Government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005-Present)
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Government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the current government of Iran, and the 9th and 10th government of the Islamic Republic of Iran
. His administration began in August 2005 after his election as the 6th president of Iran
and continues after his re-election in 2009.
In Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government has seen controversy over policies such as his 2007 Gas Rationing Plan
to reduce the country's fuel consumption, and cuts in maximum interest rates permitted to private and public banking facilities; his widely disputed and protested election to a second term in 2009; and over the presence of a so-called "deviant current" among his aides and supporters that led to the arrest of several of them in 2011. Abroad, his dismissal of international sanctions against Iran's nuclear energy program, and his call for an end of the state of Israeli and description of the Holocaust as a myth, has drawn criticism.
, but his key political support is inside the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran
(Abadgaran or Developers).
Ahmadinejad generally sent mixed signals about his plans for his presidency, perhaps to attract both religious conservatives and the lower economic classes. His campaign slogan
was: "It's possible and we can do it".
In the campaign, he took a populist
approach. He emphasized his own modest life, and compared himself with Mohammad Ali Rajai
, Iran's second president. Ahmadinejad said he planned to create an "exemplary government for the people of the world" in Iran. He was a "principlist", acting politically based on Islamic and revolutionary
principles. One of his goals was "putting the petroleum
income on people's tables", meaning Iran's oil profits would be distributed among the poor.
Ahmadinejad was the only presidential candidate who spoke out against future relations with the United States. He told Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting
the United Nations
was "one-sided, stacked against the world of Islam." He opposed the veto power of the UN Security Council's five permanent members: "It is not just for a few states to sit and veto global approvals. Should such a privilege continue to exist, the Muslim world with a population of nearly 1.5 billion should be extended the same privilege." He defended Iran's nuclear program and accused "a few arrogant powers" of trying to limit Iran's industrial and technological development in this and other fields.
In his second round campaign, he said, "We didn't participate in the revolution for turn-by-turn government.…This revolution tries to reach a world-wide government." He spoke of an extended program using trade to improve foreign relations, and called for greater ties with Iran's neighbours and ending visa
requirements between states in the region, saying that "people should visit anywhere they wish freely. People should have freedom in their pilgrimage
s and tours."
Ahmadinejad described Ayatollah
Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi
, a senior cleric from Qom
as his ideological and spiritual mentor. Mesbah founded the Haghani
School of thought in Iran. He and his team strongly supported Ahmadinejad's 2005 presidential campaign.
. Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Khamenei authorized his presidency on 3 August 2005. Ahmedinejad kissed Khamenei's hand during the ceremony to show his loyalty.
, was ranked sixth on the country's Assembly of Experts. In the first nationwide election since Ahmadinejad became President, his allies failed to dominate election returns for the Assembly of Experts
and local councils. Results, with a turnout of about 60%, suggested a voter shift toward more moderate policies. According to an editorial in the Kargozaran independent daily newspaper, "The results show that voters have learned from the past and concluded that we need to support.. moderate figures." An Iranian political analyst said that "this is a blow for Ahmadinejad and Mesbah Yazdi's list."
On 23 August 2008, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei announced that he "sees Ahmadinejad as president in the next five years," a comment interpreted as indicating support for Ahmadinejad's reelection. 39,165,191 ballots were cast in the election on 12 June 2009, according to Iran's election headquarters. Ahmadinejad won 24,527,516 votes, (62.63%). In second place, Mir-Hossein Mousavi
, won 13,216,411 (33.75%) of the votes. The election drew unprecedented public interest in Iran.
occurred during the election. Street protests commenced the day after the election and continued off and on into 2010. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a "divine assessment," and formally endorsed Ahmadinejad as President on 3 August 2009. Ahmadinejad was sworn in for a second term on 5 August 2009. Several Iranian political figures appeared to avoid the ceremony. Former presidents Mohammad Khatami
, and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
, who is currently head of the Expediency Discernment Council
, along with opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, did not attend the ceremony. Opposition groups asked protesters on reformist websites and blogs to launch new street demonstrations on the day of the inauguration ceremony. On inauguration day
, hundreds of riot police met opposition protesters outside parliament. After taking the oath of office
, which was broadcast live on Iranian state television
, Ahmadinejad said that he will "protect the official faith, the system of the Islamic revolution and the constitution". France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States announced that they would not send the usual letters of congratulation.
While addressing the 11th scientific and research meeting of university professors on July 31, 2009, president Ahmadinejad concluded:
.
In Ahmadinejad's first four years as president, unemployment decreased due to a rise in income from oil exports as oil price rose on world markets. His critics have charged that government spending has been inflationary. Ahmadinejad increased spending by 25 percent and has supported subsidies
for food and gasoline
. He also initially refused a gradual increase of petrol prices, saying that after making necessary preparations, such as a development of public transportation system, the government will free up petrol prices after five years. Interest rates were cut by presidential decree to below the inflation rate. One unintended effect of this stimulation of the economy has been the bidding up of some urban real estate prices by two or three times their pre-Ahmadinejad value by Iranians seeking to invest surplus cash and finding few other safe opportunities. The resulting increase in the cost of housing has hurt poorer, non-property owning Iranians, the putative beneficiaries of Ahmadinejad's populist policies. As of mid-2011, economic growth has been called "sluggish", up 3.5% in 2010, a rate insufficient to lower the unemployment rate of close to 15%.
In June 2006, 50 Iranian economists wrote a letter to Ahmadinejad that criticized his price interventions to stabilize prices of goods, cement
, government services, and his decree issued by the High Labor Council and the Ministry of Labor that proposed an increase of workers' salaries by 40 percent. Ahmadinejad publicly responded harshly to the letter and denounced the accusations. The Management and Planning Organisation, a state body charged with mapping out long-term economic and budget strategy, was broken up and its experienced managers were fired.
Ahmadinejad has called for "middle-of-the-road" compromises with respect to Western-oriented capitalism
and socialism
. Current political conflicts with the United States have caused the central bank to fear increased capital flight due to global isolation
. These factors have prevented an improvement of infrastructure
and capital
influx, despite high economic potential. Among those that did not vote for him in the first election, only 3.5 percent said they would consider voting for him in the next election. Former supporter of Ahmadinejad who have criticized his policies include Mohammad Khoshchehreh
, a member of parliament who campaigned for Ahmadinejad, but in 2007 complained his government "has been strong on populist slogans, but weak on achievement;" and economist and former adviser Hossein Raghfar, who has cited the decline in the price for human kidneys (which has dropped from $10,000 to $2,000 as more poor people sell their organs for cash), as evidence of increased poverty under the administration.
