: country

Commentary: Iran’s hardliners are the real losers

With an apparent political coup in Iran by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his supporters over the weekend, the ruling mullahs have dispensed with all democratic pretense and joined the ranks of traditional dictators in the Middle East. (CNN) — With an apparent political coup in Iran by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his supporters over the weekend, the ruling mullahs have dispensed with all democratic pretense and joined the ranks of traditional dictators in the Middle East. The hardliners in Tehran, led by the Revolutionary Guards and ultra-conservatives, have won the first round against reformist conservatives but at an extravagant cost — loss of public support.

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Would an Iran with Moussavi at the helm look different?

He’s been labeled by many as the "reformist," a man who can take Iran beyond the truculent anti-Western rhetoric of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. So, when Iran’s government announced over the weekend that Mir Hossein Moussavi had lost in his bid to become the country’s next president, young Iranians took to the streets by the thousands alleging ballot fraud

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Tehran tense as Iran’s supreme leader endorses vote outcome

Iran’s supreme leader gave his blessing to the outcome of the country’s presidential election Sunday despite widespread allegations of fraud, calling the results "a divine miracle," the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the record voter turnout in Friday’s election showed Iranians value “resistance against oppressors,” the agency reported. “Pointing to enemies’ massive propaganda campaign to discourage people from taking part in the elections, Ayatollah Khamenei also said there was really a divine miracle behind this elections, given its results that was 10 million higher than any of the previous ones in the 30-year history of elections in Iran,” IRNA reported

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Why the White House Views Iran’s Election as a Diplomatic Coup

When Obama Administration Iran czar Dennis Ross and top U.S. Iran negotiator William Burns were planning the details of the President’s outreach to Tehran with senior European diplomats earlier this spring, they discussed a possible nightmare scenario for the June 12 presidential elections in Iran

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Poll: Half of Israelis back bombing if needed to stop Iran nukes

Roughly half of Israelis support bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities if international efforts fail to stop the Islamic republic from developing nuclear weapons, according to a Hebrew University poll released Sunday. Some 52 percent of Israelis say the country should bomb Iran’s nuclear reactor, while 35 percent are against, the poll found

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Ahmadinejad: No guarantee on rival’s safety

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declined Sunday to guarantee the safety of his defeated rival Mir Hossein Moussavi in response to a question from CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour. “There is rule of law in this country and all the people are equal before the law,” Ahmadinejad said when Amanpour asked if he would guarantee Moussavi’s safety. She also asked why opposition leaders had been arrested

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Rebels seize 9 foreigners in Yemen

Nine foreigners, including three children, were kidnapped by Shiite rebels in northern Yemen, the state-run news agency reported Sunday. Thousands of demonstrators, shouting “Death to the dictatorship” and “We want freedom,” burned police motorcycles, tossed rocks through store windows and set trash cans on fire on Saturday

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