Assassination Attempt?

The official regime response is "no," but several accounts hold otherwise, stating that a homemade grenade was tossed at the embattled president. Were Ahmadinejad to be actually assassinated, it would be a blow not just to the regime, but paradoxically, also to the Greens as it would (1) provide the government with perfect propaganda piece to again claim that the Green Movement is a Western/CIA/Israeli concoction aimed at creating an internal security threat, (2) give the IRGC apparatus precisely the pretext it needs to broaden its crackdown on opposition reformists and dissidents, and (3) frighten disunified conservatives into mending fences and increasing their group cohesion. Whereas Ahmadinejad can be easily replaced, his short-sightedness and megalomania, while immediately devastating for Iran, in a sense serve the Greens' interests. Any attempt to break from the Green Charter's non-violent and peaceful methods of resistance would not only be counter-productive, but may prove extremely dangerous as the power-grab for the reigns of the Islamic Republic is far from over, even fourteen months from last year's contested election.

(Photo: Reuters)