President Ahmadinejad has changed almost all of his economic ministers, including oil, industry and economy, since coming to power in 2005. In an interview with Fars News Agency on April 2008, Davoud Danesh Jaafari who acted as minister of economy in President Ahmadinejad’s cabinet, harshly criticized Ahmadinejad’s economic policy: “During my time, there was no positive attitude towards previous experiences or experienced people and there was no plan for the future. Peripheral issues which were not of dire importance to the nation were given priority. Most of the scientific economic concepts like the effect of liquidity on inflation were put in question." In response to these criticisms, Ahmadinejad accused his minister of not being "a man of justice" and declared that the solution to Iran’s economic problem is "the culture of martyrdom". In May 2008, the Petroleum minister of Iran admitted that the government illegally invested 2 billion dollars to import petrol in 2007. At Iranian parliament, he also mentioned that he simply followed the president's order.
While his government had 275 thousand billion toman
oil income, the highest in Iranian history, Ahmadinejad’s government had the highest budget deficit since the Iranian revolution.
During his presidency, Ahmadinejad launched a gas rationing plan
to reduce the country's fuel consumption. He also instituted cuts in the interest rates that private and public banking facilities could charge. He issued a directive, according to which the Management and Planning Organization
should be affiliated to the government.
he wanted to scrap existing birth control policies which discouraged Iranian couples from having more than two children. Critics said his call was ill-judged at a time when Iran was struggling with surging inflation and rising unemployment, estimated at around 11 percent. Ahmadinejad’s call for an increased birth rate is reminiscent of a call Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
made in 1979. The policy was effective in increasing population growth, but was eventually reversed in response to the resultant economic strain.
In 2008, the government sent the "Family Protection Bill" to the Iranian parliament. Women's rights activists criticized the bill for removing protections from women, such as the requirement that a husband obtain his wife's consent before bringing another wife into the family.
(US$1.3 billion) fund called "Reza's Compassion Fund", named after Shi'a
Imam Ali al-Rida
. Ahmadinejad's government said this fund would tap Iran's oil
revenue
s to help young people get jobs, afford marriage, and buy their own homes. The fund also sought charitable donations, with a board of trustees
in each of Iran's 30 provinces. The legislation was a response to the cost of urban housing, which is pushing up the national average marital age (currently around 25 years for women and 28 years for men). In 2006 the Iranian parliament rejected the fund.
However, Ahmadinejad ordered the administrative council to execute the plan.
, "Since President Ahmadinejad came to power, treatment of detainees has worsened in Evin Prison as well as in detention centers operated clandestinely by the Judiciary, the Ministry of Information, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps." Again according to Human Rights Watch
, "Respect for basic human rights in Iran, especially freedom of expression and assembly, deteriorated in 2006. The government routinely tortures and mistreats detained dissidents, including through prolonged solitary confinement." Human Rights Watch described the source of human rights violations in contemporary Iran as coming from the Judiciary, accountable to Ali Khamenei
, and from members directly appointed by Ahmadinejad.
Responses to dissent have varied. Human Rights Watch writes that "the Ahmadinejad government, in a pronounced shift from the policy under former president Mohammed Khatami, has shown no tolerance for peaceful protests and gatherings." In December 2006, Ahmadinejad advised officials not to disturb students who engaged in a protest during a speech of his at the Amirkabir University of Technology
in Tehran, although speakers at other protests have included among their complaints that there had been a crackdown on dissent at universities since Ahmadinejad was elected.
In April 2007, the Tehran police, which is under Khamenei's supervision, began a crackdown on women with "improper hijab." This led to criticism from associates of Ahmadinejad.
.
In 2006, Ahmadinejad's government applied a 50 percent quota
for male students and 50 percent for female students in the university entrance exam for medicine
, dentistry
and pharmacy
. The plan was supposed to stop the growing presence of female students in the universities. In a response to critics, Iranian minister of health and medical education, Kamran Bagheri Lankarani
argued that there are not enough facilities such as dormitories for female students. Masoud Salehi, president of Zahedan University said that presence of women generates some problems with transportation. Also, Ebrahim Mekaniki, president of Babol University of Medical Sciences
, stated that an increase in the presence of women will make it difficult to distribute facilities in a suitable manner. Bagher Larijani, the president of Tehran University of Medical Sciences
made similar remarks. According to Rooz Online
, the quotas lack a legal foundation and are justified as support for "family" and "religion."
(Tehran Polytechnic) in Tehran. According to the Iranian Student News Agency, students set fire to photographs of Ahmadinejad and threw firecrackers. The protesters also chanted "death to the dictator
." It was the first major public protest against Ahmadinejad since his election. In a statement carried on the students' Web site, they announced that they had been protesting the growing political pressure under Ahmadinejad, also accusing him of corruption, mismanagement, and discrimination. The statement added that "the students showed that despite vast propaganda
, the president has not been able to deceive academia
." It was also reported that some students were angry about the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust
.
In response to the students' slogans, the president said: "We have been standing up to dictatorship so that no one will dare to establish dictatorship in a millennium even in the name of freedom. Given the scars inflicted on the Iranian nation by agents of the US and British dictatorship, no one will ever dare to initiate the rise of a dictator." It was reported that even though the protesters broke the TV cameras and threw hand-made bombs at Ahmadinejad, the president asked the officials not to question or disturb the protesters. In his blog, Ahmadinejad described his reaction to the incident as "a feeling of joy" because of the freedom that people enjoyed after the revolution.
One thousand students also protested the day before to denounce the increased pressure on the reformist groups at the university. One week prior, more than two thousand students protested at Tehran University on the country's annual student day, with speakers saying that there had been a crackdown on dissent at universities since Ahmadinejad was elected.
, and has insisted that it is for peaceful purposes. He has repeatedly emphasized that building a nuclear bomb
is not the policy of his government. He has said that such a policy is "illegal and against our religion." He also added at a January 2006 conference in Tehran that a nation with "culture, logic and civilization" would not need nuclear weapons, and that countries that seek nuclear weapons are those which want to solve all problems by the use of force. In a 2008 interview Ahmadinejad elaborated that countries striving to obtain nuclear weapons are politically backward nations and those who possess them and continually make new generations of such bombs are "even more backward".
