With the spectacular branding of French first lady, Carla Bruni, by the Iranian state media as ‘prostitute’, the world once again becomes witness to the cultural mindset of Iran’s political elite running the country. This is only one aspect into the narrow circle in charge of decision making in Iran. The insistence of this group that surround Ahmadinejad on vulgar language and their openness to embarrassing Iran on world stage stem from the social strata they come from.
They are mostly once poor peasants who migrated to big cities over the past two to three decades. Today they are part of an extremely powerful Nouveau riche class with a firm belief in violence when it comes to social control. Ahmadinejad’s saber rattling language, his disastrous economic policies, his firm belief in violence, his lack of respect for diplomatic language, and his actions in bringing the Iranian economy to the brink all point to one big question:
Is Iran under Ahmadinejad getting closer to its tipping point for change? Stay tuned as this question will be answered by events that will pan out over the next six to nine months.
