Guy's Just Plain Bad For Business

Washington Times (03.14.06), via Laura Rozen:

"Iran's clerical and business establishments, deeply concerned by what they see as reckless spending and needlessly aggressive foreign policies, are increasingly turning against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. " Tehran elite turning on extremist presidency

This is being telegraphed through the NYTimes, too (03.14.06):

"Just weeks ago, the Iranian government's combative approach toward building a nuclear program produced rare public displays of unity here. Now, while the top leaders remain resolute in their course, cracks are opening both inside and outside the circles of power over the issue. Some people in powerful positions have begun to insist that the confrontational tactics of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have been backfiring, making it harder instead of easier for Iran to develop a nuclear program." In Iran, Dissenting Voices Rise on Its Leaders' Nuclear Strategy

"This week, the United Nations Security Council is meeting to take up the Iranian nuclear program. That referral and, perhaps more important, Iran's inability so far to win Russia's unequivocal support for its plans have empowered critics of Mr. Ahmadinejad, according to political analysts with close ties to the government." "One senior Iranian official, who asked to remain anonymous because of the delicate nature of the issue, said: 'I tell you, if what they were doing was working, we would say, 'Good.' ' But, he added: 'For 27 years after the revolution, America wanted to get Iran to the Security Council and America failed. In less than six months, Ahmadinejad did that.'" Signals like this have been coming out of Iran for a while now. Perhaps the clearest indication of dissatisfaction involved Mahmoud's fiasco with trying to appoint an oil minister. Why would Mahmoud be making folks nervous? Well, seems he's a bit more than just your run-of-the-mill religious zealot. MSNBC (12.12.05):

"Eerie stories about Ahmadinejad's mystical obsessions have been drifting out of Tehran of late, specifically his devotion to the so-called 12th imam—the Shiite messiah, better known as the Mahdi, who's supposed to return and lead an apocalyptic revolution of the oppressed over vague forces of injustice." Iran: Ahmadinejad vs. the Establishment

On the other hand, we haven't found any references to the effect that God talks to him. Unlike other folks we know.