IRAN moved a step closer to prolonged civil strife yester day when the government rejected a compromise offered by a key figure of the regime to settle the dispute over last month's election.
The deal was offered byformer President Hashemi Rafsanjani, a prominent mullah-cum-businessman and one of the founders of the Islamic Republic. In his proposal, the dispute over the presidential results would be referred to the Supreme Court for final judgment, while the opposition would stop daily skirmishes between its supporters and security agents. The government would then release the 5,000 or so people arrested since the dispute broke out June 13 and publish the full list of those killed in the insurrection.
The authorities would also lift the ban on dozens of newspapers and magazines closed down for their opposition to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's controversial re-election.
Rafsanjani offered the formula at the Friday mass prayer congregation on the campus of Tehran University. This was the first time in 10 weeks that he appearred at the ceremony. And all three key figures of the regime's loyal opposition -- former President Muhammad Khatami, and defeated presidential candidates Mir Hussein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi -- were present in a show of unity.
In his sermon, Rafsanjani went out of his way to reassure "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei that the opposition movement isn't seeking regime change. Instead, he directed his attacks against Ahmadinejad (whom he did not mention by name) as a power-hungry individual prepared to provoke a civil war to remain in power.
Twelve hours earlier, however, in a speech in Mashad, Ahmadinejad had rejected Rafsanjani's peace offer as a "trick by those who have plundered the nation's wealth," promising to deal with them and "other enemies of Islam" with even greater vigor.
Ahmadinejad had flown to Mashad to avoid participating at the campus congregation led by Rafsanjani. All members of his Cabinet, his advisers and most of other senior government officials also boycotted the ceremony -- highlighting deep divisions within the Khomeinist establishment.
Some pro-Ahmadinejad militants were on hand to interrupt Rafsanjani's sermon with cries of "Death to America!" A larger crowd, mobilized by Mousavi's supporters, responded with cries of "Death to Russia," showing anger at Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, the first foreign head of state to welcome Ahmadinejad's re-election.
After the ceremony, opposition supporters fanned into the streets with cries of "Death to the dictator!" -- chased by anti-riot police and club-wielding Ansar Hezbollah (Friends of the Party of God). Early reports say at least 80 people were injured, some seriously. Dozens of pro-Mousavi figures, among them the leading lawyer and women's-rights activist Shadi Sadr, were also picked up by plainclothes security agents and taken to unknown destinations.
The state-controlled media have either ignored Rafsanjani's intervention or reported it with a few lines giving the impression that the former president was distancing himself from the opposition. The official Islamic Republic News Agency gave Rafsanjani 11 lines but devoted its headline to a speech allegedly made in praise of the Khomeinist system by former US National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski.
Pro-Ahmadinejad circles and Web sites refer to the coalition formed by Rafsanjani, Mousavi, Khatami and Karrubi as the mur'aba manhous -- the Cursed Quartet -- and call on the president to bring them to justice on charges of corruption and sedition.
Nevertheless, it is clear that Ahmadinejad is not on firm ground either. In Mashad, the provincial governor, Ayatollah Va'ez Tabassi, refused to greet him at the airport and was conspicuously absent throughout the president's 24-hour stay.
More important, perhaps, the "holy" city became a scene of a series of anti-Ahmadinejad demonstrations. The authorities had to rely on a rented mob to provide a crowd of 10,000 to listen to Ahmadinejad's first major speech since his re-election.
The bad news for the opposition is that Rafsanjani did not even hint at the possibility of challenging Khamenei's position as "Supreme Guide." The good news, however, is that the former president refused to acknowledge Ahmadinejad as the legally elected president.
The split within the Khomeinist establishment is deepening by the day, creating the impression of a regime adrift in a sea of troubles.
Amir Taheri's latest book is "The Persian Night: Iran Under the Khomeinist Revolution."
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