Kadhafi et Ahmadinejad dénoncent la répression des émeutes en Grande-Bretagne
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: La Libye et l'Iran dénoncent mercredi l'attitude des forces de l'ordre à l'égard des émeutiers en Grande-Bretagne. Mouammar Kadhafi affirme même que David Cameron doit quitter le gouvernement.

Considérés comme des parias par Londres et la communauté internationale, la Libye et l’Iran n’ont pas raté l’occasion pour dénoncer la "répression" des émeutiers en Grande-Bretagne, Tripoli allant jusqu’à affirmer que le Premier ministre britannique a "perdu sa légitimité".

"Cameron et son gouvernement doivent partir après les manifestations populaires contre eux et la violente répression exercée par sa police contre ceux qui ont participé à ces manifestations pacifiques", a déclaré le vice-ministre libyen aux Affaires étrangères, Khaled Kaaim, cité mercredi par l’agence officielle Jana.

"Cameron et son gouvernement ont perdu toute légitimité", a-t-il ajouté, au moment où Londres et ses alliés au sein de l’Otan s’efforcent de déloger le régime du colonel Mouammar Kadhafi accusé de réprimer dans le sang une insurrection qui s’est déclenchée en février.

Selon lui, "ces manifestations montrent que le peuple britannique rejette ce gouvernement, qui tente de s’imposer par la force". » | AFP | Mercredi 10 Août 2011

Close Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Aide Arrested
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran's president, suffered a further blow on Thursday after one of his closest aides was arrested, in an escalation of a feud with the Islamic state's Supreme Leader.

Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh who was forced to resign as deputy foreign minister on Tuesday just days after his appointment after a backlash from mainstream conservatives loyal to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was arrested on Thursday on corruption charges.

Mr Malekzadeh was a senior official in the high council of Iranian foreign affairs, run by Mr Ahmadinejad's chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, whom conservatives accuse of disloyalty.

Western officials based in Tehran said Mr Ahmadinejad was under pressure after an unsuccessful power grab in which he had tried to install loyalists in the powerful intelligence and oil ministries. » | Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Thursday, June 23, 2011

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Ally Forced to Resign as Pressure Grows on Iran President

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad suffered a devastating blow to his authority on Tuesday as MPs forced the resignation of one of his closest allies amid growing domestic opposition to his radical leadership.

Fury over Mr Ahmadinejad's handling of government appointments has risen steadily within the mainstream conservative majority in the country's parliament.

Mohammad Sharif Malekzadeh, who had been appointed deputy foreign minister just four days ago, was forced to resign after a backlash in parliament. MPs had started impeachment procedures against Ali Akbar Salehi, the foreign minister, for elevating a man with a criminal background as his deputy.

Mr Malekzadeh said his resignation should remove the threat of impeachment. "Despite dastardly manipulations and plentiful injustices done against me, I can't accept that you suffer from unjust pressures because of me," he wrote to Mr Salehi.

Despite the abject tone of the letter, MPs vowed to press ahead with the impeachment of Mr Salehi.

Political analysts suggest the ultimate target of the MPs is Mr Ahmadinejad and his controversial right hand man, Esfandiar Mashaie, the president's chief of staff. Mr Malekzadeh served as foreign affairs adviser to the chief of staff.

Mr Ahmadinejad is believed to be viewed with suspicion by the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, who holds ultimate authority in official matters. Mr Mashaie, who's son is married to the president's daughter, has been accused of orchestrating secret contacts with Iran's enemies, including the US, Saudi Arabia and Israel. » | Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Iran's President Admits Rift with Country's Senior Islamic Figures

THE GUARDIAN: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announces he is on 'opposite side' to those who accuse him of revolutionary deviancy

Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has admitted for the first time that a rift has developed between him and some of the most senior figures of the Islamic regime.

In a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday, the first since news emerged of his power struggle with the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the president said: "It is very clear now that we are 180 degrees away from them – we are actually on opposite sides."

