If it were possible for US-Iranian relations to get any worse, they just did.President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has replaced long time nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani - a powerful, well connected conservative who is also Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran - with Saeed Jalili, an inexperienced deputy foreign minister for European and American Affairs.The significance of this move cannot be overstated. Ed Lasky explains:  As Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei is reportedly very ill, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been angling to place his own supporters in key positions of power. The Iranian Parliament has been cleansed to a great extent of those who may oppose his rule, labor unionists have been jailed, university professors sacked, businessmen forced to emigrate, moderate religious leaders (a relative term in Iran) have been isolated in small towns, media outlets that may be able to express opposition to Ahmadinejad have been shut down. Now the next...(Read Full Post)