TEHRAN - A scandal surrounding a $2.6 billion bank fraud, the biggest financial abuse case in Iran’s history, has given Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s opponents the opportunity to humble the president and his supporters ahead of the parliamentary election....
Ahmadinejad is not directly linked to the corruption investigation and faces no apparent danger of being toppled. And it is still unclear when - or if - he could be ordered to appear in the chamber.
But a possible Watergate-style inquest in Parliament - what he knew and when he knew it - would be seen as a crowning moment for his political foes after months of open attacks.
Ahmadinejad is accused by opponents of crossing the ultimate red line in Iran: Trying to expand the powers of the presidency to challenge the near-absolute authority of Khamenei, who heads the ruling theocracy.
Not much of a Hitler, is he?
Dozens of Ahmadinejad’s allies have been arrested or driven off the political map. Ahmadinejad’s protege and closest aide, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, has been vilified in state media as leader of a deviant current that seeks to compromise the Islamic system.
Related:
"Mashaei is also despised by hard-liners for... his statements suggesting Iran can oppose Israel’s government but can be friendly with the Israeli people."
That's Ahmadinejad's man?
Wow, did my Zionist-controlled Amerikan media ever mislead me about that guy.
None of the pressures could have come without approval from Khamenei, who has the final say in all key matters.
Oh, he must be the Hitler.
In recent months, Khamenei intervened to block several attempts by lawmakers to question Ahmadinejad. The apparent reason was to protect Iran’s image and avoid uncomfortable scenes of Ahmadinejad facing angry Parliament critics.
But Khamenei could let events take their course this time, some specialists say, as his statements suggest a more aggressive stance against perceived threats to the Islamic system.
Earlier this month, Khamenei fired a powerful warning shot at Ahmadinejad - or any successor - seeking to siphon off powers from the ruling clerical establishment, saying that Iran could someday scrap the post of elected president if political needs demand. The supreme leader has also called for “cutting off the traitorous hands’’ of those implicated in the banking scandal....
He may be on to something there, Americans.
Hands, head, who wants to quibble?
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"Iran’s bank chief links currency roller-coaster to US sanctions; Says government will act soon to calm markets" by Ali Akbar Dareini | Associated Press, January 05, 2012
TEHRAN - Iran’s national currency rebounded yesterday from record lows after the central bank chief acknowledged with rare candor that the psychological effects of new US sanctions were partly responsible for the devaluation and said the country might raise interest rates to stabilize the market.
The comments by central bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani were a clear sign of the toll that sanctions are taking on Iran’s oil-dominated economy....
“The government is considering controlling the currency market and will take action soon. Dollar rates will decrease soon,’’ the central bank chief said. “Using monetary and financial instruments such as issuing bonds with high rates are on our agenda so that we can direct floating liquidity to banks,’’ he said, adding this was an urgent priority....
Analysts say it is clear Iran’s economy is in dire straits, after being subjected to four rounds of UN sanctions since 2006 and other measures by the United States and its allies. But some blame government policies, not sanctions, for the devaluation.
It's the Federal Reserve that is to be blamed over here for running that printing press to cover Wall Street's fraud.
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