Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08SAOPAULO123
2008-03-12 15:53:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Sao Paulo
Cable title:
MEDIA REACTION: IRANIAN ELECTIONS; SAO PAULO
how-toVZCZCXYZ0007 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHSO #0123 0721553 ZNR UUUUU ZZH O 121553Z MAR 08 FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7997 INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 9140 RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 8636 RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 3048
UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000123
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD
DEPT PASS USTR
USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR
SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION: IRANIAN ELECTIONS; SAO PAULO
"Reformers' Little Chances in Iran"
Liberal, largest national circulation daily Folha de S. Paulo (3/12)
editorialized: "Millions of Iranians will vote this Friday to elect
their new Parliament.... Despite that, Iran is still far from being
a democracy. Between 2,000 and 6,000 of the Iranians who applied to
run for a seat in the Parliament were rejected by the Council of
Guardians, a 12-member collegiate headed by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
the regime's supreme leader.... Unfortunately, no change should be
expected from the elections: the performance of the reformers will
be poor. In addition to being harassed by the council, the group of
reformers, which is led by former President Muhammad Khatami, is in
lethargy. The political dispute in Iran is no longer a dispute
between reformers and conservatives. It is now a dispute between
moderate conservatives, such as Ali Larijani (former nuclear
negotiator with the West),and radicals, under President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's leadership. The good news is that internal economic
problems suggest difficulties for Ahmadinejad's allies."
White