Pedestrian

There have been all sorts of conflicting reports the past few days about a “national unity plan“. Seems to me that the hardcore principalists don’t want to be left behind in this.

Parleman News, the website that belongs to reformist MPs, wrote that the “Iran Conciliation Plan” is close to a final draft. All sorts of issues will be addressed, including state of prisoners, and future strategies.

At the same time, it has been reported that a team on the far-right has been coming up with plans of their own.

Raja News has FIVE stories on that today. It wrote this morning that the six members of the team are finalizing the plan, but that “Rafsanjani is trying to get in the way.”

You see, in his speech to the Assembly of Experts, Rafsanjani spoke of a plan. He has for a long time. Now, the right is claiming that this plan “is not his, but in fact was being written by six members of the principalist faction” (Asgar Oladi, Haddad Adel, Mirsalim, Bahonar, Morteza Nabavi and Mozaffar.)

Raja News reports that “trusted sources” have told them: “this group has met and has come up with ideas, but Rafsanjani is trying to get in the way.”

In a separate entry, they write about Ayatollah Nouri Hamedani’s “views on Rafsanjani’s plan” and he says: “there is no meaning in wanting to strike unity with traitors and Zionists: those who are against the leader. Unity must take place around a common axis and that is the leader.”

In another entry in Fars News, they speak to Hojatoleslam Sedighi, the new member of Tehran’s Friday Prayer Group who addresses “rumors concerning a national unity plan” and that “such a plan only makes sense if it centers around the leader.”

They have a separate post on Rafsanjani’s speech during the closed door session of the Assembly of Experts in which they claim Rafsanjani has spoken at lengths about the merits of the leader and has said:  “Some think I said that the legitimacy of the system comes from the people. That is false. It comes from the leader.”

There’s also a separate post in which Tehran’s police chief talks about “the irrelevance of a unity plan.” since such a plan would “give legitimacy to the preposterous antics of some.” He stresses that such a plan must not give any legitimacy to these folks.

Rafsanjani has spoken of a plan.  And the Mousavi/Karoubi camp have long been talking about their efforts to write a draft of one. I think they have thus far been waiting to test the waters.

Now, the other side doesn’t want to be left behind and is trying to release a plan of their own. They don’t want the Mousavi camp to be the group to come up with “the” national unity plan. Which is just funny, since Mousavi and Rafsanjani after him were the ones who have been talking about a plan for months.

RajaNews and FarsNews sound like a kid who suddenly decides to steal his classmate’s homework.

Sure, they could have waited for Mousavi’s and ignored it, but they know that it will be read by a whole lot of people, “national unity” is of utmost importance right now, and as much as they can yell and holler that nothing has happened, they know the cords it will strike and they want theirs to be front page news.

Sure their plan is going to suck big time, and it’s going to be the one to receive attention from administrative bodies, but I think that the mere fact that Ahmadi & Co are scrambling to come up with a plan is progress for them and a victory for the greens (although, Ahmadi & Co. may be a misleading term. The six members of the group are far right, but not associated with Ahmadienadj’s closest circle). They’ve had no choice to but to resort to the same tactics as the greens!