Mahmoud Ahmadenijad Calls for Regional Unity

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad is trying to put doubts over his candidacy to rest. In an interview with Al Jazeera, Ahmadenijad says he can improve the country. He also calls for unity among regional rivals, even though Iran is pitted against countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia over its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the war in Yemen.

Ahmadinejad Wants to Resign
There is a serious and growing rift in Iran between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president, and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader. Ahmadinejad has reportedly asked the Khamenei if he can resign. Al Jazeera's Dorsa Jabbari reports from Tehran.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Accused of 'Heresy'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A senior Iranian cleric has accused Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of "heresy" after saying Hugo Chavez would be resurrected with the 12th imam.


Ayatollah Ahmed Janati, the hardline chief of the Guardians Council, told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran: "Those comments on Chavez's return with Christ were heresy."

Janati was referring to comments by Ahmadinejad on March 6 in which he called Chavez a "martyr" who would "return, along with the righteous Jesus and the perfect human."

The last was an allusion to Shia Islam's 12th imam that Iran's majority faith believes will return with Christ to bring peace and justice to the world.

Janati said Iran's clergy had been "upset" by the remarks.

"Should people say whatever comes to mind? I wish (Ahmadinejad) had spent a few days in a seminary before discussing such issues," he said.

"Chavez was a populist and anti-American. His political agenda was completely acceptable. But he was not a Muslim," Janati added. » | Source: AFP | Friday, March 15, 2013

Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Sells Off Collection Of Official Gifts
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sold off his collection of official gifts in a charity auction on Wednesday, including a platinum Monc Blanc pen commemorating Charlie Chaplin's life.

The auction of dozens of luxury brand watches and gem-encrusted jewelry appeared to be designed to cement the populist Iranian leader's reputation as a man of the people before he stands down as leader after June's elections.

Proceeds from the sales, held in a palace of the former Shahs of Iran, would be used to build homes for the country's war veterans and single mothers.

Collectors at the event at Sadabad Palace in north Tehran bid for a series of items given to Mr Ahmadinejad by states including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Pakistan. » | Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Israel's Existence 'Insult to All Humanity'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Israel's existence is an "insult to all humanity," Iran's president said on Friday in one of his sharpest attacks yet against the country while Israeli leaders openly debate whether to attack Iran over its nuclear programme.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said confronting Israel is an effort to "protect the dignity of all human beings".

"The existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to all humanity," Ahmadinejad said. He was addressing worshippers at Tehran University after nationwide pro-Palestinian rallies, an annual event marking Quds (Jerusalem) Day on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan.

Israel considers Iran an existential threat because of its nuclear and missile programs, support for radical anti-Israel groups on its borders and repeated references by Iranian leaders to Israel's destruction. Ahmadinejad himself has repeatedly made such calls, as has Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. » | Friday, August 17, 2012

Iranian Lawmakers Call for Execution of Opposition Leaders
Protests growing increasingly violent

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Reiterates 9/11 Conspiracy, Accuses the West of Al-Hariri Assassination

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Receives Hero's Welcome in Lebanon
THE TELEGRAPH: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, received a hero's welcome in Lebanon as he arrived in the country for a two-day visit designed to demonstrate Tehran's grip over the region's most perilous state.



Thousands held up flowers and Iranian flags as Mr Ahmedinejad waved through the open roof of an armoured car that carried him through the Shia Muslim strongholds of south Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

Hizbollah, Iran's local ally, mobilised its followers to throw rice and slaughter camels as the motorcade passed by.

It was, however, a welcome that ran just one street deep and normal life – bereft of Iranian flags – continued yards away from the old airport road used by the Iranian leader to reach a summit with his Lebanese counterpart, Michel Sleiman.

Maura Connelly, the US ambassador, expressed misgivings about the impact of the Iranian leader's visit and newspapers reported that America had unveiled a $22 million (£13.8 million) package of military aid to strengthen the Lebanese security forces. Continue reading and comment >>> Damien McElroy in Beirut | Wednesday, October 13, 2010

THE GUARDIAN: Beirut gives Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a warm welcome: Iranian president's Lebanon visit seen as a boost for Hezbollah and described by White House as provocative >>> Hugh Macleod in Beirut and Ian Black, Middle East editor | Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Hillary Clinton Urges Iran to Dump Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
THE TELEGRAPH: Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, has called on "responsible" leaders to assert control in Iran and said tough UN sanctions were turning the screw on the military-backed regime.

