Med vores velsignelse

Khameneis stedfortræder siger god for aftalen mellem USA og Irak.

Iran and Syria, longtime adversaries of Washington, have said an immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces would be the best solution for Iraq, fearing threats to their security and regional influence. Iraqis sought to allay their fears, amending the pact with the ban on cross-border attacks from Iraq.

On Monday, however, Iran's judiciary chief, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, said the Iraqi Cabinet acted "very well" in approving the pact. The Web site of Iran's state television quoted him as saying he hoped the U.S. will withdraw from Iraq within the time specified in the deal.

"The Iraqi government has done very well regarding this," he said. "We hope the outcome of (the deal) will be in favor of Islam and Iraqi sovereignty."

Shahroudi is very close to Iran's top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his comments reflect thinking of conservatives within the ruling system, but not all hard-liners or President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Vi mangler en kremlinolog theranolog til at rede trådene ud. Spændende spændende.

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Elling besvarer mit kald...

Apparently, Ayatollah Shahrudi - head of the Iranian Judiciary and considered a close (yet somewhat ‘moderate’) aide to Khamene‘i - has endorsed the pact, stating that “security and stability is in the interest of the regional nations”… Now, I guess the next question would be: does this mean Khamene‘i agrees with this point? Even though Khamene‘i sometimes drop his veil of ‘neutrality’ in domestic factual disputes and sometimes deliberately parts from his favorite image of ‘impartiality’, Khamene‘i doesn’t need to state his views. This is why the Iranian foreign policy line appears so opaque or engimatic to many observers: since Khamene‘i is not a President but a fatherly ‘Guardian’ / supreme-authority-behind-the-curtains, he can just let various aides and associates voice different policy options or views without us knowing which one is actually going to be implemented.

Thus, I see this as yet another classic example of Iran’s two-pronged strategy of suddenly airing surprisingly moderate/constructive/appeasing signals (enhanced when stated by conservative figures and clerics) - while letting other officials repeat the same old songs against the Global Arrogance of Imperialist Powers etc. Nonetheless, I cannot help labelling this as a comparatively ’suprising’ and relatively ‘conciliatory’ statement.

Iransk politik, kun for viderekomne. Jeg spekulerer tit på, om der egentlig er særligt meget styr på Iran - for mig ser deres politik tit ud til at stritte i alle retninger - men det kunne sagtens være et spejl af min forvirring.

Og må jeg for i øvrigt anbefale CUMINet, der ser meget lovende ud.