Rafsanjani in Qom; mustered support for abdication of Khamenei
On Tuesday the International Post posted, “Dissention among Iranian rulers: Iranian clerics defy supreme leader; protest against Iran’s government” about the divisions between Clerics as some were turning to protesting Iran’s government. An earlier post by the International Post, “Former President of Iran, Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani has enough votes to remove Ali Khamenei,” provided the details on Rafsanjani’s attempts to pull Khamenei from the position of Supreme Ruler. A new report according to City Journalist Directory, reveals that the loyalty of the Clerics of Qom is greatly divided:
The Qom Cabal:
Website Quotes
• Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been in the holy city of Qom, working to assemble a religious and political coalition to topple the supreme leader and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
• Rafsanjani has succeeded in knocking the supreme leader off his pedestal by revealing Ayatollah Khamenei to be a political partisan rather than an above-the-fray spiritual leader. In other words, the supreme leader has become a divider, not a uniter.
(more after the jump)• Among those who are now believed to be arrayed against Ayatollah Khamenei is Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the top Shi’a cleric in neighboring Iraq.
• Rafsanjani is known to have met with Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani’s representative in Iran
• Rafsanjani has assembled a near-majority of the Assembly of Experts to oust Khamenei,
• Al-Arabiya report citing a “high-ranking source” in Qom who stated that Rafsanjani already has the support to oust Khamenei, but that it is yet to be agreed how he should be replaced.
The Hardliner’s Mistakes
Website Quotes :-
• To a certain degree, hardliners now find themselves caught in a cycle of doom: they must crack down on protesters if they are to have any chance of retaining power, but doing so only causes more and more clerics to align against them.
• Ayatollah Khamenei has forfeited any claim to legitimacy as Supreme Leader. It has been apparent for days now that his only choices were to impose dictatorship without any religious veneer, or to step down.