Short of an explicit call to the Iranian people to revolt, Mrs Clinton's comments represented a sharpening of rhetoric as she increasingly seeks to portray Iran as a military dictatorship.

Mrs Clinton said the military, especially the elite Revolutionary Guard, was wielding more and more power to prop up a regime struggling to maintain its legitimacy since last year's "very flawed" presidential elections.

"And I can only hope that there will be some effort inside Iran, by responsible civil and religious leaders, to take hold of the apparatus of the state," she told ABC News.

"When you empower a military as much as they have to rely on them to put down legitimate protests and demonstrations, you create a momentum and unleash forces that you do not know where they will end up.

"And I know that that's a concern of people inside Iran. We read reports coming out of Iran. And it is something that would be even more distressing for the Iranian people." >>> | Monday, September 20, 2010

Interview With Hillary Clinton
ABC NEWS: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sits down with Christiane Amanpour.



Interview With Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
ABC NEWS: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad joins Christiane Amanpour on "This Week."

Castro 'Criticises Ahmadinejad for Anti-Semitic Attitude'
THE TELEGRAPH: Fidel Castro has reportedly criticised Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, for what he called his anti-semitic [sic] attitudes.

Castro, who has been a fierce critic of Israel, reportedly chided Mr Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust, according to a blog on The Atlantic magazine.

The former Cuban leader said Iran could further the cause of peace by "acknowledging the 'unique' history of anti-Semitism and trying to understand why Israelis fear for their existence."

"I didn't know what a Jew was. I knew of a bird that was a called a 'Jew,' and so for me the Jews were those birds," Castro reportedly said. Castro later added, "This is how ignorant the entire population was."

Castro reportedly said: "I don't think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews. I would say much more than the Muslims." >>> | Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Ahmadinejad Predicts the Removal of 'Zionists' from the World
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has predicted the failure of the Middle East talks and the removal of "the Zionist regime from the world scene".

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Photo: The Telegraph
The hardline leader told the annual Palestinian solidarity day rally in Tehran that a popular revolt by the people of the Middle East would extinguish the Jewish homeland even if the governments reach a peace agreement.

"If the leaders of the region do not have the guts, then the people of the region are capable of removing the Zionist regime from the world scene," he said.

In response the pro-government crowd chanted "Death to America. Death to Israel."

President Ahmadinejad said that direct peace talks which Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas relaunched with Israel in Washington on Thursday after a 20-month hiatus were "doomed" to fail.

"What do they want to negotiate about? Who are they representing? What are they going to talk about?" the Iranian president said of the Palestinian leadership.

"Who gave them the right to sell piece of Palestinian land? The people of Palestine and the people of the region will not allow them to sell even an inch of Palestinian soil to the enemy.

"The negotiations are stillborn and doomed." >>> Telegraph’s Foreign Staff | Friday, September 03, 2010

Massenproteste in Iran gegen Nahost-Gespräche: Ahmadinejad fordert Abzug Israels aus Palästinensergebieten
NZZ ONLINE: In Iran haben Hunderttausende Regimeanhänger gegen die Wiederaufnahme der Nahost-Friedensgespräche protestiert. Die iranische Führung forderte dabei einen Abzug Israels aus den Palästinensergebieten.

Präsident Mahmud Ahmadinejad sagte bei den traditionellen Al-Kuds-Kundgebungen, die Entscheidung über einen zukünftigen Palästinenserstaat werde allein von den Palästinensern getroffen «und nicht in Washington, London oder Paris». «Widerstand ist der einzige Weg zur Rettung der Palästinenser.»

Die vom amerikanischen Präsident Barack Obama initiierten ersten Nahost-Friedensgespräche seit knapp zwei Jahren machten nur Sinn, wenn die Israelis aus den besetzten Palästinensergebieten abrückten. «Aber wichtiger ist, dass das zionistische Regime ohnehin zum Untergang verdammt ist», sagte Ahmadinejad in der Teheraner Universität.

Die Demonstrationen in Teheran wurden von strengen Sicherheitsmassnahmen begleitet. Sicherheitskräfte und Polizisten waren im Einsatz, um erneute Proteste gegen die Regierung und Präsident Ahmadinejad zu verhindern. Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> sda/dpa/Reuters | Freitag, 03. September 2010

Ahmadinedschad entgeht Anschlag
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Auf den iranischen Präsidenten Mahmud Ahmadinedschad ist offenbar ein Anschlag verübt worden. Ahmadinedschad kam dabei nicht zu Schaden.



