Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08SAOPAULO123
2008-03-12 15:53:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Sao Paulo
Cable title:  

MEDIA REACTION: IRANIAN ELECTIONS; SAO PAULO

Tags:  KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0007
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