Ahmadinejad // Current

Obama victory offers hope to Iran

It has taken nearly two days to emerge, but the message of congratulations from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to US... more

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Iran's Ahmadinejad congratulates Obama

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday congratulated US president-elect Barack Obama on his success - the first time an... more

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Iran minister impeached for false degree

Ali Kordan is Iran's Interior Minister - now former-Interior Minister. Iran's parliament voted Tuesday to impeach him... more

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Ahmadinejad Ally Impeached for Fake Oxford University Degree

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran's parliament impeached a Cabinet minister on Tuesday after he admitted having a fake degree from... more

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By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: October 28, 2008

I’ve always been dubious about Barack Obama’s offer to negotiate with Iran — not because I didn’t believe that it was the right strategy, but because I didn’t believe we had enough leverage to succeed. And negotiating in the Middle East without leverage is like playing baseball without a bat.

Well, if Obama does win the presidency, my gut tells me that he’s going to get a chance to negotiate with the Iranians — with a bat in his hand.

Have you seen the reports that Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is suffering from exhaustion? It’s probably because he is not sleeping at night. I know why. Watching oil prices fall from $147 a barrel to $57 is not like counting sheep. It’s the kind of thing that gives an Iranian autocrat bad dreams.

After all, it was the collapse of global oil prices in the early 1990s that brought down the Soviet Union. And Iran today is looking very Soviet to me.

As Vladimir Mau, president of Russia’s Academy of National Economy, pointed out to me, it was the long period of high oil prices followed by sharply lower oil prices that killed the Soviet Union. The spike in oil prices in the 1970s deluded the Kremlin into overextending subsidies at home and invading Afghanistan abroad — and then the collapse in prices in the ‘80s helped bring down that overextended empire.

(Incidentally, this was exactly what happened to the shah of Iran: 1) Sudden surge in oil prices. 2) Delusions of grandeur. 3) Sudden contraction of oil prices. 4) Dramatic downfall. 5) You’re toast.)

Under Ahmadinejad, Iran’s mullahs have gone on a domestic subsidy binge — using oil money to cushion the prices of food, gasoline, mortgages and to create jobs — to buy off the Iranian people. But the one thing Ahmadinejad couldn’t buy was real economic growth. Iran today has 30 percent inflation, 11 percent unemployment and huge underemployment with thousands of young college grads, engineers and architects selling pizzas and driving taxis. And now with oil prices falling, Iran — just like the Soviet Union — is going to have to pull back spending across the board. Fasten your seat belts.

The U.N. has imposed three rounds of sanctions against Iran since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005 because of Iran’s refusal to halt uranium enrichment. But high oil prices minimized those sanctions; collapsing oil prices will now magnify those sanctions. If prices stay low, there is a good chance Iran will be open to negotiating over its nuclear program with the next U.S. president.

More at the Link.By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN Published: October 28, 2008 I’ve always been dubious about Barack Obama’s offer to... more

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19 days ago

During visit to Hawaii Obama met with Ahmadinejad

Russian Military Intelligence reports to Prime Minister Putin today are stating that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has... more

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22 days ago

Attack on Syria by Blackwater because of Secret meeting between Obama | Cherada.com

Russian Military Analysts are reporting today that the destabilization of United States Government has reached levels not seen... more

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22 days ago

Report: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has fallen ill due to exhaustion

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has fallen ill due to exhaustion brought on by his heavy workload, a close associate has told the Iranian state news agency.

The announcement comes as doubts have surfaced over whether Ahmadinejad, who faces strong criticism from opponents, will seek re-election next year.

Parliament member Mohammad Ismail Kowsari, an ally of the president, said late Saturday that Ahmadinejad was feeling under the weather because of the strain of his position, according to the news agency, IRNA.

"The president will eventually get well and continue his job," said Kowsari, who accompanied Ahmadinejad last month to the U.N. General Assembly. "Every human being can face exhaustion under such a workload."

Ahmadinejad, who rarely misses meetings and public appearances, canceled a speech Wednesday at a conference and did not appear at a Cabinet meeting the same day. But the president, who turns 53 on Monday, did attend a religious ceremony on Saturday in Tehran, though he looked tired as he greeted supporters.

On Sunday, state TV also showed him receiving credentials of three foreign ambassadors.

In recent weeks, some supporters of Ahmadinejad have been discussing potential candidates for the June 2009 election, implying that the sitting president is not their automatic choice.

But Kowsari accused opponents of using Ahmadinejad's illness as an excuse to spread rumors about whether he will run for a second term.

"Those who use such a natural issue for psychological warfare will fail" to gain support in public opinion, he said. No other details about Ahmadinejad's illness were immediately available.

Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, every Iranian president has been re-elected to a second term, except the first one, Abolhasan Banisadr, who fled the country in 1981.

The months ahead are critical for Ahmadinejad if he wants to try to rebuild his political base and rebut critics who point to his unfulfilled campaign promises, including extending Iran's oil revenues to poorer provinces around the country. With more than 10 percent unemployment and 30 percent inflation, Iran was unable to bask in record-high oil prices earlier this year.

Ahmadinejad is also confronting questions about his uncompromising stance with the West over Iran's nuclear program, which has severely soured international relations. The U.N. has also placed three rounds of sanctions against Iran since Ahmadinejad took office in 2005 over Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment. TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has fallen ill due to exhaustion brought on by his heavy workload, a... more

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23 days ago

Ahmadinejad on the verge of collapse, falls ill

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday he is suffering from exhaustion and two allies said he was suffering under the strain of... more

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23 days ago

Iran: Preparing the Battlefield

The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran. by Seymour M. Hersh

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26 days ago

America's Secret War

Is the US already at war with Iran? In "America's Secret War", Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels... more

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27 days ago

Ahmadinejad's last term?

A senior opposition figure in Iran has announced that he will challenge President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in next summer's... more

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1 month ago

Ahmadinejad speaks with church groups in New York

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had dinner on Thursday with around 200 people of various faiths including Mennonites, Jews... more

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1 month ago

Ahmadinejad on Iran's gays

Larry King interviewed Iranian President Ahmadinejad and questioned him about his statement last year that, "There are no... more

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1 month ago

Palin on Ahmadinejad: 'He Must Be Stopped' - September 22, 2008 - The New York Sun

Tell us why this is interestingthe Republican nominee for vice president, was scheduled to speak today at a rally in Dag... more

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1 month ago

Iran responds to Israel 'kidnap threat'

Iran has protested to the UN after an Israeli minister suggested his country could kidnap Iran's president over threats he... more

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2 months ago

Anti-terrorism officials fear Hezbollah in Venezuela

Western officials fear that potential terrorists are organizing in Venezuela. Many of the fears stem from Venezuela's... more

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3 months ago

Iran seeks 'common ground' with West

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday that Iran will seek "common ground" with the United States and five other world powers that have proposed incentives for Tehran to freeze its nuclear enrichment program.NBC News, which interviewed Ahmadinejad in Iran, also said the leader of the world's fourth-largest crude oil producer believes the oil market is overvalued in part because of manipulation.Speaking less than a week before a deadline for Iran's reply to the incentives package, Ahmadinejad told the U.S. television network that progress toward agreement with the West would depend on the sincerity of a shift in the U.S. approach to Tehran.Western officials said after a meeting with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator in Geneva on July 19 that Tehran had two weeks to reply to an offer of a halt to new steps toward more U.N. sanctions if Iran froze the expansion of its nuclear program. That would give Iran until Saturday to reply."They submitted a package and we responded by submitting our own package," Ahmadinejad said through an interpreter in an excerpt of the NBC interview aired on Monday."It's very natural. In the first steps, we are going to negotiate over the common ground as they exist inside the two packages. If the two parties succeed in agreeing over the common ground, that will help us to work on our differences as well, to reach an agreement."NBC also said Ahmadinejad denied Iran was working to produce a bomb, paraphrasing him as saying nuclear weapons are outdated.Iran has so far ruled out a freeze to start preliminary talks or suspension of enrichment to start formal negotiations on the incentives package proposed by the six powers -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.In a policy shift, a U.S. diplomat attended the Geneva talks, which Iran has characterized as a success for Iran. On Monday, Ahmadinejad told NBC: "The main question here is whether this approach is a continuation of the old approach or is it a totally new approach."If this is the continuation of the old process, the Iranian people need to defend their right, its interests as well," he said. "But if the approach changes, we will be facing a new situation and the response by the Iranian people will be a positive one."The United States has warned Iran that it will face more sanctions if it fails to meet the deadline. Washington has not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails.Asked if Iran would agree to suspend uranium enrichment in order to gain international acceptance, Ahmadinejad said Iran already enjoys "very good economic and cultural relations with countries around the world.""For the continuation of our lives and for progress, we do not need the services, if I can use the word, of a few countries," he said.Ahmadinejad announced during the weekend that Iran had more than 5,000 active centrifuges for enriching uranium, which suggested a rapid expansion of the nuclear work that the West suspects is aimed at making bombs.Earlier this month, Iran rattled international markets by test-firing a series of missiles.WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday that Iran will seek "common ground" with the... more