Related / Verbunden >>>

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Survives 'Assassination Attempt'
THE TELEGRAPH: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, has survived a bomb attack on his convoy, according to reports.

Al Arabiya television said an attacker threw a bomb at Mr Ahmadinejad's convoy before being detained.

A home-made bomb exploded near the convoy, a source from the president's office told Reuters, but Mr Ahmadinejad, who was travelling from an airport in the western city of Hamadan to give a speech in a sports arena, was unharmed. >>> | Wednesday, August 04, 2010

ZEIT ONLINE: Präsident Ahmadineschad überlebt Anschlag: Auf Irans Präsidenten Mahmud Ahmadineschad ist ein Attentat verübt worden. Das Staatsoberhaupt sei bei dem Anschlag unverletzt geblieben, teilte das Präsidialamt mit. >>> Zeit Online, dpa, Reuters, AFP | Mittwoch. 04. August 2010

LE TEMPS: Une bombe explose dans le convoi d’Ahmadinejad : Le président, en déplacement ce mercredi, aurait échappé à un attentat, indiquent plusieurs médias locaux. Une bombe aurait fait des blessés dans un minibus du convoi >>> AFP/ATS | Mercredi 04 Août 2010

Iran's President Ahmadinejad Challenges Barack Obama to TV Debate
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has invited Barack Obama, his US counterpart, to face him in a televised one-on-one debate to see who has the best solutions for the world's problems.

The provocative proposal came as Iran dealt with a new wave of international sanctions - driven by Washington - aimed at pressuring the Islamic Republic over its nuclear programme.

"Toward the end of summer we will hopefully be there for the (UN) General Assembly and I will be ready for one-on-one talks with Mr Obama, in front of the media of course," Mr Ahmadinejad said in an address broadcast live on state television. >>> | Monday, August 02, 2010

Ahmadinejad Says U.S., Israel to Attack
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the U.S. and Israel will launch attacks against two new countries in the Middle East.

Iran Shocked by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Condemnation of Religious Crackdown
THE TELEGRAPH: Not content with taking on America and the West, Iran's combative president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has attacked a key policy of his supporters in the religious establishment.

Mr Ahmadinejad baffled conservatives in the ruling elite by declaring his opposition to the annual crackdown on "immodest appearance and behaviour" in the young.

Police use the onset of summer to issue fines to women found wearing make-up and nail polish, or figure-hugging clothes. Veils are tightened to stop showing so much hair, with light, nearly transparent head-coverings a particular target. Men deemed to be 'harassing' women while driving are also stopped.

In a television interview marking the anniversary of his re-election, Mr Ahmadinejad said he did not approve, and that the police actions were "designed to create tumult".

"The government does not agree with this behaviour and will respond to and control it as much as it can," he said. "It is an insult to ask a man and woman walking on the steet about their relation to each other. Nobody has the right to ask such questions." >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Thursday, June 17, 2010

Force, Fear Keep Iran Together
THE GLOBE AND MAIL: A year after Ahmadinejad’s ‘victory,’ the resistance dares not speak, but fissures exist

This may prove to be the darkest week in Iran’s recent history. There is, it seems, nowhere to go. Yet the nature of this darkness, its awkward fit with the official meaning of the Islamic regime, may show us a way forward.

Exactly a year ago Sunday, when it became apparent that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had claimed victory in an election whose results and conditions were not at all clear, the streets of Tehran began to fill with people.

It does not really matter whether Mr. Ahmadinejad stole an election that went against him (as protesters claim) or not; what this year of protest has shown is that Iran is far more fissiparous than anyone had thought, and that only force and fear, not faith and support, keeps it conglomerated. Even if you discount the hyperbole the foreign media directed at the “green tide” last year, this was by far the largest and lengthiest uprising in the Iranian revolution’s history.

It encompassed a huge swath of society; most significantly, it involved large numbers of clerics and top leaders, including former prime ministers, who were actively involved in the 1979 revolution and whose loyalty to the state is beyond question: This could not easily be dismissed as the work of radical guerrilla groups or outside agitators salaried by the United States or Britain.

As the year has progressed, and especially after the authorities went on a killing spree in December, on the holy day of Ashura, these figures have become more antipathetic toward the regime itself: There is now an official, built-in resistance with a name and an identity.

