Raw Story
Friday, January 19, 2007 

Iran's president is being urged to pull back on his highly publicized nuclear brinksmanship, The New York Times will report on tomorrow's front page.

"Iran's outspoken president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, appears to be under pressure from the highest authorities in Iran to end his involvement in its nuclear program," write Nazila Fathi and Michael Slackman for the Times, "a sign that his political capital is declining as his country comes under increasing international pressure."

Fathi and Slackman report that hardline Iranian newspapers have "called on the president to stay out of all matters nuclear," coming just a month after UN-imposed sanctions, intended to stall Iran's nuclear program, began.

"Such a public rebuke," the article notes, "was seen as a sign that the supreme leader himself ... might no longer support the president as the public face of defiance" to Iran's detractors.

Excerpts from the registration-restricted article follow...

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It is the first sign that Ahmadinejad has lost any degree of Ayatollah Khamenei's confidence, a potentially damaging development for a president who has rallied his nation and defined his administration by declaring nuclear power Iran's "inalienable right."

It was unclear, however, whether this was merely an effort to improve Iran's public image by lowering Ahmadinejad's profile or signaled any change in policy.

The presidency is a relatively weak position with no official authority over foreign policy, the domain of the supreme leader. But Ahmadinejad has used the position as a bully pulpit to insert himself into the nuclear debate, and as long as he appeared to enjoy Ayatollah Khamenei's support, he could continue.

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While Iran remains publicly defiant, insisting it will move ahead with its nuclear ambitions, it is under increasing strain as political and economic pressures grow. And the message that Iran's most senior officials seem to be sending is that the president, with his harsh approach and caustic comments, is undermining Iran's cause and its standing.

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