Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sacks two ministers from his cabinet, his intelligence minister and his minister of "Islamic culture and guidance."
Both are hardline conservatives who protested after Ahmadinejad's ill-fated appointment of Mr. Mashaei as vice president (Khamenei forced Mashaei to resign). Ahmadinejad instead made Mr. Mashaei his chief of staff, which is probably a more powerful position in practice. Mr. Mashaei is reviled by conservatives and came under fire after saying that Iranians are "friends of the people in the United States and Israel."
Ahmadinejad is already despised by reformists and the business class. He is now alienating hardliners and looks to be losing his trump card- the support of Ali Khamenei.
The best part is that Sergei Prikhodko, chief foreign policy advisor to President Medvedev, complained to Interfax news agency that he is having trouble figuring out "who is shaping the U.S. foreign policy." I suppose that the irony of that question escapes him.
Central China Television (CCTV) announced that it will launch an Arab language channel for broadcast in the Middle East and North Africa. This move is the most recent of China's attempts to reinvent its global media strategy. Chinese officials have realized that the only way to win the media war on sensitive issues like the treatment of the Uighur minority is to present the State line early and often, with a message tailored to the people who you hope to sway.
Khamenei forces Ahmadinejad to sack his Vice President, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie. Mashaie's daughter is married to Ahmadinjad's son. As I firmly stated before, I do not believe that Ahmadinejad will survive the repercussions of the recent turmoil- I think that Khamenei will eventually throw him under the bus.
- Jon
- Nikita Krushchev, 50 years and one day ago during the "Kitchen Debate" with then Vice President Nixon. Full text here and the NYT's recent retrospective here.
Ned Parker "Machiavelli in Mesopotamia: Nouri al-Maliki Builds the Body Politic" MIT Press Journal, Spring 2009.
Money quote: "Whether he stays prime minister or not after this year, al-Maliki's legacy is likely to be the reintroduction of the traditional strong-man model into Iraqi politics--not as brutal as Saddam Hussein, but a leader who is willing to quiet the nation through both patronage and an iron fist."
It turns out the State Department has its own blog and apart from being a bit formulaic, it isn't bad. My favorite part is the "Text the Secretary" section. If any of y'll get a question through to Hillary send us a link to her response.
On the left in the white turban is former presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi and on the right in the black turban is Yaser Khomeini, grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini.
More after the jump -->
Gazprom has been Turkmenistan's main export partner for the past three decades. But recent events including a pipeline explosion that Ashgabat blamed on Gazprom and pricing disagreements have prompted Turkmenistan to review its relationship with the energy giant. On July 10, Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdymukhemedov stated that his country was interested in providing gas for Nabucco and that it has the necessary reserves to do so.
As with all things Nabucco, it doesn't pay to be overly optimistic. Turkmenistan's decision to deal with RWE may simply be an attempt to improve its bargaining position with Gazprom. Regardless, it is good to see Nabucco capitalizing on th opportunity instead of squandering it.