In April 2006, Ahmadinejad announced that Iran had successfully refined uranium
to a stage suitable for the nuclear fuel cycle
. In a speech to students and academics in Mashhad
, he was quoted as saying that Iran's conditions had changed completely as it had become a nuclear state and could talk to other states from that stand. On 13 April 2006, Iranian news agency, IRNA, quoted Ahmadinejad as saying that the peaceful Iranian nuclear technology would not pose a threat to any party because "we want peace and stability and we will not cause injustice to anyone and at the same time we will not submit to injustice." Nevertheless, Iran's nuclear policy under Ahmadinejad's administration has received much criticism, spearheaded by the United States and Israel. The accusations include that Iran is striving to obtain nuclear arms and developing long-range firing capabilities, and that Ahmadinejad issued an order to keep UN inspectors from freely visiting the nation's nuclear facilities and viewing their designs, a move which would be in defiance of an IAEA resolution. Following a May 2009 test launch of a long-range missile
, Ahmadinejad was quoted as telling the crowd that with its nuclear program, Iran was sending the West a message that “the Islamic Republic of Iran is running the show.”
Despite Ahmadinejad's vocal support for the program, the office of the Iranian president is not directly responsible for nuclear policy. It is instead set by the Supreme National Security Council
. The council includes two representatives appointed by the Supreme Leader
, military officials, and members of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government, and reports directly to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
, who issued a fatwa
against nuclear weapons in 2005. Khamenei has criticized Ahmadinejad's "personalization" of the nuclear issue.
Ahmadinejad vowed on February 2008, that Iran will not be held back from developing its peaceful nuclear program and has stated that at least 16 different peaceful uses for nuclear technology have so far been identified. In a 2009 interview, when asked by reporter Ann Curry whether he would rule out an Iranian nuclear bomb in the future, he responded: "We have no need for nuclear weapons." When Curry retorted, "So, may I assume, then, your answer to that question is 'no'?" Ahmadinejad repeated his answer, adding "Without such weapons, we are very much able to defend ourselves." Curry then warned Ahmadinejad that "people will remark that you did not say no." To which Ahmadinejad responded, "You can take from this whatever you want, madam."
In October 2009 the United States, France and Russia proposed a U.N.-drafted deal with Iran regarding its nuclear program, in an effort to find a compromise between Iran's stated need for a nuclear reactor and the concerns of those who are worried that Iran harbors a secret intent on developing a nuclear weapon. After some delay in responding, on October 29, Ahmadinejad seemed to changed his tone towards the deal. "We welcome fuel exchange, nuclear co-operation, building of power plants and reactors and we are ready to co-operate," he said in a live broadcast on state television. However, he added that Iran would not retreat "one iota" on its right to a sovereign nuclear program.
and political favouritism". Many of his close associates have been appointed to positions for which they have no obvious qualifications, and "billion dollar no-bid contracts" have been awarded to the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), an organization with which he is strongly associated.
According to Juan Cole, a University of Michigan Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History, Ahmadinejad's statement was inaccurately translated; Cole suggests that a more accurate translation would be:
In a June 11, 2006 analysis of the translation controversy, New York Times deputy foreign editor and Israeli resident Ethan Bronner argued that Ahmadinejad had called for Israel to be wiped off the map. After noting the objections of critics such as Cole, Bronner stated:
Despite these differences, Ethan Bronner does agree with Professor Cole that Ahmadinejad did not use the word "Israel" (but rather "regime over Jerusalem") and also did not use the word "map" (but rather "page(s) of time"). Emphasizing these points of agreement, Jonathon Steele from The Guardian
concludes that "experts confirm that Iran's president did not call for Israel to be 'wiped off the map'". Furthermore, Steele cites a source at the BBC, as well as the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), supporting the following translation:
While this translation is quite similar to Professor Cole's version, it does use the word "eliminated" rather than "vanish", which is consistent with Bronner's suggestion that an "active" verb would more accurately reflect the original Persian.
In a speech on June 2, 2008, the Iranian presidential website quotes Ahmadinejad as saying
The statements were translated by Reuters as
and Judaism
. According to Aftab News Agency, Ahmadinejad stated: "In the world, there are deviations from the right path: Christianity and Judaism. Dollars have been devoted to the propagation of these deviations. There are also false claims that these [religions] will save mankind. But Islam is the only religion that [can] save mankind." Some members of Iranian parliament criticized these remarks as being fuels to religious war.
Conservative MP Rafat Bayat has blamed Ahmadinejad for a decline in observance of the required hijab
for women, calling him "not that strict on this issue". Ahmadinejad has been also accused of indecency by people close to Rafsanjani, after he publicly kissed the hand of a woman who used to be his school teacher.
after returning from his 2005 speech to the UN General Assembly, Ahmadinejad stated he had "felt a halo over his head" during his speech and that a hidden presence had mesmerized the unblinking audience of foreign leaders, foreign ministers, and ambassadors. According to at least one source (Hooman Majd), this was offensive to the conservative religious leaders because an ordinary man cannot presume a special closeness to God or any of the Imams
, nor can he imply the presence of the Mahdi
.
In another statement the next year, Ahmadinejad proclaimed (without consulting the clerics before hand), that women should be allowed into football stadiums to watch male football clubs compete. This proclamation "was quickly overruled" by clerical authorities, one of whom, Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Fazel Lankarani "refused for weeks to meet with President Ahmadinejad" in early 2007.
as Iran's interior minister. Kordan's appointment has been criticized by Iranian parliamentarians, media and analysts after it came to light that a doctoral degree allegedly awarded to Ali Kordan was fabricated, and that the putative issuer of the degree, Oxford University, had no record of Ali Kordan receiving any degree from the University.
It was also revealed that he had been jailed in 1978 for moral charges.
Fabrication of legal documents is punishable in Iranian law with one to three years of imprisonment and in the case of government officials, the maximum sentence (three years) is demanded.
In November 2008, President Ahmadinejad announced that he was against impeachment of Ali Kordan by Iranian parliament. He refused to attend the parliament on the impeachment day. Ali Kordan was expelled from Iranian interior ministry by Iranian parliament on 4 November 2008. 188 MPs voted against Ali Kordan. An impeachment of Kordan would push Ahmadinejad close to having to submit his entire cabinet for review by parliament, which is led by one of his chief political opponents. Iran's constitution requires that step if more than half the cabinet ministers are replaced, and Ahmadinejad has replaced nine of 21.
reported that $1.058 billion of surplus oil revenue in the (2006–2007) budget hasn't been returned by the government to the national treasury, Ali Larijani
– Iran's parliamentary
speaker – called for further investigations to make sure the missing funds are returned to the treasury as soon as possible. Ahmadinejad criticized the National Audit Office for what he called its "carelessness", saying the report "incites the people" against the government. The head of the parliament Energy Commission, Hamidreza Katouzian, reported: The government spent $5 billion to import fuel, about $2 billion more than the sum parliament had authorized. Katouzian quoted Iran's Oil Minister, Gholam-Hossein Nozari, as saying that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had ordered the extra purchase.
