Iranian President's antics in NY score points at home

Iranian President's antics in NY score points at home
September 28th, 2007
World

What struck me first was the statement “So, while he (Mr Ahmadinejad) returns to Teheran feeling satisfied, ordinary Iranians are still likely to pay a heavy price for their President’s antics.” This is certainly a serious judgement, and a heavy responsibility for anyone to bear. Worse still, ordinary Iranians may even be unaware of their plight because of their hurt national feelings, until its full extent hits them. Hard.

It’s quite obvious that Mr Ahmadinejad’s ‘antics’ were either “brazenly provocative” or “astonishingly uneducated”. By letting himself be the subject of other nation’s insults, he has stoked the fires of his people’s national pride. However, his actions will surely have many repercussions on his country. To quote the article, his show of “blinkered bigotry” has surely caused those nations once willing to defend Iran to feel embarrassed. What is important to note, is that while his antics have strengthened his hold on domestic politics, they have, without a doubt, placed his entire nation in bad light. So the question is, was Mr Ahmadinejad’s attendance at the UN general assembly merely to boost his popularity at home? Despite the definite probability of a refusal, he offered to visit the World Trade Centre. Despite the certainty of a hostile reception, he offered to speak at New York’s Columbia University. This can only mean that his purpose of doing such things was only to gain the support of his people, probably in view of the upcoming presidential elections.

A high price, indeed, for public acceptance of his people, seeing how he has effectively distanced his country from the rest of the outside world and caused others to become even more antagonistic towards him and his countrymen. Perhaps when they find out, Iranians will realize that their plight is even worse than before, but for now, their indignation overrides all.

However, not all the criticism goes to Mr Ahmadinejad. Although it is probably true that some of the things he has aid and done are highly condemnable, to call him a “petty criminal and cruel dictator” was unwarranted. This obviously puts forth certain western powers in bad light as well, highlighted by the fact that the Iranian Jewish community criticised the disrespect shown to Mr Ahmadinejad, saying that "The constant disrespect and disturbance demonstrated during Ahmadinejad's speech at Columbia prove once more that those claiming to be peace loving people have no real grasp of the concept"

Undoubtedly, Mr Ahmadinejad’s antics will cause further problems on the global stage, but it’s also important for those who claim to be peace loving people, such as certain western nations, to show that they are.