The Times of London reports that:
Alarmed by mounting US pressure and United Nations sanctions, officials close to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei favour the appointment of a more moderate team for international negotiations on the supervision of its nuclear facilities.
The move would be a snub to the bellicose president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose threats to destroy Israel have left Iran increasingly isolated and facing a serious economic downturn.
Tehran sources said the impetus for a policy switch was coming from Khamenei, who has ultimate power over Iran’s foreign policy, security and armed forces.
Khamenei is said to believe that Washington’s aim is not only to halt Iran’s nuclear programme but to overthrow the regime.
He also considers the national interest is being undermined by an inexperienced president whose rhetoric is unnecessarily inflammatory.
Ahmadinejad has always struck me as an apocalyptic loon who is blinded by his hatred of Israel and the infamous, movie-star status he gained at the United Nations and among people like Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro. This is what makes him so scary.
Ayatollah Khamenei, on the other hand, is probably more rational. A person must indeed have mental intelligence and political cunning to remain in a position of supreme power in any country. Adolph Hitler and Saddam Hussein, among others, may have been evil, but they were not stupid.
At some point, even the Ayatollah must listen to the people — and the people need someone who will fix Iran’s economy and not risk a needless war with the United States and Israel.
Addendum: Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the one-time successor to Ayatollah Khomeini, is criticizing Ahmadinejad as well.
