The New Old Berkeley of Iran, Ahmadinejad as Ronald Reagan…………
“Iran's largest private university has become the focus of a bitter political battle for control between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his most powerful rival, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Mirroring intense factional conflicts since last year's contested elections, rival factions are in a power struggle for Azad Islamic University in Tehran, which has hundreds of campuses across Iran and assets worth tens of billions of dollars. The university, one of the world's largest – with more than 1.5 million students and staff – is closely linked to Rafsanjani, a former president and self-described "pragmatic conservative" who is head of the powerful Assembly of Experts. Rafsanjani was one of the founders of the university in 1982. Pro-regime critics have accused him of packing the university management with allies……..In reply, parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani called the response by regime loyalists "vindictive"…….”
This reminds me of the jousting between the University of California (at least its students) and one right-wing governor of California named Ronald Reagan. They had strong mutual contempt for each other, before Reagan moved on to where he could do more damage to America.
This also shows that there is not ‘One” center of power in Iran, has not been one since Ayatollah Khomeini's death in 1989. The sharp response from Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani is telling (only in three other Middle East countries would the head of parliament oppose the regime on anything: if they have a parliament). It shows the complexity and difficulty of dealing with the "leadership" of Iran.
Cheers
mhg
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