But you will probably not be seeing much of this resistance this week. It has become far, far too dangerous. Thursday, the key leaders of the protests, former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, told people to stay home: The alternative was a slaughter. The regime’s shift from authoritarian to totalitarian – its adoption of Stasi-like practices that had not been part of its repertoire before – have rendered such demonstrations temporarily impossible. Read on and comment >>> Doug Saunders | Saturday, June 12, 2010

Ahmadinejad : "Israël ne survivra pas"
Le président iranien Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Photo: Le Point
LE POINT: La nouvelle résolution des Nations unies sanctionnant l'Iran pour son programme nucléaire "n'aura aucun effet", a assuré vendredi le président iranien Mahmoud Ahmadinejad en visite à l'Exposition universelle de Shanghai. "Le gouvernement des Etats-Unis veut avaler tout le Proche-Orient", a-t-il déclaré, ajoutant que "les Etats-Unis ont un régime sioniste avec des bombes nucléaires dans la région (...) ils essaient de sauver le régime sioniste". Avant de menacer : mais Israël "ne survivra pas, il est condamné". >>> AFP | Vendredi 11 Juin 2010

Lieberman: Turkey Will Not Change
THE JERUSALEM POST: Ahmadinejad and Turkey lash out at Israel yet again.

Ankara continued to pile unrelenting criticism on Israel on Tuesday, with President Abdullah Gul saying that Israel would be isolated and “suffer the consequences” of its “mistake against Turkey.”

Gul said 21 Asian countries meeting in Istanbul had “expressed their grave concern and condemnation for the actions undertaken by the Israel Defense Forces.”

Israel was the only state at the 22-member Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia forum meeting in Istanbul that did not join the call, he said.

Israel managed to block a joint declaration by the group, whose decisions require consensus, forcing Gul to issue a separate statement.

While Israel continued its policy of not responding publicly to the stream of Turkish jibes, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in New York it was a “mistake” to think that it was possible to change Turkey’s attitude toward Israel through any gesture or efforts, since the negative change in Ankara reflected a strategic change by the Turkish leadership stemming from deep shifts in Turkish society.

Quartet special envoy Tony Blair said in an interview on Channel 10 on Tuesday that the Turkish change was very worrisome. He expressed hope that out of the crisis a new bridge would be built between Israel and Turkey.

Blair, who advocated Turkey joining the EU in 2005, said the cold shoulder the EU gave Turkey led to Ankara’s decision to turn in the direction of Iran.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also used the forum to lambaste Israel, saying the flotilla incident showed Israel’s “violence and hatred and war-mongering attitudes.” >>> Herb Keinon | Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Threatens US Over Mid East Peace Plans
THE TELEGRAPH: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has warned he could scupper American policy across the Middle East if the Washington continues to confront his government over its nuclear ambitions.

Mr Ahmadinejad used a television interview on Tuesday night to draw a direct link between pressure on Iran's nuclear programme and its support for "resistance" - a codeword for Islamic militant groups such as Hizbollah and Hamas, and anti-American Shia forces in Iraq.

"They (the US) have security problems in the world and their influence in Iraq and Afghanistan is vanishing," he said. "They see that waves of hope, justice-seeking and resistance are rising all over the world inspired by Iran. They want to dominate the world, but Iran doesn't let them."

Mr Ahmadinejad's interview with state media was his first personal response to President Barack Obama's nuclear summit in Washington earlier this week. Iran has already issued a formal complaint to the United Nations over Mr Obama's assertion that his promise not to use nuclear weapons on non-nuclear states did not apply to Iran.

Mr Ahmadinejad said that Iran's nuclear programme was past the point of no return.

"We have progressed in nuclear technology so much that we are at an irreversible point," he said. "The US has two options. Either to continue this wrong policy, or to cooperate with Iran."

He added the real issue was not Iran's nuclear programme but its ability to stand in the way of American policy in the Middle East.

As well as being the main financial and military backer of Hamas and Hizbollah, Iran has strong links to anti-American Shia groups in Iraq, and has also been accused of supplying the Taliban in Afghanistan with weapons.

It has been attempting to put together a pro-Iran coalition in Iraq since elections last month which produced no clear winner. Even Ayad Allawi, the pro-American leader of the biggest single group in the election has sent a delegation to Tehran for talks.

"US policies in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan have come to a dead end," Mr Ahmadinejad said in the interview. "Obama has only one way to remain in power and be successful. This way is Iran." >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Wednesday, April 14, 2010