The Iranian Nuclear Chess Game Shifts

Ali Larijani is Khamenei’s man, but also the guy in charge of negotiating nukes;
that is until he finally resigned. Ahmadinejad considers Khamenei a rival so
he wanted Larijani out and finally got his wish.

Mr. Larijani, the former head of Iran’s state-run radio and television, had tried repeatedly to resign from the thankless nuclear post, complaining to his European interlocutors that he had no authority to negotiate. On Sunday, Mr. Ahmadinejad finally accepted his resignation, replacing him with Mr. Jalili, one of his closest aides. Iran Limits New Nuclear Negotiator

Larijani’s exit and Jalili’s entrance is being
broadly panned in Iran.

Reflecting the breadth of discontent with Mr. Larijani’s replacement, almost 200 members of Iran’s Parliament have signed a letter praising Mr Larijani’s “valuable efforts” as nuclear negotiator, the Jam-e Jam newspaper reported. Mohammed Hashemi, a former vice president and the brother of former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, was even more outspoken, telling the Aftab Web site: “It is very disappointing that the government does not tolerate even views of a person like Mr. Larijani and eliminates him in such a manner. The government tolerates less and less the ideas that are different to its own.”

You certainly won’t here these developments talked about from Bush-Cheney or
any of the 2008 Republican candidates, but it’s instructive to focus on them
for at least a fleeting second. If 200 members of Iran’s Parliament praised
Larijani’s "valuable efforts," it doesn’t quite paint the same picture
as the neocons saber rattling contingent.

Steve Clemons
has more:

But with the firing, which Larijani learned through news reports rather than directly, Ahmadinejad is challenging Khamenei’s authority over Iranian state matters. Ahmadinejad knows that Larijani is an agent of those who actually want to resolve Iran’s nuclear situation in a constructive way while Ahmadinejad benefits from the crisis and tension with the US and Europe.

It seems that Ahmadinejad, Bush and Cheney are all on the same side. They’re
all in favor of ratcheting up the tensions in Iran, while Iranians want a more
constructive solution. The madmen are running the show and with Larijani’s resignation, and Cheney running amok, it looks like things are about to get worse.