Ahmadinejad Hints US Is Behind 9/11--And Runs Afoul Of Al Qaeda

It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to
Cry if I want to, cry if I want to
You would cry too if it happened to you
It's My Party, Lesley Gore

P. David Hornick writes about an unexpected tiff: Al-Qaeda to Ahmadinejad: It’s Our 9/11!.

Poor Ahmadinejad! He was on perfectly safe ground when he denies the Holocaust--it's not as if Nazis, or their sympathizers for that matter, are going to send nasty messages to him bragging about the Final Solution. But denying Al Qaeda full and unambiguous credit seems to have gotten him in trouble.

Maybe Those Iranian Sanctions Really Are Working!

At least that is the impression one gets from Ya Libnan:

Iran’s economy is under increasing strain four months after the latest international sanctions against Tehran, say Iranian businessmen, traders and consumers, who describe spreading pain from inflation, joblessness and mounting shortages.

Ahmadinejad's Record Really Is Questionable

Ahmadinejad takes the US--and the world to task:

"The United States' administrations . . . must recognize that Iran is a big power," he said. "Having said that, we consider ourselves to be a human force and a cultural power and hence a friend of other nations. We have never sought to dominate others or to violate the rights of any other country.

"Those who insist on having hostilities with us, kill and destroy the option of friendship with us in the future, which is unfortunate because it is clear the future belongs to Iran and that enmities will be fruitless."

Which is all well and good, but is does leave some questions-like the questions that Karim Sadjadpour has for Ahmadindejad. Here are a few:

• According to human-rights organizations including Amnesty International, executions have increased four-fold since you became president in 2005, and Iran now executes more people per capita than any other country in the world. Iran also lifted its moratorium on stoning since you became president. And according to Reporters Without Borders, Iran is now the world's "biggest prison for journalists." Do you take pride in your record?

Oy, Does Iran Have Tzuris!

Michael Ledeen gives an update on the news in Iran--not good, if you happen to live in Iran. Here is a shortened version of the items he lists:

• First of all, there is still no end to the bazaar strike, even though the regime has taken very violent action against the strikers.

• The major natural gas pipeline between Iran and Turkey was sabotaged.

• Saturday – Sunday night there was a serious fire at the old petrochemical plant on Kharq island.

Is Iran's Nuclear Program Losing Popular Support?

Iran's leaders have been very successful in pursuing its nuclear program, ignoring threats of sanctions and thumbing their nose at Obama.

Just one problem:

there is now increasing resentment that the once popular nuclear programme could be detracting from more urgent needs in the face of economic mismanagement and sanctions.

Is Ahmadinejad Damaged Goods?

The LA Times is reporting that these days, Ahmadinejad if feeling kind of isolated:

• Russian President Dmitry Medvedev publicly greeted Ahmadinejad at a recent meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, but did not grant him a private meeting as he had the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan
  
  
• In Belarus, the Iranian leader was met not by President Alexander Lukashenko, but by the speaker of the upper house of parliament
  
  
• Authorities in Jordan withdrew licenses for two Iranian news organizations this week
  
  
• The sultan of Oman reportedly canceled a trip to Tehran

Read the whole thing.

This follows news that Ahmadinejad was unwelcome in parts of Iran itself:

• Last Friday, his visit to Shiraz, Iran's cultural capital, was called off on "security grounds."
  
  
• On Monday, the Foreign Ministry canceled what was to be the first-ever visit by an Iranian leader to Libya.
  
  
• On Tuesday, it was announced that Ahmadinejad will not be traveling to Sharm-el-Sheik in Egypt to address the summit of the nonaligned movement.
  
  
• Ahmadinejad's campaign to lead the "nonaligned" group and host its next summit in Tehran in 2012.
  
  
• Long-planned visits with six leftist leaders in their Latin American capitals were placed on the back-burner.

If Iranians get the idea, the Arab world gets the idea, and even the Russians get the idea--how much longer will it take Obama?

Technorati Tag: Iran Election and Ahmadinejad.

Even After 'Winning' The Election, Ahmadinejad Doesn't Get Any Respect

Amir Taheri writes that Ahmadinejad may very well be the most unwelcome guest in Iran:

FOR 30 years, the tradition has been for each newly elected president of the Is lamic Republic to travel at once to Mashad, Iran's main "holy" city, to thank Ali bin Mussa, the only one of Shiism's 12 imams buried in Iranian soil.

