Sergei Demidenko, from the Institute of Strategic Evaluation and Analysis does not think that the Iranian crisis can be solved militarily. The expert gave an exclusive interview to Pravda.ru.
First and foremost, the elections showed the failure of Ahmadinejad's economic policy. And the main thing is that Ahmadinejad, through his own specific way of conducting his foreign affairs, and his own way of looking at Iran's economic position, managed to alienate the clergy. And this, by the way, was already obvious during the presidential elections of 2009. People like Ayatollah Rafsanjani, Kyani and Djanati all had a very negative attitude towards Ahmadinejad at that time.
He has the support of Khamenei, although Khamenei has been rather restrained in his attitude towards Ahmadinejad recently. This is because ayatollahs gave Ahmadinejad permission to interfere in foreign policies. They thought that he was a young and prospective politician. It was for the first time in history when they made such a decision. Previously, it was solely the prerogative of the clergy. The president was involved in economic and internal policies. The field of foreign policies belonged to the clergy. So they allowed him to do something on his own. Ahmadinejad eventually decided that he could ask the ayatollahs to move. So he stood up against Rafsanjani, a great ayatollah. No one liked that in the country -- they didn't like Ahmadinejad's interference in the affairs that were traditionally controlled by ayatollahs. This gave rise to a conflict. Ahmadinejad's economic policies failed, Iran's international image was undermined. Nowadays, he gets what he gets.
The main thing is this; these specific protests in 2009 were also unique. "We're against Ahmadinejad, but we're not against the Ayatollah". Even reformers shared this opinion.
And that's what happened during the last elections when they demonstrated. Now
they're searching for a more effective figure than Ahmadinejad who can lead the country out of the economic crisis. So we'll have to wait and see what 2013 brings us, and who this person is going to be.
More about Ahmadinejad
Israeli leaders meet Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in NYC https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCw-oWp1wf8
'Сurrent world order based on injustice': Ahmadinejad full 2012 UN speech https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYKy4dfSF-o
Ahmadinejad clash with Larijani in Majlis during impeachment of minister of labour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaNjkISB3mU
President Ahmadinejad Interview With Piers Morgan pt.1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ6brP_BZWY
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, kisses the coffin of Hugo Chavez - 08/03/2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYCUE6g1Yoo
2:23
1:08
2:11
