Those focusing on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as being the important political figure in Iran are off base. That’s the feeling of Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice President of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, as articulated in the Yated Ne’eman newspaper in the US in an interview with Hoenlein published before Sukkos.
With elections scheduled for the presidency of Iran, Ahmadinejad “will be off the scene in a few months,” says Hoenlein, “and Khamenei would not let him run again. The divisions there are very deep.”
It is for this reason, says Hoenlein, that “we should not talk about Ahmadinejad and we should not demonstrate against Ahmadinejad, because he is not important. Khamenei is the critical person. If we make a big deal about Ahmadinejad, when he moves off the scene, people will delay and say, ‘They got a new president… You have to give it a chance… You have to work with him… We have to see…’”
If Khamenei is calling the shots, the regime policy will stay the same, said Hoenlein.
“Putting a new face on it is irrelevant,” he explained. “For people who always press about certain things, it’s important to understand that to focus on Ahmadinejad now will, in a few months, prove counterproductive.”
