Bottom Line & Above: Waiting for the Old Man to Depart
If rancor were dollars, the Islamic Republic would be flush. As Iran staggers toward 2024, the political infighting among principlists this year stands out for its nastiness, and it is likely to get even nastier as the Majles elections approach. Politics in Iran, as in a lot of places, has always been a contact sport, but it seems to have taken on a malevolent edge this year. This is more impression than verifiable fact.? That said, in the past year Kayhan—hardly a paragon of understatement, it is true—has tarred former President Hassan Rouhani as a traitor whose statements are aligned more with the Mossad than the Iranian people, and a range of conservative commentators have taken shots at President Ebrahim Ra’isi’s wife for referring to the Supreme Leader’s wife as Iran’s “First Lady.”
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