Juan Cole has a post up today on his Informed Comment blog, "The Letter: Top 5 Similarities of GOP and Iran Hard Liners".
He begins his post by noting President Obama's reaction to the GOP's very concerned letter of infamy:
President Obama objected, saying, “I think it’s somewhat ironic to see some members of Congress wanting to make common cause with the hardliners in Iran. It’s an unusual coalition . . .”
And, of course, Obama is right that the right wing of the Republican Party has things in common with hard liners in Iran.
Take a look at the link to get details of the points of comparison, which include shared views about abortion, science, and war:
Both the GOP and Iran hardliners have a fascination with foreign military entanglements.
And of course the current
negotiations about Iran's enrichment program:
Like the GOP hardliners, the Iran hardliners have tried on several occasions to derail the negotiations.
Conclusion?
So President Obama is perfectly correct. The GOP and Iran hardliners have a great deal in common. Only, the Iran hardliners don’t deny global warming.
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As for those Iranian hardliners, it's being reported that former Iranian President Rafsanjani, certainly no liberal himself, has taken to attacking them as "The Concerned", comparing them to Netanyahu:
He said that even the negotiators have repeatedly said that they are “pushing forward with the supreme leader’s plans” in the nuclear talks, “but I don’t know what happens to them that these ‘concerned’ parties are in harmony with Netanyahu.” “The concerned” is how critics of a prospective nuclear deal once referred themselves, and the name has caught on in the Iranian media and is used for hard-liners opposed to a deal.
In response to Netanyahu’s trip to the United States, drawing a parallel between different destructive behaviors, Rafsanjani said, “He went there to provoke [President Barack] Obama, and here the concerned say they will reveal secrets.”
Rafsanjani said that the comments made by some members of parliament against the negotiators are not constructive criticism but rather “destructive and spiteful,” and asked why they are silent when it comes to cases of economic corruption but take positions against an “issue that is for the protection of the country and world relations.”
Concern trolls gonna concern troll...