Iranian Presidential Candidate Calls Ahmadinejad an Extremist

HA! New York Times

TEHRAN — Rejecting the policies of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as “extremist,” a leading presidential candidate said Monday that he favored improved relations with the West and greater individual freedoms at home.

Mir Hussein Moussavi, a former prime minister who announced his candidacy last month, lashed out at what he called “extremism” and “mismanagement” by Mr. Ahmadinejad, policies that he said were “jeopardizing the country’s interests.”

“We need to pursue an active foreign policy to achieve détente,” he said at a news conference here. “Extremism has cost us a high price. We have to work hard to build international confidence.”

But he said he would not back down from the country’s nuclear program, which began when he was prime minister from 1980 to 1988. Instead, he said, he would try to build international confidence that Iran’s nuclear ambitions were peaceful.

What difference does an Iranian president really make? The real power sits with the Mullahs.