IRAN is a dictatorship. They hold elections, but the dictatorship made up "of hardliners (representing the crisisJohn wrote:This is part of the debate between hardliners (representing the crisis
war survivors) and the moderates (representing the rising generations
who grew up after the war). However, this is by no means the official
Iranian position. Iranian officials would be delighted if they could
negotiate even a tiny reduction in the sanctions, because they would
see that as the step in a process that would quickly gather momentum.
war survivors)" has the power, and uses it, routinely, on a massive scale, to remove any candidate they do not want running from the ballot before the ballots are printed. They do this all the time.
Even when a politician goes rogue on them after he was pre-approved they have no problem using their militia and their army to strengthen their control of the country using extra-legal means. They ( hardliners - representing the crisis
war survivors ) directly control the courts and the large businesses of the country in addition to the government, the military, the police and the militias.
These people are negotiating over the terms of the West's capitulation on sanctions, which the West ( the United States and Great Britain ) has already promised them. Great Britain is already moving forward on restoring diplomatic relations with IRAN.
Obama is more afraid of his radicals losing control in the United States than the hardliners are fearful of losing control in Iran. Both beliefs may be irrational - but the hardliners in Iran have lived their entire lives fighting a secret war to the death with the United States, "Death to America", they are not going to break with what has worked well for them in the past. There is not a serious threat of war on Iran from the United States on the table, the greatest generation is just not afraid of Obama ( which is an accurate assesment of Obama ), nor ( rightly or wrongly ) are they afraid of the younger generation in Iran.
Obama and Cameron, both Generation Xers, are the desperate ones here. Not the crisis war survivors ( the greatest generation ) in IRAN who still firmly controls all aspects of that country, and are very self-confident.