Put this one in the I'll-believe-it-when-I-see-it category.The internet has been abuzz the last few days about a article that appeared in the German publication Die Zeit. The piece (translated to English from the original German here by Paleene of Anonymous Iran) alleges that a "special committee of experts" is looking into the possibility of replacing Ahmadinejad with current Mayor of Tehran and right-wing conservative Mohammad Qalibaf.
Qalibaf, who ran in the 2005 presidential election, is similar to Ali Larijani in that he is loyal to Supreme Leader Khamenei while despising Ahmadinejad. Interestingly, it has also been announced that the City of Tehran will audit the accounts of the Mayor's office between the years of 2003-2005. While Qalibaf is the current mayor, none other than Ahmadinejad held the post for the years in question from which an estimated $300 million dollars went missing.
More explosive still, the Die Zeit piece also reports that a new system of Supreme Leaders (with an 's') is also being considered, one which would replace the current monopoly Khamenei has to the post and where each cleric would have a set term-limit.
All-in-all, with everything else that has been coming out from the moderate-conservatives within the regime, such a monumental concession (not to mention fundamental change to the Islamic Republic's constitution) seems light-years away. If anything else, the political calculus of so squarely coming out against Khamenei remains too high.
