Open Ahmadinejad thread

Comment here on the prospect that Iran’s president-elect might have been one of the students involved in the 1979 embassy takeover. More generally, It’s still unclear to me what the precise relationship is between Ahmadinejad and the clerics that actually run Iran. Yesterday’s New York Times op-ed by Abbas Milani said the clerics “masterminded Mr. ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

Comment here on the prospect that Iran's president-elect might have been one of the students involved in the 1979 embassy takeover. More generally, It's still unclear to me what the precise relationship is between Ahmadinejad and the clerics that actually run Iran. Yesterday's New York Times op-ed by Abbas Milani said the clerics "masterminded Mr. Ahmadinejad's victory." However the NYT editorial of the same day argues that Ahmadinejad, "offered a populist economic platform that implicitly challenged the cronyism and corruption of more than a quarter-century of clerical rule." I don't know enough about Iran's internal politics to comment -- but I'm sure that will not deter you from commenting. [Isn't this just a case of life being complex? Maybe Ahmadinejad agrees with the clerics on some issues but not others?--ed. Undoubtedly true -- but the question that's still unanswered is whether he's willing to address certain sacred cows within the clerical establishment even as he's agreeing with them on other issues.]

Comment here on the prospect that Iran’s president-elect might have been one of the students involved in the 1979 embassy takeover. More generally, It’s still unclear to me what the precise relationship is between Ahmadinejad and the clerics that actually run Iran. Yesterday’s New York Times op-ed by Abbas Milani said the clerics “masterminded Mr. Ahmadinejad’s victory.” However the NYT editorial of the same day argues that Ahmadinejad, “offered a populist economic platform that implicitly challenged the cronyism and corruption of more than a quarter-century of clerical rule.” I don’t know enough about Iran’s internal politics to comment — but I’m sure that will not deter you from commenting. [Isn’t this just a case of life being complex? Maybe Ahmadinejad agrees with the clerics on some issues but not others?–ed. Undoubtedly true — but the question that’s still unanswered is whether he’s willing to address certain sacred cows within the clerical establishment even as he’s agreeing with them on other issues.]

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

Tag: Theory

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