What He Will Bring from America
Last Friday Iran’s leader made a fiery speech at Tehran’s weekly prayer gathering in which he once again defiantly snubbed the power of the regime at its opponents. Coming on the eve of President Ahmadinejad’s trip to New York to attend the annual General Assembly meeting, the snub sends a special message.
Some opponents of the regime will simplistically compare the words of the leader that, “sympathy for the people of Israel is not the view of the government” with the remarks that Ahmadinejad made at a press interview in which he said, “Mashai’s message is my message and that of the government” (Mashai is Ahmadinejad’s vice-president who had a few months ago publicly stunned the hardliners by talking positively about friendship with Israeli people), and conclude that these two politicians have very opposing views. The reality however is something else.
The controversy over Mashai’s remarks and the finality of the storm it caused is indicative of an unfolding political plan. The implementation of similar plans by earlier administrations had failed because the leader, and right-wing groups in Iran, had opposed them. Today, however, the leader does not even attempt to hide his support for the current administration and its allies, creating an opportunity to go ahead with implementing plans that had proved impossible in the past.
Except for Ahmadinejad’s first trip to the UN which was to send a religious message when he claimed in his speech at the General Assembly that a halo of light surrounded his body as he stood at the podium, his trips to the US have been aimed at opening a channel to the White House.
And despite the humiliating gestures in the way the Americans issued entry visas to their country and tens of other more subtle barriers they created – whose reasons will be revealed in the future - Ahmadinejad has continued his knocks at the door by presenting different models and formulas to break the impasse, while George Bush’s administration has till now rejected each and every one of them. But the Iranians have not been dissuaded and have now relegated the task of building the ground for Iran-US relations to Mowlana and Amir Ahmadi.
It appears that in the latest scenario for Ahmadinejad to get close to the White House he must first retract his comments about Israel and the Holocaust, as a way to win the American heart. I think a roadmap has been prepared in this regard which would begin with Rahim Mashai publicly declaring friendship with the people of Israel. When he announced, “I will repeat this a thousand more times that we love the people of Israel and I am not afraid of anybody for saying this,” however, another hullabaloo erupted.
Clerics, theological centers, Friday prayer imams, 200 Majlis representatives, members of the Experts Assembly on Leadership, Majlis clerics etc, all protested the message to the point that even a resolution to subpoena the president to the Majlis was signed by eighty conservative MPs.
The president however not only ignored the protests, but responded with these words: “Clerics are respectable but we have to do what we have to do. You make your recommendations, but (bear in mind that) we cannot implement every recommendation that you make. The responsibility of running the country rests with us, and that has its own rules.” Even the former king of Iran, the Shah, could not utter such words in public. And with these words, the president clarified the issues, and subsequently stressed that, “Mashai’s words are my words and those of the government.”
The storm continued and required a larger intervention. This is when the leader of the Islamic regime stepped in to help the president, and through them stopped the growing protests against the fiery chief executive. At last week’s Friday prayers, he said that while talking about friendship with Israeli people was not right, there should be no attacks on the government because of Mashai’s words! In short: Stop the uproar and leave the government alone. End of the matter!
This message was immediately heard by Mashai who responded that he is a dedicated follower of the leader. Ali Motahari, an MP from Tehran who had initiated the process to subpoena the president to the Majlis, announced that they were removing the resolution and others too said that with the words of the leader, the issue had ended.
So with these words and maneuverings, the basis for Iran-US talks is now laid and we must wait to see what the president will bring from Washington. The outcome may result in a product that will require more propaganda (similar to the claims of seeing a “halo of light” or the “victory” at Columbia University) or a better product, which may come about because the president’s new advisors (Hushang Amir Ahmadi and Hamid Mowlana) being Americans with a better understanding of that society and its political workings, may perform better than his previous advisors.
Recent events in Iran clearly demonstrate that under Ahmadinejad’s administration, anything that is willed can be implemented, and, because of the total support of the leader, Iranian politicians and officials don’t have much to worry about. This is so because inside the country, everybody has accepted the regime. Stay tuned.
