Iran after elections, Netanyahu’s speech

American media: Iran after elections, Netanyahu’s speech
15 June 2009 14:04 FOCUS News Agency
Sofia. Iran's Election aftermath presents test for President Barak Obama. President's muted response to Tehran's post-electoral turmoil reflects the diplomatic quandary it poses for his Middle East strategy Washington Post informs.Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who was announced winner of a second four-year term this week is no cartoon character New York Times informs. Whether his 63 percent victory is truly the will of the people or the result of fraud, it demonstrated that Mr. Ahmadinejad is the shrewd and ruthless front man for a clerical, military and political elite that is more unified and emboldened than at any time since the 1979 revolution.As president, Mr. Ahmadinejad is subordinate to the country’s true authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who commands final say over all matters of state and faith. With this election, Mr. Khamenei and his protégé appear to have neutralized for now the reform forces that they saw as a threat to their power, political analysts said.Now, as Obama launches an audacious new effort to make peace in the Middle East, his influence will be limited in similar ways by the regional leaders he must work with Los Angelis Times informs.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, back in office a decade after his first term, has pledged to resist Palestinian independence. The Palestinian movement is in disarray, with the U.S.-backed leadership in the West Bank at odds with militant Hamas rulers in the Gaza Strip over the issue of a permanent peace with the Jewish state.Meanwhile, Iran's Islamist allies, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon,have boosted their arsenals with logistical help from Syria and taken on Israel's army. Both pose a threat to Israel's borders, giving Iran, which the U.S. and others fear is bent on developing nuclear weapons, the power to sabotage any Israeli-Palestinian accord. Iran's ties with Syria and patronage of Hezbollah also help keep Syria and Lebanon formally hostile to Israel.
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