海角大神

Iran鈥檚 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today ascended to the global stage one last time, capping his tumultuous eight-year presidency with an anti-Israel harangue that made no mention of the political damage he is widely perceived as inflicting upon the Islamic Republic and its leadership.聽

Damage control from Mr. Ahmadinejad鈥檚 legacy at home and abroad is sure to absorb much of the early work of the incoming centrist President-elect Hassan Rohani, who brings with him expectations of sweeping change.聽

The cleric and former nuclear negotiator has promised an economic turnaround, easing Iran鈥檚 isolation, nuclear 鈥渢ransparency,鈥� and above all, moderation. He will be sworn into office聽on Sunday.

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There are already promising signs. Although they lean conservative,聽Mr. Rohani鈥檚 cabinet selections span much of Iran鈥檚 wide political spectrum, indicating that the new president is trying to avoid past pitfalls.聽

鈥淚t鈥檚 exactly the opposite of Ahmadinejad鈥檚 closed circle of people,鈥� says a veteran analyst in Tehran who asked not to be named. 鈥淩ohani is choosing from various groups of people. This is a lesson learned: If you keep everyone to some degree happy, there is more chance of achieving something, and less hew and cry when he makes a decision that seems controversial.鈥�

鈥淥ut of the negativity of Ahmadinejad has appeared something that we predicted would come years ago, but didn鈥檛 come: a new power in the center that would grow to include moderates from both sides,鈥� says the analyst. 聽聽

The downward spiral

By far Iran鈥檚 most divisive president since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Mr. Ahmadinejad鈥檚 populist tactics, humble origins as a blacksmith鈥檚 son, and fearless attacks against Israel, Zionism, and most famously the Holocaust, won him early praise at home and across the Middle East.

But his fraud-tainted reelection in 2009 鈥� in which Iran鈥檚 supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called Ahmadinejad鈥檚 victory a 鈥渄ivine assessment鈥� that could not be challenged 鈥撀爏parked months of聽protests that were crushed violently, and a spiral of economic mismanagement and unprecedented challenges to Mr. Khamenei鈥檚 own power.

Not only did Ahmadinejad increasingly view his post as an imperial presidency 鈥� racking up in one year a record 4,943 notifications from parliament for failing to implement the law 鈥撀燽ut his second term saw a surge in US-led global sanctions against Iran and dangerous deadlock in nuclear talks.

鈥淭he more [Ahmadinejad] challenged the very foundations of the Islamic regime such as the legislative bodies, the more he was seen as a threat to the country and the Islamic system,鈥� says another political analyst in Tehran, who also asked not to be named.

Ahmadinejad stood up to Khamenei over several top appointments, would sometimes sulk for days, and frequently threatened (鈥淪hould I say? Should I say?鈥� he would ask) to expose high-level wrongdoing among political enemies gleaned from intelligence files.

鈥淗is challenges to the Leader weakened both [and] actually broke a taboo,鈥� says the second analyst. 鈥淎hmadinejad鈥檚 presence in power has weakened the position of the Leader in society and among political players鈥�. Ahmadinejad鈥檚 challenge had one result: Diminishing [Khamenei鈥檚] authority.鈥�

From regime darling to outsider

Iran experts say the apparently clean conduct of the mid-June election that gave Rohani just over half the overall count, more than all five of his harder-line conservative opponents combined, has by itself begun to repair the damage wrought by both Ahmadinejad and the 2009 events. 聽聽

Yet today, instead of trying to polish his own legacy for the history books, Ahmadinejad marked Jerusalem Day 鈥撀爓hich in Israel marks the reunification of the ancient city 鈥� in typical combative fashion, claiming that American leaders were 鈥渁ll鈥� Zionists; that US presidents had to 鈥渒neel in front of Zionism鈥� before becoming candidates; and that viruses had been released around the world in order to sell vaccines at higher prices.