Some opponents of the regime will simplistically compare the words of the leader that, “sympathy for the people of Israel is not the view of the government” with the remarks that Ahmadinejad made at a press interview in which he said, “Mashai’s message is my message and that of the government” (Mashai is Ahmadinejad’s vice-president who had a few months ago publicly stunned the hardliners by talking positively about friendship with Israeli people), and conclude that these two politicians have very opposing views. The reality however is something else.
The controversy over Mashai’s remarks and the finality of the storm it caused is indicative of an unfolding political plan. The implementation of similar plans by earlier administrations had failed because the leader, and right-wing groups in Iran, had opposed them. Today, however, the leader does not even attempt to hide his support for the current administration and its allies, creating an opportunity to go ahead with implementing plans that had proved impossible in the past.
Except for Ahmadinejad’s first trip to the UN which was to send a religious message when he claimed in his speech at the General Assembly that a halo of light surrounded his body as he stood at the podium, his trips to the US have been aimed at opening a channel to the White House.
And despite the humiliating gestures in the way the Americans issued entry visas to their country and tens of other more subtle barriers they created – whose reasons will be revealed in the future - Ahmadinejad has continued his knocks at the door by presenting different models and formulas to break the impasse, while George Bush’s administration has till now rejected each and every one of them. But the Iranians have not been dissuaded and have now relegated the task of building the ground for Iran-US relations to Mowlana and Amir Ahmadi.
It appears that in the latest scenario for Ahmadinejad to get close to the White House he must first retract his comments about Israel and the Holocaust, as a way to win the American heart. I think a roadmap has been prepared in this regard which would begin with Rahim Mashai publicly declaring friendship with the people of Israel. When he announced, “I will repeat this a thousand more times that we love the people of Israel and I am not afraid of anybody for saying this,” however, another hullabaloo erupted.
Clerics, theological centers, Friday prayer imams, 200 Majlis representatives, members of the Experts Assembly on Leadership, Majlis clerics etc, all protested the message to the point that even a resolution to subpoena the president to the Majlis was signed by eighty conservative MPs.
The president however not only ignored the protests, but responded with these words: “Clerics are respectable but we have to do what we have to do. You make your recommendations, but (bear in mind that) we cannot implement every recommendation that you make. The responsibility of running the country rests with us, and that has its own rules.” Even the former king of Iran, the Shah, could not utter such words in public. And with these words, the president clarified the issues, and subsequently stressed that, “Mashai’s words are my words and those of the government.”
The storm continued and required a larger intervention. This is when the leader of the Islamic regime stepped in to help the president, and through them stopped the growing protests against the fiery chief executive. At last week’s Friday prayers, he said that while talking about friendship with Israeli people was not right, there should be no attacks on the government because of Mashai’s words! In short: Stop the uproar and leave the government alone. End of the matter!
This message was immediately heard by Mashai who responded that he is a dedicated follower of the leader. Ali Motahari, an MP from Tehran who had initiated the process to subpoena the president to the Majlis, announced that they were removing the resolution and others too said that with the words of the leader, the issue had ended.
So with these words and maneuverings, the basis for Iran-US talks is now laid and we must wait to see what the president will bring from Washington. The outcome may result in a product that will require more propaganda (similar to the claims of seeing a “halo of light” or the “victory” at Columbia University) or a better product, which may come about because the president’s new advisors (Hushang Amir Ahmadi and Hamid Mowlana) being Americans with a better understanding of that society and its political workings, may perform better than his previous advisors.
Recent events in Iran clearly demonstrate that under Ahmadinejad’s administration, anything that is willed can be implemented, and, because of the total support of the leader, Iranian politicians and officials don’t have much to worry about. This is so because inside the country, everybody has accepted the regime. Stay tuned.
posted by masoudbehnoud at 2:59 AM
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