Originally Posted by
Niroshi
On Iran: Why are we always so focused on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, instead of Ali Khamenei? The Ayatollah (as the real leader of Iran) seems decidedly anti-nuclear weapon, and anti-first strike against Israel. It seems silly to focus so much on the President when the Ayatollah holds most of the power in the country, including when and how to use military force.
There is also now a contention about Ahmadinejad's remarks of "wiping Israel off the map", that what was actually said was that basically the regime would collapse, but the previous statement was easier to sell to demonize the President of Iran and so the media ran with that.
It could be assumed that the Ayatollah is simply lying, but honestly how can you deal with a nation when you automatically assume that anything they say to contradict your narrative is a lie?