...linking him with hooshang amirahmadi!
putting aside the usual guilt-by-association premise of the whole thing, the attack seems to be based entirely on the fact that amirahmadi is iranian and has a scary foreign name. rather than being a "pro-Hezbollah, pro-Hamas candidate for the Iranian presidency", amirahmadi is running for the iranian presidency with a platform that: iran should recognize the existence of israel and have diplomatic relations with the jewish state, reestablishing diplomatic relations with the u.s., and ending the iranian nuclear program. regarding those two groups, amirahmadi believes that both hamas and hezbollah should "disarm".
no one actually expects the iranian guardian council to approve his candidacy. (the last time he ran for president in 2005, the guardian council excluded him because he is an american citizen). "'I would put his chances at getting through the Guardian Council, optimistically, at zero percent,' said Hooman Majd, Iranian-American author of The Ayatollah’s Democracy: An Iranian Challenge." the daily caller, of course, claims that the council has already approved his candidacy, but i can't find any other report that says that has actually happened. as of this profile of him from the philly inquirer two weeks ago, approval was still uncertain. on february 7th, radio free europe noted that the council rejected him in 2005 and reported that "it is not expected to give him the green light this time either." there is no mention of GC approval in the "campaign news" section of amirahmadi's campaign web site, and there does not appear to be any english language press report of the approval. so unless someone can point me to a report that the guardian council approved him for this year's presidential race, i'm calling bullshit on the daily caller's claim that he has been approved.
(via memeorandum)
putting aside the usual guilt-by-association premise of the whole thing, the attack seems to be based entirely on the fact that amirahmadi is iranian and has a scary foreign name. rather than being a "pro-Hezbollah, pro-Hamas candidate for the Iranian presidency", amirahmadi is running for the iranian presidency with a platform that: iran should recognize the existence of israel and have diplomatic relations with the jewish state, reestablishing diplomatic relations with the u.s., and ending the iranian nuclear program. regarding those two groups, amirahmadi believes that both hamas and hezbollah should "disarm".
no one actually expects the iranian guardian council to approve his candidacy. (the last time he ran for president in 2005, the guardian council excluded him because he is an american citizen). "'I would put his chances at getting through the Guardian Council, optimistically, at zero percent,' said Hooman Majd, Iranian-American author of The Ayatollah’s Democracy: An Iranian Challenge." the daily caller, of course, claims that the council has already approved his candidacy, but i can't find any other report that says that has actually happened. as of this profile of him from the philly inquirer two weeks ago, approval was still uncertain. on february 7th, radio free europe noted that the council rejected him in 2005 and reported that "it is not expected to give him the green light this time either." there is no mention of GC approval in the "campaign news" section of amirahmadi's campaign web site, and there does not appear to be any english language press report of the approval. so unless someone can point me to a report that the guardian council approved him for this year's presidential race, i'm calling bullshit on the daily caller's claim that he has been approved.
(via memeorandum)