When he was first elected president four years ago, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made much of the Mashad trip by spreading rumors about his "secret" connections with the imams. This year, the state-owned media were presented his new pilgrimage as a "working visit" during which the imam would review and approve the president-elect's program.

But Ahmadinejad was forced at the last minute to scrub the trip. Angry Mashadis, many of whom believe Ahmadinejad stole the election, were determined to give him a rough reception. Despite the presence of some 15,000 Basij security men in the city, the authorities couldn't guarantee the president's safety -- let alone deliver the enthusiastic, welcoming crowds that he requires for propaganda purposes.

And that is not the only setback that Ahmadinejad has suffered:

• Last Friday, his visit to Shiraz, Iran's cultural capital, was called off on "security grounds."
  
  
• On Monday, the Foreign Ministry canceled what was to be the first-ever visit by an Iranian leader to Libya.
  
  
• On Tuesday, it was announced that Ahmadinejad will not be traveling to Sharm-el-Sheik in Egypt to address the summit of the nonaligned movement.
  
  
• Ahmadinejad's campaign to lead the "nonaligned" group and host its next summit in Tehran in 2012.
  
  
• Long-planned visits with six leftist leaders in their Latin American capitals were placed on the back-burner.

Taheri notes:

Wounded politically at home, perhaps mortally, Ahmadinejad is in no position to claim an international leadership position.

Read the whole thing.

There may very well be only one other person who has had such difficulty getting respect.

Separated at birth?

Technorati Tag: Iran Elections and Ahmadinejad.

Ahmadinejad Under Fire In Iran

Ahmadinejad is learning that it is a lot easier to taunt foreign countries than to rule a country--and the Iranian people are noticing it too.

Iran Leader Under Fire for Gas Shortages

Iran's supreme leader Monday reversed a decision by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and ordered him to implement a law supplying natural gas to remote villages amid rising dissatisfaction with the president's performance.

The move by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was a major rebuke to the hardline president, whose popularity has plummeted amid rising food prices and deaths due to gas cuts during a particularly harsh winter.

In response to a request by the conservative-dominated parliament, Khamenei ordered the president to implement a law spending $1 billion from the Currency Reserve Fund to supply gas to villages after he balked for budgetary reasons.

...Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005 on a populist agenda promising to bring oil revenues to every family, eradicate poverty and tackle unemployment. He now faces increasing criticism for failing to meet those promises.

Ahmadinejad is being criticized for focusing more on anti-Israel and anti-US rhetoric instead of the economy as--criticism that is especially bitter considering that Iranians are dying from the cold despite the fact that Iran has the second largest natural gas reservoir in the world.

Dissatisfaction with Ahmadinejad is nothing new. It is an ongoing story--the question is what, if anything, the Iranians are going to do about it.

Technorati Tag: Iran and Ahmadinejad.

Tehran University Not As Keen on Ahmadinejad As Columbia

Reuters delicately headlines the article "Iranian students call president 'dictator' during scuffle"--actually, that was the nicest part of what the students said about Ahmadinejad:

More than 100 students scuffled with police and hardline supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday on Tehran University campus and chanted "Death to the dictator" outside a hall where the Iranian president spoke. [emphasis added]

Ahmadinejad is probably wishing he was back at Columbia.

Technorati Tag: Iran and Tehran University and Ahmadinejad.

Another Hint That Ahmadinejad May Be On His Way Out?

The Washington Institute seems to think so. I don't know much about them, but here's hoping:

Two intriguing developments have unfolded in Iran over the past week: the election of a new Assembly of Experts Speaker on September 4 and the appointment of a new Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander in chief on September 1. Both suggest the growing power of former president Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, a powerful politician who is openly critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad and his policies.

...Iranian presidents are not particularly powerful compared to the entrenched class of political leaders. That leadership's priority has long been maintaining a hold on power. Thus, while they support revolutionary aims and hope to increase Iran's influence in the region, they are not prepared to take great risks for those goals.

Today, some Iranian leaders seem concerned that Ahmadinezhad is too confrontational. That augurs well for the current Western strategy: forcing hard choices on Tehran through various pressures while offering normalized relations if the Islamic Republic changes course. Vigorously linking Iran's gasoline problems to the nuclear situation would be a good step toward furthering this strategy.

