As I predicted on the strategypage many eons ago, Iran has slipped ever closer to a full blown totalitarian state. Iranian neo-conservatives, or should I say neo Islamic-Nazis, known as Abadgaran won the rigged parliamentary elections of 2004, thus trouncing the reformists. Recently the Abadgaran has made a power play in Tehran, hoping to gain enough clout to crush President Khatami and to capture the presidency in 2005. Even if Abadgaran does not capture the presidency and it instead goes to a more traditionalist conservative, the victory of the radical right will be almost complete. If the US does not successfully promote regime change, the most likely outcome will be for the more traditional conservatives to be pushed aside by the more radical and authoritarian neo-conservatives, who will eventually capture the presidency. From there it is on to the golden prize, the faqihship. In this way Thermidor in Iran will come to a close, and the regime will finally be consolidated.
Dr. Matthew C. Wells |