Iran Special: Did Parliament "Push to Oust Ahmadinejad"?

There are therefore two explanations to the Khamenei intervention on behalf of the President.

1. He wanted to avoid major embarassment for Ahmadinejad, who could have become the first president since the 1980s to be called into question by Parliament for his conduct, and left standing, but smarting and humiliated in front of the nation, which could have ostensibly followed the procedure live.

2. He was wary of the fact that Parliament could have voted a no-confidence motion which would have forced him to either confirm or throw out the impeachment.

It has to be reiterated that the "istizah" procedure of Parliament, to which Ahmadinejad was summoned, does not necessarily lead to impeachment.

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Iraq: Is There Now a Government and "Stability"?

Given Friday's headlines that Iraq was on the verge of a government, seven months after national elections, you might have expected a bit of relief today.

Not really.

It appears that current Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki may retain office after a deal between his State of Law Party and the representatives of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. However, the combination of the Shi'a factions raises a question as to whether Sunnis, who make up 20% of Iraq's population and enjoyed predominance in the Iraqi system until 2003, will be shut out. There is also the possibility of intra-Shi'a tension, with the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq excluded from the proposed Government.

So leading analyst Reidar Visser is more than cautious as well as scathing about what he sees as Washington's flailing, stemming from its long-time animosity towards Moqtada al-Sadr:

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