Ahmadinejad on his way out?

MOSCOW. (Political scientist Ilgar Velizade for RIA Novosti) - One year from now Iran will hold presidential elections. Political changes are not frequent in that country, but each of them is invariably associated with the major political event of a five-year period. This time that applies to a recent article in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. It was written by one of the most influential Iranian politicians, Ali Akbar Velayati, who served as Iran's foreign minister for almost 17 years. Although Velayati has not played a prominent political role in the last few years, he has retained his political influence as a diplomatic advisor to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme religious leader. In his article, Velayati writes that from now on Khamenei will himself conduct talks on the nuclear program. In other words, he has... [read full story]