Iran Witness: Ahmadinejad, the UN, and The Society of the Spectacle (Pedestrian)

Ahmadinejad was there for the show, and as the lead performer, he was not going to leave the room disappointed. He had kept his end of the bargain, given us a magnificent spectacle which the world will be a buzz with for weeks to come --- much to his delight. And he was not going to leave the stage without that final, majestic farewell, even if he himself had to create it. The men clapped like crazy, and he could pretend they were real. The spectacle became the real, and we could no longer tell the difference.

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Iran Special: A Letter to Christiane Amanpour about the Media, "Freedom", and Ahmadinejad (Alinejad)

Ms. Amanpour,

I know it’s too much to expect you to present Ahmadinejad with the questions of Iranian mothers waiting endlessly for the trial of the murderers of their children, as you present him with the requests of the American mothers waiting for their children to come home. But you had an opportunity to ask Ahmadinejd in front of millions, as a sign of goodwill and a proof of the freedom that he shamelessly insists exists in Iran, to allow you to travel to Iran and interview those mothers whose children were killed in the streets and in prisons, without his Ministry of Culture causing you problems or his Ministry of Intelligence later imprisoning those whom you interviewed.

Before anything a journalist is a human being, and in a situation like this when the normal people in Iran, who are beting killed and imprisoned, are in serious need of help, people of the world --- including the journalists --- can offer them a hand and at least try to create for them opportunity. An opportunity equal to that given to an Ahmadinejad whose lies have destroyed the lives of many.

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Iran Special: Covering Ahmadinejad's Speech at the United Nations

James Miller of Dissected News joins EA WorldView today, travelling to New York to take in the atmosphere at the United Nations as President Ahmadinejad addresses the General Assembly. We'll be alongside, providing updates on the President's speech:

2055 GMT: A quick response from the US delegation to the UN: "Rather than representing the aspirations and goodwill of the Iranian people, Mr. Ahmadinejad has yet again chosen to spout vile conspiracy theories and anti-Semitic slurs that are as abhorrent and delusional as they are predictable." [Scott Lucas]

2014 GMT: And this time, that is it.

2013 GMT: OK, once more. God has promised the world to the pure and righteous: "all those seeking justice and all the free spirits have been awaiting this moment". True believers of Islam and of Jesus Christ anticipate this justice and "the truth of humanity".

2011 GMT: Ahmadinejad moves to general invocations of the divine, of purity, and of love.

That seems a nice point to end on, but no, he's still going, back to the not-so-nice "domineering" and injustices. I really feel like I'm being taken in circles now.

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Iran Analysis: How Secure is Ahmadinejad?

The Los Angeles Times parallels our analysis with an article this morning, "Iran is Far From United Behind Mahmoud Ahmadinejad".

And this passage in a Council on Foreign Relations interview with Professor Kaveh Ehsani, who is based at Chicago's DePaul University, is striking:

I don't think Ahmadinejad is in such a strong position. In fact, nobody is in a strong position in Iran at this moment.

It's very unclear who has the ultimate legitimacy. The population seems to be highly angered, disillusioned with a lot of the leaders. The Green Movement leaders --- [Mir Hossein] Mousavi and [Mehdi] Karroubi, the two presidential candidates who were the victims of the rigged elections --- seem to have retained their popular support among those who are unsatisfied with the system, but we don't know how strong these sentiments are because there is no way to measure it. There are no opinion polls, there is no free media. All the oppositional press has been suppressed.

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Iran Video and Transcript: Ahmadinejad on CNN (22 September)

Iranian President Ahmadinejad interviewed by CNN's Larry King:

Watch the full video and read the transcript....

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The Latest from Iran (23 September): Sending Out the Message, Cutting Off the Message

1559 GMT: Propaganda of Day. So I'm watching Press TV for a hint of when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will take the podium at the UN and these glorious shots of high-technology plants and hard-working engineers appears....

"The proud Iranian nation has accomplished another ground-breaking feat: the beginning of gasoline production in six petrochemical plants....Self-sufficiency in gasoline production is now within reach. The National Iranian Petrochemical Company. 'Yes, We Can'."

1555 GMT: Another Russia Snub? Novosti, via Peyke Iran, reports that President Medvedev has banned Basij commander Mohammad Reza Naqdi and Iranian nuclear officials from entering Russia.

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The View from Iran: Ahmadinejad's Propaganda, Stoning, and the Green Movement (Gallo)

A reformist leader in Iran who wishes to remain anonymous summarises, "The society lives in fear, but under the ashes the fire of opposition hasn’t been extinguished. There is now a big gap between a large part of the Iranian people and its government."

The immediate enemy of the Government is the economic crisis. A well-placed journalist notes, "When you speak to Iranians the first thing on their mind is the terrible state of the economy, the inflation and unemployment. Young people are desperate, they see a grim future and many want to leave the country.”  

With the imminent introduction of reductions in the $100 billion-per-year Government subsidies, money will be missing in the pockets of the people. That is now the hottest challenge for the regime, but its effects could reignite the fire under the ashes, reuniting dissatisfied segments of society as resurrecting publicly the opposition of the Green Movement.

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Iran: How the Government Created a Rafsanjani-Led "Conspiracy" with Wiretaps (Ghazi)

Last week we noted a remarkable article in Rooz Online by Fereshteh Ghazi about a 110-page report from the Revolutionary Guard, ordered by President Ahmadinejad in summer 2009 and approved by the Supreme National Security Council in March 2010. The document outlined a "conspiracy", using the June 2009 Presidential elections, to topple the Government and remove the Supreme Leader. The "evidence" included lengthy extracts of statements obtained by surveillance and wiretapping.

This English version of Ghazi's report does not have the extracts, but it is still a dramatic testament to how far the Government will go to defend the Ahmadinejad "victory" of 2009 and to tarnish the opposition. Indeed, there are important lessons even beyond Ghazi's account.

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Latest Iran Video: Ahmadinejad on US Public Broadcasting Service (20 September)

President Ahmadinejad appeared last night on "The Charlie Rose Show" on the US Public Broadcasting Service.

Watch the video and read the snap analysis....

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Iran Update: Mahmoud's Road Show and the "Dazzled" US Media

If the Iranian President was less than successful today in the first of his talks at the United Nations, he could console himself that he got his talking points out through the US and "Western" media. 

I guess The New York Times should at least get credit for recognising what was going on: 

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran ran through his standard talking points at his annual gathering with American journalists on Tuesday — denying that dissidents languish in jail or that economic sanctions were biting, and rejecting the idea that Tehran deserves anything less than a gold star for its nuclear inspection record. 

This does not mean, however, that the Times interrogated the talking points, you know, by offering any consideration of the political prisoners. Instead, the Times is carried away because Ahmadinejad "embroidered his remarks with a little fresh bluster". And what dazzled them?

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