Chad Groening 
A defense analyst says even though Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a splash at the U.N. and at Columbia University during a recent trip to the U.S., he is apparently facing serious political problems at home.
Greg Copley, president of the International Strategic Studies Association, says the Russians are very concerned about the stability of their neighbor to the south. According to the defense analyst, events of the past few weeks have really started to unravel Ahmadinejad's hold on power.
"They have isolated Ahmadinejad from the military. So basically Ahmadinejad is on the defensive; the clerics are trying to close ranks," he says. "That doesn't mean that even the clerics who are opposed to Ahmadinejad [are] good guys, from the sense of being allies or potential allies of the west or the United States or even the Iranian people -- they are not. However, they are more cautious than Ahmadinejad, whom they regard as being reckless."
Coplet contends Ahmadinejad is clearly on the defensive trying to stop Grand Ayatollah Ali Khameni and former president Akbar Rafsanjani from removing him from office.
Original Source