鈥淵our happiness will not last long. The main wave of awakening is just ahead鈥�. You have no place in our region,鈥� the outgoing president warned, according to a simultaneous translation by state-run PressTV. 鈥淎 storm is on the way, I鈥檓 sure, and that will annihilate the Zionist regime.鈥澛�

Few listen to Ahmadinejad in Iran anymore, and politicians and newspapers have been scathing in their assessments both of his record, and of his mishandling of facts. Since the president鈥檚 tussle with Khamenei鈥檚 over the choice of intelligence minister in 2011, it has been open season against Ahmadinejad even from fellow conservatives, who accused him of leading a 鈥渄eviant current,鈥� and of 鈥渟orcery鈥� among his top aides.

In interviews this week, Ahmadinejad said he had not passed a 鈥渞ed light鈥� in ignoring the law and that is was his job to 鈥渟afeguard鈥� the constitution. But Iranian media listed the presidential highlights as a $2.6 billion fraud by top officials, and only 542,000 jobs created in eight years, not the 7 million claimed by the government.聽

The head of Rohani鈥檚 transition team, Akbar Torkan, told Shargh newspaper that many of the 鈥渇acts鈥� presented by Ahmadinejad鈥檚 government to Khamenei were wrong, and an apparent bid to burnish achievements. Torkan said the outgoing cabinet reported building 63,500 kilometers (almost 40,000 miles) of road, for example, but that the actual figure was a quarter that, with the rest only maintenance of rural roads.

鈥淭here are similar mistakes鈥� that have made the reports inaccurate,鈥� Mr. Torkan said.

Pithily, the powerful conservative lawmaker Ahmad Tavakoli told Etemaad newspaper: 鈥淎hmadinejad is the third millennium鈥檚 wonder and will never be repeated.鈥�

Indeed, parliamentarian Ali Motahari responded this week to calls for apologies before any release from house arrest of two former 2009 presidential candidates, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who led the Green Movement protests.

鈥淚f these two must apologize, is there not a need for an apology from Mr. Ahmadinejad, who prepared the firewood of sedition with his behavior and opinion?鈥� Mr. Motahari asked.

The butt of jokes聽

Another key correction will be restoration of a management body, after Ahmadinejad dismantled the Management and Planning Organization.

Under the slogan of change, Ahmadinejad broke the circuit of experienced managers who moved from job to job in the Islamic system, kicking them out to make way for a new generation.

鈥淭he idea was good, but the way he did it was a disaster,鈥� says the first Tehran analyst. 鈥淗e was so pessimistic toward intellectuals, towards bureaucrats, technocrats, typical of somebody who came from below with all the complexes and with all the problems.鈥澛�

The diminutive president 鈥� whose aides would quietly push a step up to the podium before speeches, so Ahmadinejad would reach the microphones 鈥� was a flamboyant speaker who oversaw a bid to expand Iran鈥檚 鈥渟oft power鈥� in South America, Africa and the Middle East, and reveled in the launch of Iran鈥檚 first space satellites, and its scientific nuclear and nanotechnology progress.聽

He declared Iran a 鈥渟uperpower, real and true,鈥� and in 2008 said the Shiite Messiah, the Mahdi, was in charge of the Islamic Republic鈥檚 destiny. In fact, his barely hidden belief in the Mahdi鈥檚 imminent return was greeted by many clerics as superstitious politicking.

鈥淲e see the hand of this holy management every day. God knows that we see it,鈥� Ahmadinejad declared.

In the first 100 days of Ahmadinejad鈥檚 rule in 2005, Iranians joked that in that short time he had spawned more jokes than every one of Persia鈥檚 long line of presidents, monarchs, and rulers combined.聽

Today, one of the many jokes among Iranians is that Ahmadinejad should now be put into a museum, and exhibited every time someone says they don鈥檛 want to vote. It refers to the 2005 election, when many supporters of Ahmadinejad鈥檚 rivals stayed at home and 鈥渄id not believe the danger鈥� his presidency would create.聽