In May 2011 several members of parliament threatened to initiate impeachment proceedings against Ahmadinejad after his merger of eight government ministries and the firing of three ministers without parliament’s consent. According to the Majles News Web site, MP Mohammad Reza Bahonar
stated, “legal purging starts with questions, which lead to warnings and end with impeachment.” On May 25 parliament voted to investigate another allegation, that Ahmadinejad had committed election irregularities by giving cash to up to nine million Iranians before the 2009 presidential elections. The vote came within hours after the allegations appeared in several popular conservative news sites associated with supreme leader Ali Khamenei
, suggesting the supreme leader supported the investigation. The disputes were seen as part of the clash between Ahmadinejad and other conservatives and former supporters, including supreme leader Khamenei, over what the conservatives see as Ahmadinejad's confrontational policies and abuse of power.
In July 2009, the general court of Tehran convicted Industry Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian and Mousa Mazloum but kept silent about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's involvement, according to Etemad-Melli daily. According to the BBC, Ahmadinejad is named as an author on the cover of the book in which the fraudulent claim was made.
Ali Khamenei
, and even as being his "protege." In Ahmadinejad's 2005 inaguaration the supreme leader allowed Ahmadinejad to kiss his hand and cheeks in what was called "a sign of closeness and loyalty," and after the 2009 election fully endorsed Ahmadinejad against protesters. However as early as January 2008 signs of disagreement between the two men developed over domestic policies, and by 2010-11 several sources detected a "growing rift" between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei. The disagreement has been described as centering on Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei
, a top adviser and close confidant of Ahmadinejad and opponent of "greater involvement of clerics in politics", who was First Vice President of Iran
until being ordered to resign from the cabinet by the supreme leader. In 2009 Ahmadinejad dismissed Intelligence minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, an opponent of Mashaei. In April 2011, another Intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi, resigned after being asked to by Ahmadinejad, but was reinstated by the supreme leader within hours. Ahmadinejad declined to officially back Moslehi's reinstatement for two weeks and in protest engaged in an "11-day walkout" of cabinet meetings, religious ceremonies, and other official functions. Ahmadinejad's actions led to angry public attacks by clerics, parliamentarians and military commanders, who accused him of ignoring orders from the supreme leader. Conservative opponents in parliament launched an "impeachment drive" against him, four websites with ties to Ahmadinejad reportedly were "filtered and blocked", and several people "said to be close" to the president and Mashaei were arrested on charges of being "magicians" and invoking djinns. On 6 May 2011 it was reported that Ahmadinejad had been given an ultimatum to accept the leader's intervention or resign, and on 8 May he "apparently bowed" to the reinstatement, welcoming back Moslehi to a cabinet meeting. The events have been said to have "humiliated and weakened" Ahmadinejad, though the president has denied that there was any rift between the two, and according to the semiofficial Fars News Agency
stated that his relationship with the supreme leader "is that of a father and a son."
While the U.S has linked its support for a Palestinian state to acceptance of Israel's "right to exist
," Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has retorted that Israel should be moved to Europe instead, reiterating Muammar al-Gaddafi
's 1990 statement. The U.S. has sent signals to Iran that its posturing against Israel's right to exist is unacceptable in their opinion, leading to increased speculation of a U.S. led attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. Even though Iran has denied involvement in Iraq, then-President Bush warned of "consequences," sending a clear message to Iran that the U.S may take military action against it. The Bush administration
considered Iran to be the world's leading state supporter of terrorism. Iran has been on the U.S. list of state sponsors of international terrorism
since 1984, a claim that Iran and Ahmadinejad have denied.
On 8 May 2006, Ahmadinejad sent a personal letter
to then-President
Bush
to propose "new ways" to end Iran's nuclear dispute. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley
both reviewed the letter and dismissed it as a negotiating ploy and publicity stunt that did not address U.S. concerns about Iran's nuclear program. A few days later at a meeting in Jakarta
, Ahmadinejad said, "the letter was an invitation to monotheism and justice, which are common to all divine prophets."
Ahmadinejad invited Bush to a debate at the United Nations
General Assembly
, which was to take place on 19 September 2006. The debate was to be about Iran's right to enrich uranium. The invitation was rejected by White House spokesman Tony Snow
, who said "There's not going to be a steel-cage grudge match between the President and Ahmadinejad."
On November 2006, Ahmadinejad wrote an open letter to the American people, representing some of his anxieties and concerns. He stated that there is an urgency to have a dialog because of the activities of the US administration in the Middle East, and that the US is concealing the truth about current realities.
The United States Senate passed a resolution warning Iran about attacks in Iraq. On 26 September 2007, the United States Senate passed a resolution 76–22 and labeled an arm of the Iranian military as a terrorist organization.
In September 2007 Ahmadinejad visited New York to address the General Assembly of the United Nations. On the same trip, Columbia University
invited Ahmadinejad to visit and participate in a debate. The invitation was a controversial one for the university, as was university president Lee Bollinger
's introduction in which he described the Iranian leader as a "cruel and petty dictator" and his views as "astonishingly uneducated." Taking questions from Columbia faculty and students who attended his address, Ahmadinejad answered a series of questions, including a query about the treatment of gays in Iran by saying: "We don't have homosexuals like in your country. We don't have that in our country. We don't have this phenomenon; I don't know who's told you we have it." An aide later claimed that he was misrepresented and was actually saying that "compared to American society, we don't have many homosexuals".
In a speech given in April 2008, Ahmadinejad described the September 11, 2001 attacks as a "suspect event." He minimized the attacks by saying all that had happened was, "a building collapsed." He claimed that the death toll was never published, that the victims' names were never published, and that the attacks were used subsequently as pretext for the invasions of Afghanistan
and Iraq.
In October 2008, President Ahmadinejad expressed his happiness of 2008 global economic crisis and what he called "collapse of liberalism". He said the West has been driven to deadend and that Iran was proud "to put an end to liberal economy". Ahmadinejad used a September 2008 speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations to assert the American empire is soon going to end without specifying how. "The American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders," Ahmadinejad said.
On November 6, 2008 (two days after the 2008 US Presidential Election
), President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated Barack Obama
, the newly elected President of the United States, and said that he "Welcomes basic and fair changes in U.S. policies and conducts, I hope you will prefer real public interests and justice to the never-ending demands of a selfish minority and seize the opportunity to serve people so that you will be remembered with high esteem". It is the first congratulatory message to a new elected President of the United States by an Iranian President since the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis
.
". According to widely published translations, he agreed with a statement he attributed to Ayatollah Khomeini
that the "occupying regime" had to be removed, and referred to it as a "disgraceful stain [on] the Islamic world", that needed to be "wiped from the pages of history."
