Q&A
Aaron David Miller, Karim Sadjadpour, Robin Wright
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Source: Getty
In The Media
Political Unrest May Widen Rifts Among Iran's Clerics
Iran's disputed presidential elections have revealed and accentuated rifts among the clerical leadership.
Published on Jun 19, 2009
Source: NewsHour
Iran's supreme leader defended the results of last week's disputed election Friday, and warned opposition supporters against further rallies. Karim Sadjadpour explains the rifts among the clerical leadership in Iran, "Khamenei and Rafsanjani, who are kind of two of the pillars of the revolution, are now neck and neck. And you have senior grand ayatollahs whose clerical standing is much higher than Khamenei's issuing a fatwa against the results of these elections, saying they were fraudulent. So certainly amongst the clerical elite, there's always been rifts behind the scenes, but what this election has accentuated these rifts."
About the Author
Karim Sadjadpour
Senior Fellow, Middle East Program
Karim Sadjadpour is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on Iran and U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East.
- What’s Keeping the Iranian Regime in Power—for Now
- How Washington and Tehran Are Assessing Their Next StepsQ&A
Aaron David Miller, David Petraeus, Karim Sadjadpour
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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