This is certainly not the first article or peace of news to indicate that Ahmadinejad has problems in Iran. Enough has been going on during the past year to indicate that his grip on power is not secure.

Click on the label "Ahmadinejad's Woes" for more posts.

Technorati Tag: Iran and Ahmadinejad.

WHAT SOME PEOPLE WILL DO FOR ATTENTION: Strategy Page discusses why Ahmadinejad just can't seem to get along with foreign countries. Now that he has proven himself a failure and people are openly mocking him in the street, he needs something that will make him look like a hero, something like...

The kidnapping of fifteen British troops earlier this year was but one of several attempts to grab foreign troops, and try to trigger a military response. Increasing Iranian support for Iraqi terrorists is another attempt to provoke an attack. So is the continued Iranian work on nuclear weapons.

But Iran's other activities, such as its connections with Syria and Hizbullah are another matter.

[Hat tip: Instapundit]

Technorati Tag: Ahmadinejad and Iran.

AHMADINEJAD'S ACE IN THE HOLE. I guess he really doesn't get this whole "Supply and Demand" thing:

Fears that the nation’s economy may be heading for the rocks prompted 57 of Iran’s best-known economists to publish an open letter to Ahmadinejad, warning that his policies were making for disaster. The letter, circulated and widely discussed throughout the country, forced Ahamdinejad to invite the signatories to a debate.

In the event, some 40 economists turned up but there was no debate. Instead, Ahmadinejad treated them to a gallimaufry in which obscurantist religious beliefs were mixed with half-understood economic concepts. He told the critics that his administration feared no economic meltdown for two reasons. The first was that the “Hidden Imam” would not abandon “the world’s only truly Islamic regime,” at a time it faced a war with the American “Great Satan.” The second was that the government was launching a massive privatisation programme to raise billions of cash.

The economists had no comment about the role that the “Hidden Imam” might play in the Iranian economy. But they were critical of Ahmadinejad’s privatisation programme that they described as “a cover for bestowing free gifts on a few hundred individuals.” The privatisation programme has been debated for a decade.

[Hat tip: Instapundit]

Update: Of course, this might have something to do with Iran's economic problems:
Iran pays $1 billion to Syria and offers nuclear help to stop it talking peace with Israel

Technorati Tag: Ahmadinejad and Iran.

AND YOU THOUGHT BUSH HAD IT BAD: In Iran, Ahmadinejad has developed into quite the laughingstock:

Behind the high walls of Iranian palaces or in the quiet of Tehran’s parks, Iranian elites will indulge in a quick laugh about the president’s intelligence or his populist bombast. Jokes about his résumé are especially popular. Many refer to his “Ph.D. in traffic” or his letter last May to U.S. President George W. Bush, in which he proclaimed, “I am a teacher.”

The jokes—and who is delivering them—tell the story of a man whose power is on the decline as Iran’s economy collapses around him. Prices for basic goods are skyrocketing, and the government is unable to cope with increasing poverty. Just last month, over 50 Iranian economists sent an open letter excoriating the president’s mismanagement of the economy.

For each public gathering, his loyalists must now arrange hundreds of buses from the remotest and poorest regions of the country. The president’s rented crowds shuffle off the buses for an hour or two and then enjoy Tehran sightseeing, lunch, and dinner paid for by Ahmadinejad’s inner circle in the administration.

But for all of that, Captain's Quarters believes that all things considered, we are better off with Ahamdinejad as president than one of those in the wings ready to succeed him.

Technorati Tag: Iran and Ahmadinejad.

DICKENS COULD NOT HAVE SAID IT BETTER: Before worrying about Israel, perhaps Ahmadinejad should take care of problems closer to home.

On Tuesday, a proclamation from his palace suddenly imposed a fuel ration of three litres (0.6 gallons) a day, a move designed to stockpile supplies because of fears of United Nations sanctions.

Within hours his name was being cursed, as motorists clashed with riot police at fuel stations and set garage forecourts ablaze.

"Without fuel I cannot earn," said the driver of a battered saloon car who had finally reached the head of a long queue for petrol. He was a shopkeeper who, like many residents of Teheran, supplements a meagre income by moonlighting as a cabbie. "Ahmadinejad is an ass. This is not what he promised the ordinary man."

Technorati Tag: Iran and Ahmadinejad.