He pointed the finger at ruling conservatives, who have accused the government of "revolutionary deviancy", while playing down suggestions that he has been at odds with Ali Khamenei.

In recent months, conservatives close to the supreme leader have launched an extensive campaign against the president and his allies, who they believe are undermining the supremacy of the leader.

Senior figures in the powerful revolutionary guards and some of the most prominent clerics in the country who have supported Ahmadinejad in the past are now distancing themselves from him.

Those who remain in his camp have faced accusations of "sorcery", "deviancy" and even espionage, and some presidential aides have been arrested.

"They arrested those people. Good for them," Ahmadinejad said. » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Says Europe 'Stealing Iran's Rain'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accused Western countries of plotting to "cause drought" in Iran by using high tech equipment to drain the clouds of raindrops.

Moments after the Iranian president made the startling claim at the inauguration of a dam in a central province, it started to rain.

"Western countries have designed plans to cause drought in certain areas of the world, including Iran," Mr Ahmadinejad said in the city of Arak in Markazi province.

"According to reports on climate, whose accuracy has been verified, European countries are using special equipment to force clouds to dump" their water on their continent, he said.

By doing so, "they prevent rain clouds from reaching regional countries, including Iran," Mr Ahmadinejad charged.

Iran has experienced several droughts in recent years. » | Barney Henderson | Saturday, May 21, 2011

Inside Story: Iran's Power Struggle
Inside Story, discusses with Mohammed Syed Marandi, professor of political science at Tehran University; Mehrdad Khonsari, a former Iranian diplomat; and Majoob Zweiri, an expert on Iran

Speculation Intensifies Over Iranian Political Situation
Iran is rife with speculation that president Mahmoud Ahmadenijad may be about to resign over a feud with the country's supreme leader.

Last month Ahmadinejad sacked Iran's intelligence chief, Heydar Moslehi, in a move that the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei quickly overruled.

Al Jazeera's Dorsa Jabbari explains the situation from the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Current Iranian Politics
There's a dramatic feud at the highest level of Iran's government, with speculation president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may quit.

Al Jazeera explains the key players involved

Ahmadinejad Allies Charged with Sorcery
THE GUARDIAN: Iranian power struggle between president and supreme leader sees arrests and claims of undue influence of chief of staff

Close allies of Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have been accused of using supernatural powers to further his policies amid an increasingly bitter power struggle between him and the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Several people said to be close to the president and his chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, have been arrested in recent days and charged with being "magicians" and invoking djinns (spirits).

Ayandeh, an Iranian news website, described one of the arrested men, Abbas Ghaffari, as "a man with special skills in metaphysics and connections with the unknown worlds".

The arrests come amid a growing rift between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei which has prompted several MPs to call for the president to be impeached. » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Thursday, May 05, 2011

Ahmadinejad Grooms Chief-of-Staff to Take Over as Iran's President
THE GUARDIAN: Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei is controversial figure at odds with religious leaders, according to leaked embassy cable

A close ally of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who favours cultural openness and opposes greater clerical involvement in politics, is being groomed as a possible successor to the Iranian president when he steps down in two years time.

Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, Ahmadinejad's chief-of-staff, is positioning himself as a candidate who will champion a nationalist rather than a theological narrative of Iran. Mashaei, whose daughter married Ahmadinejad's son, has become the most controversial political figure in Iran, provoking harsh criticism from the conservative establishment, including the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Hardliners close to Khamenei have accused Mashaei of compromising the Islamic Revolution and the principles of Islam by focusing on Persian history.

Mashaei infuriated conservatives in 2008 when he said that Iranians are "friends of all people in the world – even Israelis". He was also criticised for applauding at a ceremony in Turkey in which women performed a traditional dance. Women are not allowed to dance in Iran. » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan | Thursday, April 21, 2011

Robert Fisk: First It Was Saddam. Then Gaddafi. Now There's a Vacancy for the West's Favourite Crackpot Tyrant
THE INDEPENDENT: Gaddafi is completely bonkers, a crackpot on the level of Ahmadinejad and Lieberman

So we are going to take "all necessary measures" to protect the civilians of Libya, are we? Pity we didn't think of that 42 years ago. Or 41 years ago. Or... well, you know the rest. And let's not be fooled by what the UN resolution really means. Yet again, it's going to be regime-change. And just as in Iraq – to use one of Tom Friedman's only memorable phrases of the time – when the latest dictator goes, who knows what kind of bats will come flying out of the box?

