IRAN: AHMADINEJAD TAKES A POLITICAL BEATING, BUT RETAINS FRONT-RUNNER ROLE

EURASIA report, here

"...Adding to Ahmadinejad's troubles, his political opponents within the conservative establishment have seized the initiative on a key presidential campaign issue -- Iranian-US relations. Larijani on March 25 occupied the hardliner high ground from Ahmadinejad by coming out forcefully against US President Barack Obama's recent olive branch address, made in connection with the Iranian new year on March 21...

The combination of bad news for the incumbent appears to have emboldened reformists in Iran, who have largely wandered in the political wilderness since Ahmadinejad's landslide election win in 2005. The man who Ahmadinejad forcefully defeated in that election, Ayatollah Mohammad Khatami, has issued a call for a united front of political forces to oppose Ahmadinejad's reelection.

With less than three months until election day, Ahmadinejad, given the bevy of recent setbacks, would seem like a lock to be a one-term president in most countries. But in Iran, where democratic mechanisms are checked by powerful institutions that operate beyond the reach of the electorate, Ahmadinejad still has ample reason to feel confident about his reelection prospects..."