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They're Scared in Tehran

(Ha'aretz) David Patrikarakos - For years, Tehran was able to sell its nuclear program to the Iranian people as a totem of national achievement under threat from the "imperialist" West. "Our people want nuclear power," said Iran's former chief nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rowhani, in 2004, "even more so because the United States says we can't have it." But those days are gone. Iranians now care less about nuclear centrifuges than they do about jobs. Former president Rafsanjani now routinely uses the nuclear issue to attack Ahmadinejad, blaming his diplomatic crassness for Iran's increasing isolation and suffering. The nuclear program has transformed from a national rallying cry to a political hand grenade; what was once the regime's strength has become its weakness. The price Iran is now paying for its program threatens to destabilize or even destroy the regime - the one thing the mullahs fear above all else. Iran's chief negotiator, Saeed Jalili, uncharacteristically described the discussions in Istanbul on April 14 as "very successful." It was a signal. The last time the Iranians were this scared was shortly after Washington had conquered Baghdad, in mid-2003. Four months later Iran agreed to suspend uranium enrichment.
2012-05-04 00:00:00
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