that I had seen this act once before and then it hit me. This was a replay from the 1972 movie “The Godfather”. I was watching Vito (Don) Carleone of Iranian politics speaking as clearly as he possibly could first to his adversary, the very man he supported and helped put in power, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and second, to the military rogue elements of the Islamic regime that are out to dethrone him, that they have been forewarned. Rafsanjani made it clear that in the days and months ahead if they did not adhere to his wishes and the wishes of his people there will be consequences with severe and dire results.Rafsanjani, in a diplomatic and carefully crafted sermon drew a line in the sand between what he saw as an ideal “Islamic republic” of Iran as opposed to his opponent’s version of an “Islamic” state which looked more like a dictatorship. By drawing from Islamic history, the prophet Mohammed, the Quran and scripts from Islamic scholars including the founder of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khomeini he made it clear that no Islamic state can survive without the will and support of the people and any attempt to curtail this God given right is a breach of righteousness and social justice “edalat ejtemaee”.
One other great mastery in his speech was to remind the clan leaders and coup plotters who they were dealing with and by making reference to his biography, relationship to the leader of the Islamic revolution and his direct involvement and role in the 1979 revolution and its aftermath Rafsanjani made sure he shut the opposition up.
Clearly what Rafsanjani demonstrated on Friday was a) his authority on this regime and b) how he aims to play a pivotal role in the current crisis Iran is faced with. He stated that “from here on things will not be easy but by doing things right (and he made suggestions such as freeing the political prisoners and opening up the press) we can and must win the peoples trust back”, and from the hundreds of thousands if not over a million men, women and children chanting for his support “Rafsanjani hemayat hemayat”, the very people IRIB state run TV tried desperately to hide from its wide-angle shots, Rafsanjani achieved his mission.
So, now that the godfather has given his ultimatum and has drawn a line in the sand between those political groups and figures who support him against the supporters (Cosa Nostra) of Khameneie who believe that the Iranian government draws its legitimacy from "the Almighty God" and not the people what can we expect? Well, your guess is as good as mine as to which way the pendulum of Iranian politics is going to swing in the days and months ahead but one thing is certain in that there is going to be a lot of bloodshed once the Iranian nation takes to the streets in the millions, again.
Rafsanjani is playing the ultimate game of "Survival." He knows, that the total hegemony of the Mullahs has faltered and there now exists a chink in their armor. So, he is regrouping and playing to the world audience to achieve an end that would only be good for him and his ilk.
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