Ahmadinejad's comments were condemned by major Western governments
, the European Union
, Russia, the United Nations Security Council
and then UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan
. Egypt
ian, Turkish
and Palestinian
leaders also expressed displeasure over Ahmadinejad's remark. Canada's then Prime Minister
Paul Martin
said, “this threat to Israel's existence, this call for genocide coupled with Iran's obvious nuclear ambitions is a matter that the world cannot ignore.”
The translation of his statement has been disputed. Iran's foreign minister stated that Ahmadinejad had been "misunderstood": "He is talking about the regime. We do not recognise legally this regime." Some experts state that the phrase in question (بايد از صفحه روزگار محو شود) is more accurately translated as "eliminated" or "wiped off" or "wiped away" (lit. "should disappear") from "the page of time" or "the pages of history", rather than "wiped off the map". Reviewing the controversy over the translation, New York Times deputy foreign editor Ethan Bronner
observed that "all official translations" of the comments, including the foreign ministry and president's office, "refer to wiping Israel away".
Dr. Joshua Teitelbaum, an Israel-based professor with ties to AIPAC, in a paper for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
, examined the language that President Ahmadinejad has used when discussing Israel. Using Persian translations from Dr. Denis MacEoin
, a former lecturer in Islamic studies
in the United Kingdom, Teitelbaum wrote that "the Iranian president was not just calling for “regime change” in Jerusalem, but rather the actual physical destruction of the State of Israel," and asserted that Ahmadinejad was advocating the genocide of its residents as well. Teitelbaum said that in a speech given on 26 October 2005, Ahmadinejad said the following about Israel: "Soon this stain of disgrace will be cleaned from the garment of the world of Islam, and this is attainable." Teitelbaum said that this type of dehumanizing rhetoric is a documented prelude to genocide incitement. Dr. Juan Cole
, a professor of modern Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan, has argued that Ahmadinejad was not calling for the destruction of Israel, “Ahmadinejad did not say he was going to wipe Israel off the map because no such idiom exists in Persian.” Dr. Stephen Walt
, a professor of international affairs at Harvard University has said “I don’t think he is inciting to genocide." According to Gawdat Bahgat
of the National Defense University
, "the fiery calls to destroy Israel are meant to mobilize domestic and regional constituencies" and that "Rhetoric aside, most analysts agree that the Islamic Republic and the Jewish state are not likely to engage in a military confrontation against each other."
In July 2006, Ahmadinejad compared Israel's actions in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
to Adolf Hitler
's actions during World War II
saying that "like Hitler, the Zionist regime
is just looking for a pretext for launching military attacks" and "is now acting just like him." On 8 August 2006, he gave a television interview to Mike Wallace
, a correspondent for 60 Minutes
, in which he questioned American support of Israel's "murderous regime" and the moral grounds for Israel's invasion of Lebanon. On 2 December 2006, Ahmadinejad met with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah in Doha
, Qatar
. At that meeting, he said that Israel "was created to establish dominion of arrogant states over the region and to enable the enemy to penetrate the heart Muslim land." He called Israel a "threat" and said it was created to create tensions in and impose US and UK policies upon the region. On 12 December 2006, Ahmadinejad addressed the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust
, and made comments about the future of Israel. He said, "Israel is about to crash. This is God's promise and the wish of all the world's nations."
When CNN
's Larry King
asked Ahmadinejad "does Israel remain Israel" in his version of the Middle East, Ahmadinejad suggested that throughout the Palestinian territories free elections for all be conducted under the supervision of international organizations. Ahmadinejad suggested that "..we must allow free elections to happen in Palestine under the supervision of the United Nations. And the Palestinian people, the displaced Palestinian people, or whoever considers Palestine its land, can participate in free elections. And then whatever happens as a result could happen."
Ahmadinejad has moved to strengthen relations with Russia, setting up an office expressly dedicated to the purpose in October 2005. He has worked with Vladimir Putin
on the nuclear issue, and both Putin and Ahmadinejad have expressed a desire for more mutual cooperation on issues involving the Caspian Sea
. More recently, Iran has been increasingly pushed into an alliance with Moscow due to the controversy over Iran's nuclear program. By late December 2007, Russia began to deliver enriched batches of nuclear fuel to Iran as a way of persuading Iran to end self-enrichment.
of Venezuela
. Venezuela voted in favor of Iran's nuclear program before the United Nations
, and both governments have sought to develop more bilateral trade. As of 2006, the ties between the two countries are strategic rather than economic; Venezuela is still not one of Iran's major trading partners.
.
Turkey
has always been important in the region due to its ties to the West through NATO, Israel
, and its potential entry into the European Union
. Ahmadinejad visited Ankara
to reinforce relations with Turkey immediately after the 2007 NIE report was released. Relations were briefly strained after President Abdullah Gul
had stated that he wants the atomic threat to be eliminated from the region, perhaps a hint to Iran; however, business has remained cordial between the two countries. Despite US disapproval, they signed a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline deal in late 2007.
Iran's relations with the Arab states have been complex, partly due to the Islamic Revolution of decades ago, as well as more recent efforts by the United States to establish a united front against Iran over the nuclear issue and War on Terror
. Ahmadinejad has sought reconciliation with the Arab states by encouraging bilateral trade and posturing for Iranian entry into the Gulf Cooperation Council. Outside the Persian Gulf, Ahmadinejad has sought to reestablish relations with other major Arab states, most notably Egypt
. As of 2007, Iran did not have an open embassy there.
Iran's ties to Syria have been most notable in the West. Both nations have had to deal with international and regional isolation. Both have cordial ties to the militant group, Hezbollah, and concerns over Iran-Syria relations were further exacerbated following the 2006 Lebanon War, which both Ahmadinejad and President Assad claimed as a victory over Israel.
Ahmadinejad has also tried to develop stronger, more intimate ties with both Afghanistan and Pakistan
, to ensure "regional stability." In particular, Ahmadinejad is interested in more bilateral talks between Iran and both Afghanistan and Pakistan. His administration has helped establish the "peace pipeline" from Iran that will eventually fuel both Pakistan and India. In theory, the plan will help to integrate
South Asia
n economies, and, thus to calm tensions between Pakistan and India.
Ahmadinejad met foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan
to discuss increased cooperation between the two nations. Mammadyarov also expressed desire to expand the North-South corridor between Iran and Azerbaijan and to launch cooperative projects for power plant construction. Iran has also redoubled efforts to forge ties with Armenia
; during Ahmadinejad's visit in October 2007 the discussions were focused on developing energy ties between the two countries.
