Ahmadinejad's Iran, does it belong to the West or to the East

Op-Ed Contributor - Iran’s Hidden Revolution - NYTimes.com: "Meanwhile, the Iranian people will have suffered the consolidation of power by a ruthless regime and the transformation of a theocracy to an ideological military dictatorship. That Iran neither needs nor wants accommodation with the West."

Danielle Pletka and Ali Alfoneh discuss the transformation of the theocracy Iran to that of an ideological military dictatorship. However, I have not seen any discussion about whether Iran and its president Ahmadinejad prefers the East of SCO or the West. Other than complaint of the West from the regime, which does not automatically transfers to love of East.

As Ahmadinejad flew to Yekaterinburg for the SCO conference in the middle of the turnmoil on the streets of Tehran, a city at the Russian border between Asia and Europe, I wonder if not the population of Iran is split between the two poles. On one hand the workers, poor and pious that support Ahmadinejad and on the other hand the more Western style educated young urban individuals that probably took the opportunity to express their discontent.

I must admit that I have not quite understood what actually happened in Iran during the election. The two candidates are not all that different, functionally speaking. It seems likely that it is influence from friends and relatives in the West that have a part in the demonstrations. Was it a trick for the rulers to find dissident leaders? The dictatorship in Iran might not need or want the West but how about all these young people--a boom of young that could either be the future of Iran or a giant army for adventurism in the Middle East.

Maybe Ahmadinejad wants to be great in between West and East. A Middle Kingdom. A new Persia. Will he accept leadership from Russia or China in the SCO?