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By Ariabarzan
Ahmadinejad message to President-Elect Barack Obama in which he congratulated Obama on his election was a turning point in Iran’s foreign policy after the revolution. Yet for Ahmadinejad the main obstacle for destroying the “high wall of mistrust” between the two countries emerges from no where else than his own political faction.
The dilemma of Iran-US relation has been looked at and discussed for countless times and from various angles. Different reasons been mentioned as the main or the periphery causes of the mistrust between the two countries. Iran hostage taking situation, the war with Iraq, Lebanon’s civil war, the first and second Gulf war...
But I do not want to write about the long list of unsolved issues between the two countries.In this article I am trying to explain why some Iranian political factions who are enthusiastic about having relations with America resort to tactical opposition to the idea if the initiative was made by another political bloc .
This can be looked at from the point of view of competition between various factions inside the Iranian regime over who should take the lead in normalisation of the diplomatic relations with the U.S.
These factions who belong to the wider Conservative coalition are prepared to offer a solution for the highly sensitive issue of Iran-U.S. relations only if it was resolved by their very own bloc. Therefore many oppositions to Ahmadinejad’s “positive” gesture toward president-elect Barack Obama are derived from pure jealousy rather than ideological differences.
Those Principalists and Conservatives who felt being marginalised by Ahmadinejad and his team are now trying to stop him from starting talks with the new American administration.
The reason is simple in their mind; Who ever opens the doors of dialogue with the “Great Satan” will be the ultimate gatekeeper to the Satan's palace!
In other words if Ahmadinejad and his foreign-relations team (including Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari) were to be succeeded in resolving the staggering issues with Americans (such as differences of approach in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine and more importantly the Iranian nuclear program) the benefits and bonuses of such proximity will be theirs and theirs only.
In addition such a development if implemented with care could have immense impacts on the every day life in Iran, thus giving Ahmadinejad a huge advantage over his rivals in the upcoming presidential election in 2009.
To clarify more let us look at the case of Ahmad Tavakoli a prominent MP in the Iranian parliament.
Tavakoli who endorsed Mahmood Ahmadinejad in 2005 elections was denied any governmental position despite his credentials as a renowned university Professor.
In his turn Tavakoli tried his best to turn the tables for Ahmadinejad. His letter to Ahmadinejad in which he fiercely criticized the Iranian presidant for congratulating Barack Obama can be explained by my above mentioned argument. This case demonstrates the potential harm that the marginalised people from Ahmadinejad’s own faction can impose on his initiative unless he somehow counters their actions.
It looks that In the coming days we should expect more direct attacks similar to that of Ahmad Tavakoli , Ahmadinejad seems to have only two choices
- To include all the marginalised MP in his government which is actually impossible
- To ask for a supporting speech from the Supreme Leader in order to have a political leverage over his competitors. But will he accepts Ahmadinejad's request?
Finally it must be noticed that any attempt by the Iranian Supreme Leader to address the issue of American election in the coming days can either strengthen or destroy Ahmadinejad’s hopes for starting a new era with the United States of America.