, the two countries have historically been close and, even though the US has a military presence in Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai
of Afghanistan maintains he wants Iran to be one of its closest allies. At Camp David in August 2007, Karzai rejected the U.S. claim that Iran backs Afghan militants. Karzai described Iran as "a helper and a solution," and "a supporter of Afghanistan", both in "the fight against terror, and the fight against narcotics". He called relations between Afghanistan and Iran "very, very good, very, very close ". Iran is also the largest regional donor to Afghanistan. Al-Arabiya television, considered by many Western sources as a more neutral Middle Eastern media network, said "Shi'a Iran has close ethnic and religious ties with Afghanistan."
Ahmadinejad was the first Iranian president to visit Iraq
. Ahmadinejad, in Baghdad 2 March 2008 for the start of a historic two-day trip, said that "visiting Iraq without the dictator Saddam Hussein
is a good thing." Heading home after a two-day visit to Iraq, Ahmadinejad again touted his country's closer relations with Iraq and reiterated his criticism of the United States.
He also spoke out against Israel for its "barbaric" attack on the Gaza Strip, "inhuman policies" in the Palestinian territories and what he called its domination of world political and economic affairs.the end of which focused largely on the plight of the people of Palestine and a blaming of Israel, though without mentioning the nation or Jews, referring only to "the occupiers" and "the Zionist regime".
"It is no longer acceptable that a small minority would dominate the politics, economy and culture of major parts of the world by its complicated networks," he added. And he accused the so called Zionist regime of seeking to "establish a new form of slavery, and harm the reputation of other nations, even European nations and the US, to attain its racist ambitions." His remarks culminated in France
leading a walkout of a dozen delegations, including the United States
in protest. "It is disappointing that Mr Ahmadinejad has once again chosen to espouse hateful, offensive and anti-Semitic rhetoric," Mark Kornblau, spokesman to the US mission to the United Nations, said in a statement. Delegations from Argentina, Australia, Britain, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand and the United States left the room as Ahmadinejad began to rail against Israel. Israel had already called for a boycott of the speech, and was not present when the Iranian leader began his address. Canada had already said it would heed the boycott call.
. According to a report from Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Ahmadinejad said, referring to Europeans, "Today, they have created a myth in the name of Holocaust and consider it to be above God, religion and the prophets." The quote has also translated as "They have created a myth today that they call the massacre of Jews and they consider it a principle above God, religions and the prophets."
In a 30 May 2006 interview with Der Spiegel
, Ahmadinejad insisted there were "two opinions" on the Holocaust. When asked if the Holocaust was a myth, he responded "I will only accept something as truth if I am actually convinced of it." He also said, "We are of the opinion that, if a historical occurrence conforms to the truth, this truth will be revealed all the more clearly if there is more research into it and more discussion about it". He then argued that "most" scholars who recognized the existence of the Holocaust are "politically motivated," stating that:
In August 2006, the Iranian leader was reported to have again cast doubt on the existence of the Holocaust, this time in a letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel
, where he wrote that the Holocaust may have been invented by the Allied powers to embarrass Germany. During the same month, in a public speech that aired on the Iranian News Channel (IRINN), Ahmadinejad reportedly implied that Zionists may not be human beings, saying “They have no boundaries, limits, or taboos when it comes to killing human beings. Who are they? Where did they come from? Are they human beings? ‘They are like cattle, nay, more misguided.’”
On 11 December 2006 the "International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust
" was held in Iran. The conference was called for by and held at the request of Ahmadinejad. Western media widely condemned the conference and described it as a "Holocaust denial conference" or a "meeting of Holocaust deniers", though Iran maintained that it was not a Holocaust denial
conference, commenting the conference was meant to "create an opportunity for thinkers who cannot express their views freely in Europe about the Holocaust".
In his September 2007 appearance at Columbia University
, Ahmadinejad stated "I'm not saying that it didn't happen at all. This is not judgment that I'm passing here" and that the Holocaust should be left open to debate and research like any other historical event.
At the 18 September 2009 Quds Day ceremonies in Tehran, he stated that "the pretext for establishing the Zionist regime is a lie, a lie which relies on an unreliable claim, a mythical claim, (as) the occupation of Palestine has nothing to do with the Holocaust". He also referred to the Holocaust as a sealed "black box" asking why western powers refuse permission for the claim to be "examined and surveyed". — what the New York Times considered "among his harshest statements on the topic," and one immediately condemned by the US, UK, French and German governments. Widely interpreted as referring to the Holocaust, the media have been criticized for lack of objectivity by reporting the quote without context as it could equally be interpreted as referring to Israel's Biblical claims to the land of Palestine.
In response to some of Ahmadinejad's controversial statements and actions, a variety of sources, including the U.S. Senate, have accused Ahmadinejad of anti-Semitism. Ahmadinejad's September 2008 speech to the UN General Assembly, in which he dwelled on what he described as Zionist control of international finance, was also denounced as "blatant anti-Semitism" by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
.
American President Barack Obama
posed a direct challenge to Ahmadinejad during his June 2009 visit to Buchenwald concentration camp
, saying that Ahmadinejad "should make his own visit" to the camp and that "[t]his place is the ultimate rebuke to such thoughts, a reminder of our duty to confront those who would tell lies about our history".
In October 2008, Ahmadinejad's statements on the Holocaust were criticized within Iran by cleric and presidential hopeful Mahdi Karroubi.
Khamenei's main adviser in foreign policy, Ali Akbar Velayati
, refused to take part in Ahmadinejad's Holocaust conference. In contrast to Ahmadinejad's remarks, Velayati said that the Holocaust was a genocide
and a historical reality.
Ahmadinejad has said he respects Jews and that "in Palestine there are Muslims, Christians and Jews who live together". He added, "We love everyone in the world – Jews, Christians, Muslims, non-Muslims, non-Jews, non-Christians... We are against occupation, aggression, killings and displacing people – otherwise we have no problem with ordinary people." Ahmadinejad has further said the Jewish community in Iran has its own independent member of parliament. Ahmadinejad has argued Zionists are "neither Jews nor Christians nor Muslims", and has asked "How can you possibly be religious and occupy the land of other people?"
Shiraz Dossa, a professor at St. Francis Xavier University
, in Nova Scotia
, Canada
, argued in June 2007 that
History of the Islamic Republic of Iran
One of the most dramatic changes in government in Iran's history was seen with the 1979 Iranian Revolution where Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was overthrown and replaced by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...
. His administration began in August 2005 after his election as the 6th president of Iran
President of Iran
The President of Iran is the highest popularly elected official in, and the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran; although subordinate to the Supreme Leader of Iran, who functions as the country's head of state...
and continues after his re-election in 2009.
In Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government has seen controversy over policies such as his 2007 Gas Rationing Plan
2007 Gas Rationing Plan in Iran
2007 Gasoline Rationing Plan in Iran was launched by president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's cabinet to reduce that country's fuel consumption. Although Iran is one of the world's largest producers of petroleum, rapid increases in demand and limited refining capacity has forced the country to import about...
to reduce the country's fuel consumption, and cuts in maximum interest rates permitted to private and public banking facilities; his widely disputed and protested election to a second term in 2009; and over the presence of a so-called "deviant current" among his aides and supporters that led to the arrest of several of them in 2011. Abroad, his dismissal of international sanctions against Iran's nuclear energy program, and his call for an end of the state of Israeli and description of the Holocaust as a myth, has drawn criticism.
2005 Campaign
Ahmadinejad was not widely known when he entered the presidential election campaign, although he had already made his mark in Tehran for rolling back earlier reforms. He is a member of the Central Council of the Islamic Society of EngineersIslamic Society of Engineers
The Islamic Society of Engineers or ISE, is a political organization in Iran, a member of the conservative Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran....
, but his key political support is inside the Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran
Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran
The Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran , usually shortened to Abadgaran , is an alliance of some right-wing Iranian political parties and organizations. The alliance, mostly active in Tehran, won almost all of Tehran's seats in the Iranian Majlis election of 2004 and the Iranian City and Village...
(Abadgaran or Developers).
Ahmadinejad generally sent mixed signals about his plans for his presidency, perhaps to attract both religious conservatives and the lower economic classes. His campaign slogan
Slogan
A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commercial, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. The word slogan is derived from slogorn which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm . Slogans vary from the written and the...
was: "It's possible and we can do it".
In the campaign, he took a populist
Populism
Populism can be defined as an ideology, political philosophy, or type of discourse. Generally, a common theme compares "the people" against "the elite", and urges social and political system changes. It can also be defined as a rhetorical style employed by members of various political or social...
approach. He emphasized his own modest life, and compared himself with Mohammad Ali Rajai
Mohammad Ali Rajai
Mohammad Ali Rajai was the second elected President of Iran from 2 to 30 August 1981, after serving as Prime Minister under Abolhassan Banisadr. He was also Minister of Foreign Affairs from 11 March 1981 to 15 August 1981, while he was Prime Minister...
, Iran's second president. Ahmadinejad said he planned to create an "exemplary government for the people of the world" in Iran. He was a "principlist", acting politically based on Islamic and revolutionary
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
principles. One of his goals was "putting the petroleum
Petroleum
Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
income on people's tables", meaning Iran's oil profits would be distributed among the poor.
Ahmadinejad was the only presidential candidate who spoke out against future relations with the United States. He told Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcaster, or IRIB, , formerly called the National Iranian Radio and Television until the Islamic revolution of 1979, is a giant Iranian corporation in control of radio and television which is among the largest media organizations in Asia and Pacific region, and a regular...
the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
was "one-sided, stacked against the world of Islam." He opposed the veto power of the UN Security Council's five permanent members: "It is not just for a few states to sit and veto global approvals. Should such a privilege continue to exist, the Muslim world with a population of nearly 1.5 billion should be extended the same privilege." He defended Iran's nuclear program and accused "a few arrogant powers" of trying to limit Iran's industrial and technological development in this and other fields.
In his second round campaign, he said, "We didn't participate in the revolution for turn-by-turn government.…This revolution tries to reach a world-wide government." He spoke of an extended program using trade to improve foreign relations, and called for greater ties with Iran's neighbours and ending visa
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
requirements between states in the region, saying that "people should visit anywhere they wish freely. People should have freedom in their pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
s and tours."
Ahmadinejad described Ayatollah
Ayatollah
Ayatollah is a high ranking title given to Usuli Twelver Shī‘ah clerics. Those who carry the title are experts in Islamic studies such as jurisprudence, ethics, and philosophy and usually teach in Islamic seminaries. The next lower clerical rank is Hojatoleslam wal-muslemin...
Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi
Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi
Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi is a hardline Iranian Twelver Shi'i cleric and politician who is widely seen as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's spiritual advisor. He is also a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts, the body responsible for choosing the Supreme Leader, where he heads...
, a senior cleric from Qom
Qom
Qom is a city in Iran. It lies by road southwest of Tehran and is the capital of Qom Province. At the 2006 census, its population was 957,496, in 241,827 families. It is situated on the banks of the Qom River....
as his ideological and spiritual mentor. Mesbah founded the Haghani
Haghani Circle
Haghani school is a Shi'i school of thought in Iran by a group of hardliner right-wing clerics based in the holy city of Qom and headed by Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, an influential theologian. The Haghani Circle has its origin in the Haghani seminary, founded in 1964, which previously...
School of thought in Iran. He and his team strongly supported Ahmadinejad's 2005 presidential campaign.
2005 Election
Ahmadinejad won 62 percent of the vote in the run-off poll against Akbar Hashemi RafsanjaniAkbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is an influential Iranian politician and writer, who was the fourth President of Iran. He was a member of the Assembly of Experts until his resignation in 2011...
. Supreme Leader
Supreme Leader of Iran
The Supreme Leader of Iran is the highest ranking political and religious authority in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The post was established by the constitution in accordance with the concept of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists...
Ayatollah Khamenei authorized his presidency on 3 August 2005. Ahmedinejad kissed Khamenei's hand during the ceremony to show his loyalty.
2006 Councils and Assembly of Experts election
Ahmadinejad’s team lost the 2006 city council elections, and his spiritual mentor, Mohammad Taghi Mesbah YazdiMohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi
Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi is a hardline Iranian Twelver Shi'i cleric and politician who is widely seen as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's spiritual advisor. He is also a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts, the body responsible for choosing the Supreme Leader, where he heads...
, was ranked sixth on the country's Assembly of Experts. In the first nationwide election since Ahmadinejad became President, his allies failed to dominate election returns for the Assembly of Experts
Assembly of Experts
The Assembly of Experts of Iran , also translated as Council of Experts, is a deliberative body of 86 Mujtahids that is charged with electing and removing the Supreme Leader of Iran and supervising his activities.Members of the assembly are elected from a government-screened list of candidates by...
and local councils. Results, with a turnout of about 60%, suggested a voter shift toward more moderate policies. According to an editorial in the Kargozaran independent daily newspaper, "The results show that voters have learned from the past and concluded that we need to support.. moderate figures." An Iranian political analyst said that "this is a blow for Ahmadinejad and Mesbah Yazdi's list."
