Iran moderate wins presidential election

[archibaldcrane]

It more signals that the Ayatollahs are worried about their power if the population of Iran gets any more pissed. The fact that they allowed this guy to get elected is the signal, not the guy himself.

So the Ayatollahs are taking small steps towards moderation.

I agree with you.

[Kuya]

It more signals that the Ayatollahs are worried about their power if the population of Iran gets any more pissed. The fact that they allowed this guy to get elected is the signal, not the guy himself.

Allowed him to get elected? Why would the clerics reject him? He's not exactly a polarizing figure, and this isn't the first time a moderate is elected.

[quannum]

because they didn't allow the last guy to win.

[ringthree]

Allowed him to get elected? Why would the clerics reject him? He's not exactly a polarizing figure, and this isn't the first time a moderate is elected.

No it isn't, but it is since certain changes in circumstances have occurred. Khatemi could have broken either way, and Ahmadinejad definitely was a reaction from the more conservative ayatollahs. The problem is that reformers are given power from the conservatives when the public reacts. The conservatives then take that power back when they don't need to appear to support reform. Reformers never have true power.

[Ashmada]

So the Ayatollahs are taking small steps towards moderation.

I agree with you.

Projecting moderation. Policies will not change, this is purely a PR/image move.
They'll let the guy who speaks in more conciliatory terms be the new figurehead, but carry on oppressing their people as they've always done.

Iran won't get any better until ayatollah blood runs in the streets.
I'm no hawk, but theocracies are only overturned when the people rises against them and the head of the tyrants roll.

[Andalusian girls]

it's ok you don't have to be a hawk for people rising and head rolling you can just be a radical revolutionary

[Andalusian girls]

historically those do well in Iran

[ringthree]

Are you joking, or do you just not understand the history of the Iranian revolution?

[Andalusian girls]

http://i1324.photobucket.com/albums/...psbfaf8a10.jpg

[Mazmaz]

Figured I'd bump this instead of making new thread. Nothing new, it's just finally official now.

CIA admits role in 1953 Iranian coup

[Quicklet]

So if it typically takes 60 years for this stuff to become declassified, I guess we only have to wait until around 2070 for the NSA to admit all the stuff they're doing now.

[Waraji]

2061 Is going to be an interesting year then.

[Outlaw]

This is not the whole interview. I can't find the whole thing for some reason. I'll just quote other parts of it. From the NBC news site:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani blamed Israel for causing "injustice to the people" of the Middle East during an exclusive interview with NBC News in which he also called for peace, saying Iran is not "looking for war."

Unlike his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Rouhani struck a moderate tone on many issues, but he deflected a question from NBC News' Ann Curry about whether he believed that the Holocaust was "a myth."

"I'm not a historian. I'm a politician," he replied. "What is important for us is that the countries of the region and the people grow closer to each other, and that they are able to prevent aggression and injustice."

When asked by Curry about the fact that Ahmadinejad had people believing that Iran wanted to wipe Israel off the map, Rouhani replied: "What we wish for in this country is rule by the will of the people. We believe in the ballot box."

Curry also asked Rouhani to respond to comments by Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, who has called him a "wolf in sheep’s clothing."

Rouhani described Israel as "an occupier and usurper government" that "does injustice to the people of the region, and has brought instability to the region, with its warmongering policies."

He added Israel "shouldn't allow itself to give speeches about a democratically and freely elected government."

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2...for-peace?lite