"But right-wingers will probably see that this is a bad thing too."

I think it would be a great thing for Akmadinajad and the rest of the World to live in Peace..
I think it is very sad the weak, meak, naive and pathetic, are so easily fooled to believe it will happen..
Never under estimate the consequences of hope obscuring reality..

     Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami confirmed yesterday that he is running for president in the June election. If  a fair election is held, he has a good chance of winning. Ahmadinejad knows this and is publicly moving to the middle to attract voters beyond his hard core conservative base. He has no need to animate his own base who hate Mr Khatami anyway.

       Although poorly covered in the western press, Mr. Khatami's announcement is a significant event. He is far better educated that Ahmadinejad and is far more likely to make sincere efforts to improve relations with the US than is the current president. For Iranians, his election will make a significant change in their daily lives as he favors liberal interpretation of the Islamic law that overlays the secular law.

        While Ahmadinejad has been overly villified for his inaccurately translated speech about wiping out Israel, most observers agree that Mr. Khatami would be far more likely to improve- or least not worsen - Israel/Iran relations as well.

         In reality the June elections will do more to determine the future course of US-Iran relations than any diplomatic initiative and it makes no sense for President Obama to make any real efforts to improve relations until the election has been decided.

to paraphrase Phillip Sheridan

the only good Iranian isa dead Iranian.

I an interested in going to Iran - in division strength, and not necessarilly  or announced beforehand.