EVER GREASIER SKIDS:

Rebuke in Iran to Its President on Nuclear Role (NAZILA FATHI and MICHAEL SLACKMAN, 1/19/07, NY Times)

Iran's outspoken president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, appears to be under pressure from the highest authorities in Iran to end his involvement in its nuclear program, a sign that his political capital is declining as his country comes under increasing international pressure.

Just one month after the United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran to curb its nuclear program, two hard-line newspapers, including one owned by the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called on the president to stay out of all matters nuclear.

In the hazy world of Iranian politics, such a public rebuke was seen as a sign that the supreme leader -- who has final say on all matters of state -- might no longer support the president as the public face of defiance to the West.

Indeed, it's so hazy that these guys can't even figure out that the Ayatollah never supported Mahmoud.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 19, 2007 10:51 AM