ECONOMISTS AGAINST AHMADINEJAD: Fifty seven Iranian economists launch a scathing attack against Ahmadinejad in an open letter to the media:

This comes as the price of housing has almost doubled in the last year and food is getting more expensive by the week in Iran.

...They say the new officials in government need to understand that economics has rules. [emphasis added]

Ahmadinejad might be forgiven for confusing the laws of economics with international law.

Technorati Tag: Iran and Ahmadinejad.

AHMADINEJAD IN TROUBLE AGAIN: The good folks in the Iranian legislative body (the Majles) are trying for the 2nd time to have Ahmadinejad's term as president shortened by 18 months--and this time, according to Pajamas Media, they might be able to do it.

...this move by the parliament his isolation should be taken as a clear sign by the West — among other recent signs — that they are dealing with a weakening politician, and not the nuclear champion of Iran, as he would like the world to think.

The question is whether this will affect Iran's proxy Hizbollah or lessen Ahmadinejad's threats--and Iran's strategy--against Israel.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Ahmadinejad.

Things Keep Getting Worse For Ahmadinjad

Ahmadinejad's 4 day trip in Latin America seems to be a great success:

The Iranian President stopped by Caracas on Saturday as part of a four-day engagement with Latin America's new leftist governments. On Sunday, the Iranian communed with Nicaragua's new boss, Daniel Ortega, and then on Monday he hit the inauguration of Ecuador's new pro-Chávez President Rafael Correa.

The Caracas visit was Mr. Ahmadinejad's second in four months. "This is just a prelude of what we will do," declared Mr. Chávez, in a televised speech announcing the creation of a joint $2 billion fund to finance development and other projects. "This large and strategic fund, brother, is going to be converted into a mechanism of liberation," he added, saying their goal is to build "a network of alliances."

For everyone except Ahmadinjad.
From The Guardian:

Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has suffered a potentially fatal blow to his authority after the country's supreme leader gave an apparent green light for MPs to attack his economic policies.

In an unprecedented rebuke, 150 parliamentarians signed a letter blaming Mr Ahmadinejad for raging inflation and high unemployment and criticising his government's failure to deliver the budget on time. They also condemned him for embarking on a tour of Latin America - from which he returns tomorrow - at a time of mounting crisis.

Among the results so far of Ahmadinejad's term in office:

• Inflation is higher 17 months after Ahmadinejad took office
• Unemployment, officially estimated at 12% but probably much higher, has not improved
• Uncontrolled inflation
• Soaring food prices
• House prices and rents in Tehran have risen 50% in six months
• The government plans to ration gasoline to cut rising import costs
  

Even his anti-Western diatribes have been criticized at home and the controversy he has caused over Iran's nuclear program.

The rumors are flying whether Ahmadinejad will even finish out his term:

"Ahmadinejad's golden era is over and his honeymoon with the supreme leader is finished. He has problems even meeting the supreme leader," said an Iranian political commentator, Eesa Saharkhiz. "The countdown to his dismissal has already begun. There is a probability that he cannot even finish his current four-year period."

The question is whether Ahmadinejad's removal will make a difference in terms of Iranian policy.

Technorati Tag: Iran and Ahmadinejad.

Lawmakers Begin Process To Impeach President

...Ahmadinejad of Iran. [Hat Tip: Hot Air]

On January 6, the Washington Post noted an attempt to impeach Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in reaction to 2 UN Resolutions against Iran. The article then goes on:

In a separate bid, reformist lawmakers also want Ahmadinejad to come to parliament to answer questions on his government's domestic and foreign policies. But there was little chance of the motion succeeding as it would need 72 lawmakers to sign it.

According to AKI, that hasn't stopped reformers from trying:

Iranian reformist lawmakers have started collecting signatures in Parliament to demand the impeachment of the country's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. So far, 38 signatures have been collected out of the 72 required to formally summon Ahmadinejad and request his impeachment. Noureddin Pirmouzen, a deputy with the reformist minority, says it is nonetheless "positive to question" the head of the executive branch.

...Issa Saharkhiz, editor and political analyst, told Adnkronos International (AKI) that "Ahmadinejad's golden era is over."

Saharkiz goes on to claim that though Ahmadinejad is unlikely to leave office before the end of his term, he is equally unlikely to win a second term either, as many of his former supporters from 2005 are now openly critical of him.

