Iran: Meet the Likely Candidate for Supreme Leader

[Warpy]

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=33350

People in the know in Iran report that the hottest subject of discussion among Iranian conservative leaders these days is the issue of who is to succeed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is said to be suffering from leukemia. The same individuals report that the person most likely to take Khamenei's mantle is Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, the powerful chief of the Judiciary, whose tenure is scheduled to end within weeks.

At this point, these discussions are not aired publicly. Even in private circles, the conservatives do not speak of the dangers for the establishment attending Khamenei's transformation into a lame-duck Supreme Leader. Rather, it is supposed to be all about his terminal cancer. Right now, the discussions are at the level of contingencies. But if Iran's political crisis continues to deteriorate, it is conceivable that a decision will be made.
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Much, much more in the article, which requires careful reading by Iran watchers.

[timeforpeace]

1. Hi!

Give my regards and respect and thanks to Bibi when he comes to "meet" you.

[MADem]

2. This guy is bad news.

As a political hardliner, he is a dedicated champion of the status quo who has spent the greater part of his life struggling for the establishment or consolidation of Islamic states in Iran and Iraq along the lines set down by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei some forty years ago. Moreover, as his record in the Judiciary amply indicates, Shahroudi is as ill-disposed to radical changes as he is likely to support religious modernization. In short, as a leading jurist, he has all the strengths of Khamenei and few of his weaknesses.

[Warpy]

3. He's also worked to abolish a lot of the ancient atrocities

like public stonings in favor of the slightly more humane executions by hanging or firing squad.

I know it doesn't look like much to us, but it's a giant leap forward for men mired in the thirteenth century.

[MADem]

6. You mean, back to the Shah days? The Shah used to have the odd hanging.

It was rare for them to be public, though.

No. Not enough. Mousawi's followers--and I'm a supporter--lean more towards a secular Islamic state. Sorta like here in Judeo - Xtian America; where we're secular, but "In God We Trust." A veneer of religion that's as much culture as anything else.

[Chulanowa]

4. Bad news for what?

Look, the Iranians want an Islamic state. The whole "Green Revolution" wasn't about toppling that, it was about who would be president of said islamic State. personally I couldn't live in a theocracy, but if it's what the population asks for, then what the hell. As pointed out above, this dude is against the sort of barbarisms that bloody the hands of the Iranian state

[MADem]

7. Not all of them do. A sizeable portion of the population don't want that.

They want a secular state that respects Islamic cultural tradition.

There are better choices for Supreme Leader, IMO.

[GeorgeGist]

5. "People in the know in Iran" make stuff up ...

I didn't need to read more to see that.