A member of the political bureau of Hezbollah Ghaleb Abu Zeinab, told AFP on Saturday that during the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Islamic Republic has succeeded, “once again the test of democracy” .
Abu Zeinab said that the party was “pleased with the choice of democracy and the Iranian people.” “Iran has proved its democracy, and succeeded time and again in the test of democracy.”
A Hezbollah official said that the Iranian elections are proof that ” democracy is a fundamental part of its system and is rooted in it.” And whether Ahmadinejad’s victory means Iran’s refusal to change its policies; Abu Zeinab said, “There are fixed lines in Iran. The revolutionary Iran is Iran, and therefore, the elections were not the constants. ”
“We understand that the nature of Iran and we are well aware of Iran’s strategic position that does not change, even if the President elected was other than Ahmadinejad.”
Abu Zeinab is quite correct. The election in Iran were quite symbolic. And I have yet to hear even ONE explanation of why anybody in power in Iran would have bothered stealing them. You can trust Hezbollah, who know Iran better than anybody else, if Mousavi would have been elected nothing of substance would have changed.
So whom do you turst – Hezbollah or Western pundits?
In the meantime, here is what Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah wrote to President Ahmadinejad:
“Bless you this precious public confidence and this great love expressed by the Iranian people through re-elcting you for a second term,” Nasrallah told Ahmadinejad in a letter.
“I assure you that your re-election represents a great hope for all the oppressed people, the Mujahideen, the fighters, the resistance and those who reject superpowers and occupiers”
Saker,
85% of Iranians aren’t idiots. They didn’t line up for hours at polling stations for the complementary tea. The presidency is crucially important, just check the the difference between Khatami vs. Ahmadinejad administrations. The Hezbollah official in question was referring to the fact that none of the major parties in Iran, those allowed input in the political system, would abandon Lebanon as a strategic ally.
Masoud
@Masoud: I understand that. But I am afraid that you might have misunderstood my point.
What I am pointing out here is the fact that a Mousavi administration would not be able to overturn the fundamental course of the Islamic Republic of Iran. That applies to Lebanon, of course, but that also applies to pretty much every key issue.
Iranians, indeed, are not idiots, and they know that by voting for this or that candidate they can express they support or opposition to what has been done, but that does not mean that they believe that this election, in itself, can make a difference in the fundamental nature of the country or its government. To put it simply, electing Mousavi would not have amounted to “regime change” or any other CIA wet dream.
Cheers!
Although I have not personally made up my mind on what has been in fact going on in Iran, here is another take on things:
Dashing Fabricated Hopes: The Meaning of Ahmadinejad’s Victory
by Pierre Tristam
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/06/14-5
Talking to Iran will make it “easier to sell” war on Iran, says man responsible for talking to Iran
http://pulsemedia.org/2009/06/12/talking-to-iran-will-make-it-easier-to-sell-war/
Saker,
I would have to agree with you on that point. But I would also have to point that nothing is written in stone in the IRI. Election of someone like Mousavi, or more illustratively a more partisan reformist, could serve as first step in changing the long term outlook and composition of the national security council,winding down previous arrangements and creating new ones, e.g. Mousavi may at the end of his first term been able to conclude a deal with the US and Saudis which included an agreement to limit the type and amount of arms supplied to Hezb for something Iran wants. These elections were not entirely without danger, but it seems to have passed.
Take care,
Masoud
Any comments on this
No Hezbollah veto in new Lebanon govt: Siniora