And after Tunisia, after Egypt, it's got to be Libya, hasn't it? The Arabs of North Africa are demanding freedom, democracy, liberation from oppression. Yes, that's what they have in common. But what these nations also have in common is that it was us, the West, that nurtured their dictatorships decade after decade after decade. The French cuddled up to Ben Ali, the Americans stroked Mubarak, while the Italians groomed Gaddafi until our own glorious leader went to resurrect him from the political dead.

Could this be, I wonder, why we have not heard from Lord Blair of Isfahan recently? Surely he should be up there, clapping his hands with glee at another humanitarian intervention. Perhaps he is just resting between parts. Or maybe, like the dragons in Spenser's Faerie Queen, he is quietly vomiting forth Catholic tracts with all the enthusiasm of a Gaddafi in full flow. » | Robert Fisk | Saturday, March 19, 2011

Ahmadinejad: "Islamische Revolution ist global"
DIE PRESSE: Der Iran feiert am Freitag den 32. Jahrestag der Revolution. Präsident Ahmadinejad nennt die islamische Bewegung die einzig überlebensfähige Ideologie.

Hunderttausende Menschen haben sich am Freitag im Zentrum der iranischen Hauptstadt Teheran zu der Feier des 32. Jahrestages der Iranischen Revolution versammelt. Präsident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rief in einer Ansprache auf dem Asadi-Platz den Westen auf, sich nicht in die Geschicke Ägyptens und Tunesiens einzumischen. Zugleich äußerte er seine Unterstützung für die Proteste in Kairo.

"Ich sage den Völkern und der Jugend der islamischen und arabischen Länder, insbesondere den Ägyptern: Seid wachsam. Es ist euer Recht frei zu sein, eure Regierung und eure Führung zu wählen", sagte der Präsident. "Die Islamische Revolution war ein Anfang mit einem offenen Ende und sollte nicht mehr als nationale, sondern vielmehr als globale Bewegung betrachtet werden." "Kapitalismus wird zusammenbrechen" >>> Ag. | Freitag, 11. Februar 2011

Ahmadinejad: No Israel, US in New Middle East
YNET NEWS: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during a speech in Tehran at a rally marking the 32nd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution that "the new Middle East will turn into an area without the United States and Zionist regime."

Ahmadinejad told a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people, "The entire world will experience the sweet taste of a world without Zionists and thugs." He called on the West not to intervene in the situation in Egypt and Tunisia and allow the people "to make their own decisions". (Dudi Cohen) [Source: Ynet News] | Friday, February 11, 2011

Iran Sees 'Islamic Republic of Tunisia' Coming Soon
MIDDLE EAST ONLINE: In one word, the Tunisians are after establishing Islamic law and rules: Ahmadinejad.

TEHRAN - Tunisians are on the path to establishing Islamic rule in their country after having toppled a Western-backed dictator, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday.

"It is very clear that the nation of Tunisia rose up against a Western-backed dictator using Islamic, humane, monotheistic and justice-seeking slogans," he told a cheering crowd in the central city of Yazd.

"In one word, the Tunisians are after establishing Islamic law and rules," the hardliner said in a speech broadcast live on state television.

Lawmakers from Iran's conservative parliament voiced their support on Tuesday for what they said is the "revolutionary movement" of the Tunisian people, the Fars news agency reported.

"The parliament of the great Iranian nation strongly supports the revolutionary movement of the brave Tunisian people ... and wishes success to them," a statement signed by 228 members of the 290-strong parliament said.

