it makes me sick:
REPORTS: Exiled Iranian Crown Prince seeks Israeli backing for oppositionBy Angela Corrias on June 28, 2009http://www.heralddeparis.com/reports-exiled-iranian-crown-prince-seeks-israli-backing-for-opposition/41902http://www.heralddeparis.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/prince-421x300.jpgBREAKING NEWS
LONDON (Herald de Paris) - Ali Reza Pahlavi, the exiled Crown Prince of Iran, son of the former Shah of Iran, is reported to have sought the assistance of the Israeli government to back the rioting opposition in his homeland, according to Iranian sources. Reza Pahlavi claims that any military attack against Tehran could push the Iranian opposition to be part of the government, therefore resuming the ties between Iran and Israel that had been forged by his father, prior to the 1979 overthrow.
News of the former government of Iran’s involvement further clouds the ever-evolving picture of the Iranian Green-Wave liberation movement. While internal details of the struggles of Iran remain sketchy at times, the reports and pictures of untoward violence towards the opposition, at the hands of government forces and police, remain a most disturbing legacy for an allegedly peace-loving nation.
Meanwhile, the Guardians Council claims to have confirmed Mr Ahmadinejad’s victory and re-election as president of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
A Circulating Middle-Eastern Perspective Seldom Reported in the WestThe main rival to the re-elected president was Mr. Hossein Mousavi, former Prime Minister of Iran in the 1980s who, before the polling closed declared he had undoubtedly won the elections. Only when it started emerging the overwhelming victory of Mr. Ahmadinejad (62.63% out of the whole 85% of the electoral body), Mousavi fomented the civil unrest over the allegations of a rigged election, without providing any evidence, to support his claim.
Immediately after the results were released, supporters of the candidate Mr. Mousavi, considered more moderate than hardliner Mr. Ahmadinejad, organized demonstrations along the streets of Tehran.
World leaders have accused the re-elected president of having rigged the elections, and have called for a recount of the votes.
While western governments urged to a recount of the votes, Tehran’s leaders have repeatedly laid claim that western governments have fueled the protests. Former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during the Reagan administration, Mr. Paul Craig Roberts, doesn’t rule out the possibility that the green revolution is an “orchestrated” CIA covert operation. Such unconfirmed reports only cloud an already complicated picture in Iran.
Similarly, former US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, in an interview with the BBC, advocated for an Iran regime change initiated from the outside. When Kissinger was in office in the US, a major CIA covert action was brought about an orchestrated military coup in Chile in 1973 that toppled democratically elected Salvador Allende, replacing him with Augusto Pinochet, one of the bloodiest dictators since the end of the Second World War.
On May 16, 2007 the London Daily Telegraph reported that John Bolton, a former official in the last Bush administration, supported the idea of an intervention in Iran from outside if its leaders would not stop with their enrichment programme. According to Bolton, economic sanctions, “with pain,” were to follow in case diplomatic efforts and subsequent plans to overthrow Iranian regime had failed.
Further, according to Mr. Bolton, it was mandatory to, “Go with regime change by bolstering opposition groups,” and in case fomenting a popular revolution had failed, the “last option” to be considered would have been “the use of force”.
During the protests Mr. Ahmadinejad has repeatedly invited western governments not to meddle in Iranian domestic affairs, and during the inauguration of Mehr petrochemical plant in Assalouyeh (southern Iran), he claimed that, “The era of hegemony over the world has come to an end and the western countries should open their eyes as the world has changed and Iran, which is a lover of peace, progress and justice for all, has prepared itself for any kind of condition,” wrote the Fars News Agency.
Looking back at Mr. Mousavi’s political past, it’s possible to discover that he might not be the moderate candidate many people believe. According to former US Navy Admiral James Lyons, when Mr.Mousavi was Prime Minister, the Iranian ambassador in Lebanon received precise directions aimed at targeting US personnel in the Mideast country, particularly against US Marines.
His sudden shift towards westernization and moderate reformism suggests it’s only related to openness towards the principles of the free market and western banks, that Iranian theocratic regime may not accept, since high-interest loans are considered unethical under the Islamic law.
It remains unknown what relationship there might be between Mousavi and Reza Pahlavi.
Mr. Mousavi’s supporters are mainly to be found among the westernized youth and Iranian entrepreneurs, while Mr Ahmadinejad reportedly received most of his votes from the poorest classes. The current President, in his previous administration, claim to have given a substantial assistance to young couples and the lowest classes of the Iranian society.
Unlikely Mousavi, Mr. Mohsen Rezaei, another candidate in the recent presidential elections, has withdrawn his complaint about the voting results and Mr. Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, Guardians Council spokesman, told the press that, “If a major breach occurs in an election, the Guardians Council may annul the votes that come out of a particular affected ballot box, polling station, district, or city like what is done in parliamentary elections.”
At this very beginning of his second administration, Mr. Ahmadinejad finds a tough internal situation to manage, and many expectations for a peaceful and productive solution to meet, for the sake of Iran and its people.
L’Herald de Paris suggests support for neither the seated Iranian government nor the political opposition, and vows to continue to report fair and impartial news, as it occurs.
