IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS - AT 10:05 A.M. ET:  For those of you planning to vote in the upcoming Iranian election, there is significant advice this morning from the Supreme Guide.  Please take notes:

Iran's supreme leader on Monday urged Iranians not to vote for pro-Western candidates in the June 12 presidential election, though he gave no clear indication of whether he was supporting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei holds ultimate power in Iran, at the top of the clerical hierarchy above elected figures. His position is crucial for any candidate to win the vote, though he has never made his choice public.

COMMENT:  The hilarity here is that we're regularly assured by Iran's flacks in America that we should not listen to Ahmadinejad because Khamenei is the major power, as if Khamenei were some kind of pacifist.  Khamenei is a vicious, America-hating fanatic.  He is no moderate.  The story tries to say that he has not endorsed Ahmadinejad, but Ahmadinejad could not remain in power without him. Of course he's backing Ahamdinejad.  Let's wake up, journalists.

May 18, 2009