"The freedom-seeking scream of the people of Tunisia ended the tyranny and atrocity and put a smile on the face of the oppressed people of Tunisia," said the statement. >>> Middle East Online | Thursday, January 20, 2011

Iran Tells EU It Is Willing to Restart Nuclear Talks
THE GUARDIAN: Tehran ready to hold talks 'in a place and on a date convenient to both sides', says letter to EU foreign policy chief

Iran has said it is willing to resume the stalled international talks over its contentious nuclear programme, the EU said today.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, sent the EU's foreign policy chief, the British peer Lady Ashton, a letter saying he was prepared to continue the talks, which halted a year ago, "in a place and on a date convenient to both sides" after 10 November.

"I think this is a very significant move," Ashton told reporters at the EU summit in Brussels. Earlier this month Ashton – who is the main contact point for Iran in talks involving Britain, France and Germany along with the US, Russia and China – invited Jalili for three days of negotiations in Vienna next month.

One unnamed EU diplomat told Reuters the meeting could now take place in Geneva instead and that the aim was for three days of talks with "everything on the table", including a general discussion of Iran's nuclear activities. "We see this all as a very positive sign, there is a strong sense of optimism," the diplomat said. >>> Peter Walker and agencies | Friday, October 29, 2010

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Iran agrees to nuclear talks as sanctions bite: Iran has succumbed to international pressure to enter talks on its nuclear programme with the EU's top diplomat next month, after the country suffered a series of economic setbacks as sanctions began to bite. >>> Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Friday, October 29, 2010

Ahmadinejad met en doute la version des attentats du 11 septembre 2001
LE POINT: Le président iranien Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a de nouveau mis en doute, dans une rencontre avec la presse, dimanche soir, au Qatar, la version officielle des attentats du 11 septembre 2001 aux États-Unis, qu'il accuse de s'en être servis comme prétexte pour intervenir en Afghanistan. "Quelque chose s'est produit à New York et personne ne sait encore quels en étaient les principaux (bien principaux) auteurs. Aucune partie indépendante n'a été autorisée à essayer d'en identifier les auteurs", a déclaré M. Ahmadinejad. Après les attentats contre les tours jumelles du World Trade Center (WTC) qui ont fait près de 3.000 victimes, "ils (les Américains) ont dit que des terroristes se cachaient en Afghanistan, et l'Otan a mobilisé tous ses moyens et attaqué ce pays", a-t-il ajouté. Ahmadinejad avait déjà qualifié de "mensonge" la version américaine des attentats du 11-Septembre, … >>> Source AFP | Lundi 06 Septembre 2010

Ahmadinejad: Spill Shows US Weakness

Iran’s Nuclear Maneuvers


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Iran Signs Nuclear Fuel Swap Deal With Turkey And Brazil
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran has signed a nuclear fuel swap deal to ship 1,200 kilos of low enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for nuclear fuel for a Teheran reactor.

The agreement was signed in the Iranian capital between the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey and Brazil after three-way talks by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Under the agreement "Turkey will be the place to keep Iran's 3.5 per cent (low enriched) uranium," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters. "One thousand two hundred kilos (of LEU) will be exchanged."

He added that Iran will officially notify the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the agreement "within a week."

"The IAEA should inform the Vienna group (United States, France and Russia) of this proposal," he said of world powers which have wanted Iran since last October to accept a UN-backed deal to ship its enriched uranium abroad.

Israel, which along with many Western powers suspects Iran is using its nuclear enrichment programme to mask a drive for atomic weapons, immediately accused Teheran of "manipulating" Turkey and Brazil over the deal. >>> | Monday, May 17, 2010

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: New Sanctions 'Will Mean Iran US Relations Will Never Be Improved'
THE TELEGRAPH: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has warned that more UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme would not stop them but could permanently wreck its ties with the United States.

The United States and five other major powers are negotiating a fourth set of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment. They expect the resolution to go through within the next few weeks. >>> | Wednesday, May 05, 2010