IRAN: REFORMISTS TAKE ACTION TO FRUSTRATE AHMADINEJAD DIRTY TRICKS

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The leading presidential challenger, Mir Hussein Mousavi, appears to be gaining a head of steam leading up to Iran’s election on June 12. Even though some polls now show Mousavi to be leading the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, some experts in Tehran maintain that political change in Tehran is unlikely. Some powerful forces in Iranian politics are unwilling to see Ahmadinejad lose.

With just over a week to go until election day, Mousavi would appear to be a plausible winner. He has attracted exuberant crowds at recent rallies and has exploited Ahmadinejad’s propensity to make bombastic statements, such as his repeated denials of the Holocaust, to cast doubts on the incumbent’s competence. Mousavi and Ahmadinejad prepared to hold a televised debate on June 3 that could shape the final week of the campaign.

Although he has been pressed harder than he expected, Ahmadinejad does not appear to be worried about the prospect of electoral defeat. A major reason for this is the fact that he is backed unequivocally by some of Iran’s most powerful institutions, including the Office of the Supreme Leader, the Revolutionary Guards Corps, and the Basij Militia. These key pillars of support for the Islamic Republic have sent signals that they will go to great lengths to prevent the need for ultra-conservative forces, represented by Ahmadinejad, to cede power to a moderate like Mousavi.