Some Useful Footnotes

In discussion with Iranians in the UK (which may be subject to its own bias or limitations) I am advised that the political situation in Iran is as follows: 
 
The Islamic Council is a body that Iranians like to think serves a role similar to that perceived by Britons of the Monarch (or misguided Australians of the Governor General) - a higher authority, above the level of ordinary politics that can intervene when things \"go wrong\". 
 
There are two polarised camps among the clerics being chiefly identified on the one hand by Ali Khamenei who takes an anti-western stance and on the other by Rafsanjani who takes a pro-western stance. According to my source Khamenei is supportive of Ahmadinejad, which is a good thing for Ahmadinejad because he is the Supreme Leader of Iran, while Rafsanjani is extremely hostile. 
 
Also according to my source, many of the clerics are corrupt and with them, Rafsanjani is in the pay of the US and the primary force behind Hossein Mousavi, who is really a puppet for Rafsanjani, and all the current CIA-assisted unrest. 
 
Rafsanjani seeks a model of government in Iran similar to other Middle-East regimes with US-backed governments in which a privileged elite is extremely wealthy and powerful while the rest are impoverished, illiterate and powerless, which of course, is why US support is so readily at hand for Mousavi. Ahmadinejad, on the other hand is hostile to the US, seeks to eradicate foreign influence in Iran and favours a broader distrinution of wealth and opportunity, particularly in the impoverished south of Iran where he has massive constituency support.

Guest