Over the past 12 months, Ahmadinejad has lost popularity in Iran because of

• social and political policies
• personal scandal
• oil mismanagement

...which may explain why the US has not taken stronger measures against Iran and their nuclear program.

Technorati Tag: Ahmadinejad and Iran.

Pearls Before Ahmadinejad

Hat Tip: Little Green Footballs:

From Reuters:

A Danish art group that pokes fun at world leaders targeted Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday by placing an advertisement in a Tehran newspaper with an insulting hidden message.

Beneath a picture of the president, a series of apparently sympathetic statements were arranged such as "Support his fight against Bush" and "Iran has the right to produce nuclear energy". The advert was attributed to "Danes for World Peace".

However, the first letters of each phrase, when read from top to bottom, spell out "S-W-I-N-E".

"We thought we would poke fun at Ahmadinejad because we don't think he's very liberal or sensitive," said Jan Egesborg, a member of the art group Surrend.

Meanwhile, Gateway Pundit reports that after students dissed Ahmadinejad during his Holocaust conference, they have issued a statement, concluding "Whoever sows wind, will reap a tempest."

This is the same guy who in last year's election received just 12% of the vote in the first round, yet somehow ended up with 60% in the second round. But Ahmadinejad was not so lucky in recent elections:

Opponents of Iran's ultra-conservative president won nationwide elections for local councils, final results confirmed Thursday, an embarrassing outcome for the hardline leader that could force him to change his anti-Western tone and focus more on problems at home.

Moderate conservatives critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a majority of seats in last week's elections, followed by reformists who were suppressed by hard-liners two years ago.

The vote was widely seen as a sign of public discontent with Ahmadinejad's stances, which have fueled fights with the West and led Iran closer to U.N. sanctions.

Ahmadinejad's anti-Israel rhetoric and staunch stand on Iran's nuclear program are believed to have divided the conservatives who voted him into power. Some conservatives feel Ahmadinejad has spent too much time confronting the West and failed to deal with Iran's struggling economy.

This is not to say that this 'embarrassment' to Ahmadinejad is going to have any real effect on his statements about the acquisition of nuclear power, his attitude towards the West, or his threats against Israel--but hope always springs eternal:

The results are expected to pressure him to change his populist anti-Western tone and focus more on Iran's high unemployment and economic problems at home.

Maybe. But we're still a long way from seeing any real pressure on Ahmadinejad from within the Iranian leadership to change his ways. As the Wall Street Journal more realistically points out, the onus may be on the US:

It is wrong to imagine that the big winner--former president and Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani--is a moderate or a reformer, though he is more certainly presentable than his successor; he too has threatened Israel with nuclear annihilation. But given the limited political choices the regime offers voters, the election indicates that most Iranians dislike the regime and that they take no pleasure in their president's status as a moral pariah.

There's an opening here to promote change, provided the U.S. doesn't reward Mr. Ahmadinejad's bad behavior by failing to punish it, and provided President Bush reminds Iranians that while the U.S. opposes their government, it stands with Iranians who want more freedom.

Technorati Tag: Iran and Ahmadinejad.

International Symposium To Bring Ahmadinejad To Justice

The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations and the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs have hosted an international symposium: Bring Ahmadinejad to Justice For Incitement to Genocide. The goal of the symposium, as stated by Irwin Cotler, is to bring

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Justice for the Public and Direct Incitement to Genocide in violation of both the Genocide Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide and the Treaty for an International Criminal Court.

The symposium is getting some media exposure too:

Outgoing U.S. U.N. Ambassador John Bolton and former diplomats from Israel and Canada called on the United Nations on Thursday to charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with inciting genocide.

The U.N. International Court of Criminal Justice should charge Ahmadinejad for his threats against the United States, for calling for the destruction of Israel and for instigating discrimination against Christians and Jews, the group said.

“It’s important that if we are in this stage where we’re being given early warning, unambiguously, on what his intentions are, then it’s time to take action,” Bolton told a Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations symposium.

Besides Cotler, other International Legal and Diplomatic Experts at the symposium were: Ambassador John Bolton, Ambassador Dore Gold, Ambassador Meir Roseanne, Professor Alan Dershowitz, Hon. Dan Naveh, Martin Peretz and Dr. Ruth Wedgwood.

You can watch video excerpts of the symposium here.

Technorati Tag: Ahmadinejad.