The changes that are taking place in Iran after Ali Larijani, Iran’s former chief nuclear ‎negotiator and current advisor to ayatollah Khamenei, was elected as the new Speaker of ‎the Majlis is the subject of a discussion with political analyst and sociologist Abbas Abdi. ‎In response to a question about the importance of changes at senior political posts, he said ‎that the differences in the personalities were not essential. Read on for the interview.‎

Rooz (R ): What difference is Ali Larijani’s assent to the Speakership of the Majlis going ‎to show when compared to Haddad Adel’s leadership?‎

Abbas Abdi (AA): Larijani has the ability be a better negotiator and diplomatic speaker. ‎But both have many personal rivals in the Majlis whom they do not follow. By ‎organizational standards, the current Majlis Speaker has a stronger position, but not ‎strong enough to be able to manage the Majlis without problems by simply relying on his ‎organization.‎

R: Can one expect the (previous) seventh and (current) eight Majlis assemblies to be ‎different, particularly because the members of the latter were selected through a tighter ‎screening process?‎

AA: The differences are not fundamental. At least this is the case during the current ‎phase. Also, because of the selection method and defects of the elections, there is not ‎much difference between the nature of the two assemblies. It is possible that the current ‎Majlis may respond differently because of changed circumstances.‎

R: Who in your view is responsible for the economic mess in the country? Where does ‎the eight Majlis stand on this and how much can it change?‎

AA: Responsibility in the real sense is proportionate to power or authority. The ruling ‎system is now a monolith and the responsibility of the general direction of the country is ‎in the hands of the administration. The Majlis cannot solve problems on its own because ‎it is not independently detached from the political system in which it lives. The Majlis is ‎defined as part of the system and depends on it, and it is weaker than having the ability to ‎solve existing structural problems.‎

R: Some believe that with Larijani in the arena now, more criticism of Ahmadinejad may ‎be forthcoming because he does not see himself any less than the president and that he ‎would try to assert his independent position against the president?‎

AA: There is already plenty of criticism against Ahmadinejad! The problem is not the ‎presence or absence of criticism. The problem is that this criticism is not translating into ‎the social or media realm. If the criticism would expand into that dimension, the current ‎administration would have collapsed by now. I do not believe that the current Majlis or ‎its leader have the authority to achieve this.‎

R: It is believed that by becoming the Speaker of the Majlis, it is now less likely that he ‎would run for the presidency, while one can expect Haddad Adel now to run for the ‎presidency. What do you think?‎

AA: I disagree. In view of what has happened to Haddad Adel I doubt that he would try ‎to challenge the current administration. People will say that when you thought that he ‎does not deserve to be the Majlis leader, how could you propose an even more serious ‎post to him.‎

R: After the elections in the US, could a moderate Larijani and a hardline Ahmadinejad ‎be the two wings that would offer an olive branch to the US? Will they pursue the policy ‎of getting close to the US?‎

AA: If the Iranian regime could play these games with such precision and planning, there ‎would be hope! But I believe the ability to play such games does not exist in the political ‎structure of Iran. ‎