2009 Presidential Election
On 23 August 2008, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei announced that he "sees Ahmadinejad as president in the next five years," a comment interpreted as indicating support for Ahmadinejad's reelection. 39,165,191 ballots were cast in the election on 12 June 2009, according to Iran's election headquarters. Ahmadinejad won 24,527,516 votes, (62.63%). In second place, Mir-Hossein Mousavi
Mir-Hossein Mousavi
Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh is an Iranian reformist politician, artist and architect who served as the seventy-ninth and last Prime Minister of Iran from 1981 to 1989. He was a Reformist candidate for the 2009 presidential election and eventually the leader of the opposition in the post-election...
, won 13,216,411 (33.75%) of the votes. The election drew unprecedented public interest in Iran.
2009 Iranian Election Protests
The election results were strongly disputed by both Mousavi and Ahmadinejad and their respective supporters who believed that electoral fraudElectoral fraud
Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...
occurred during the election. Street protests commenced the day after the election and continued off and on into 2010. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a "divine assessment," and formally endorsed Ahmadinejad as President on 3 August 2009. Ahmadinejad was sworn in for a second term on 5 August 2009. Several Iranian political figures appeared to avoid the ceremony. Former presidents Mohammad Khatami
Mohammad Khatami
Sayyid Mohammad Khātamī is an Iranian scholar, philosopher, Shiite theologian and Reformist politician. He served as the fifth President of Iran from August 2, 1997 to August 3, 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture in both the 1980s and 1990s...
, and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is an influential Iranian politician and writer, who was the fourth President of Iran. He was a member of the Assembly of Experts until his resignation in 2011...
, who is currently head of the Expediency Discernment Council
Expediency Discernment Council
The Expediency Discernment Council of the System is an administrative assembly appointed by the Supreme Leader and was created upon the revision to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran on 6 February 1988...
, along with opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, did not attend the ceremony. Opposition groups asked protesters on reformist websites and blogs to launch new street demonstrations on the day of the inauguration ceremony. On inauguration day
Inauguration
An inauguration is a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's term of office. An example is the ceremony in which the President of the United States officially takes the oath of office....
, hundreds of riot police met opposition protesters outside parliament. After taking the oath of office
Oath of office
An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before undertaking the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations...
, which was broadcast live on Iranian state television
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting
Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcaster, or IRIB, , formerly called the National Iranian Radio and Television until the Islamic revolution of 1979, is a giant Iranian corporation in control of radio and television which is among the largest media organizations in Asia and Pacific region, and a regular...
, Ahmadinejad said that he will "protect the official faith, the system of the Islamic revolution and the constitution". France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States announced that they would not send the usual letters of congratulation.
While addressing the 11th scientific and research meeting of university professors on July 31, 2009, president Ahmadinejad concluded:
The June 12 presidential election ruined the dominance of wealth, political party system and media as tools of the hegemonic system and presented a new role model to the human race.
Economic policy
Ahmadinejad's economic policies have been described as populist, one of his campaign promises being to share out Iran's oil wealth more fairly. He's also condemned global capitalism as an immoral system, and proclaimed that the "era of capitalist thinking" is over. However in December 2010 his administration embarked on a "sweeping reform" of state subsidies in place since the beginning of the Islamic Republic. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has called 2011 a "year of economic jihad", and the program has been applauded by the International Monetary FundInternational Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
.
In Ahmadinejad's first four years as president, unemployment decreased due to a rise in income from oil exports as oil price rose on world markets. His critics have charged that government spending has been inflationary. Ahmadinejad increased spending by 25 percent and has supported subsidies
Subsidy
A subsidy is an assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire more labor A subsidy (also...
for food and gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...
. He also initially refused a gradual increase of petrol prices, saying that after making necessary preparations, such as a development of public transportation system, the government will free up petrol prices after five years. Interest rates were cut by presidential decree to below the inflation rate. One unintended effect of this stimulation of the economy has been the bidding up of some urban real estate prices by two or three times their pre-Ahmadinejad value by Iranians seeking to invest surplus cash and finding few other safe opportunities. The resulting increase in the cost of housing has hurt poorer, non-property owning Iranians, the putative beneficiaries of Ahmadinejad's populist policies. As of mid-2011, economic growth has been called "sluggish", up 3.5% in 2010, a rate insufficient to lower the unemployment rate of close to 15%.
In June 2006, 50 Iranian economists wrote a letter to Ahmadinejad that criticized his price interventions to stabilize prices of goods, cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
, government services, and his decree issued by the High Labor Council and the Ministry of Labor that proposed an increase of workers' salaries by 40 percent. Ahmadinejad publicly responded harshly to the letter and denounced the accusations. The Management and Planning Organisation, a state body charged with mapping out long-term economic and budget strategy, was broken up and its experienced managers were fired.
Ahmadinejad has called for "middle-of-the-road" compromises with respect to Western-oriented capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
and socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
. Current political conflicts with the United States have caused the central bank to fear increased capital flight due to global isolation
Sanctions against Iran
This article outlines economic, trade, scientific and military sanctions against Iran, which have been imposed by the U.S. government, or under U.S. pressure by the international community through the United Nations Security Council...
. These factors have prevented an improvement of infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
and capital
Financial capital
Financial capital can refer to money used by entrepreneurs and businesses to buy what they need to make their products or provide their services or to that sector of the economy based on its operation, i.e. retail, corporate, investment banking, etc....
influx, despite high economic potential. Among those that did not vote for him in the first election, only 3.5 percent said they would consider voting for him in the next election. Former supporter of Ahmadinejad who have criticized his policies include Mohammad Khoshchehreh
Mohammad Khoshchehreh
Mohammad Khoshchehreh is an Iranian economist and politician.-Political life:Khoshchehreh is a member of Iranian parliament. A former advisor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, turned out to be one his outspoken critics in the 7th parliament....
, a member of parliament who campaigned for Ahmadinejad, but in 2007 complained his government "has been strong on populist slogans, but weak on achievement;" and economist and former adviser Hossein Raghfar, who has cited the decline in the price for human kidneys (which has dropped from $10,000 to $2,000 as more poor people sell their organs for cash), as evidence of increased poverty under the administration.
President Ahmadinejad has changed almost all of his economic ministers, including oil, industry and economy, since coming to power in 2005. In an interview with Fars News Agency on April 2008, Davoud Danesh Jaafari who acted as minister of economy in President Ahmadinejad’s cabinet, harshly criticized Ahmadinejad’s economic policy: “During my time, there was no positive attitude towards previous experiences or experienced people and there was no plan for the future. Peripheral issues which were not of dire importance to the nation were given priority. Most of the scientific economic concepts like the effect of liquidity on inflation were put in question." In response to these criticisms, Ahmadinejad accused his minister of not being "a man of justice" and declared that the solution to Iran’s economic problem is "the culture of martyrdom". In May 2008, the Petroleum minister of Iran admitted that the government illegally invested 2 billion dollars to import petrol in 2007. At Iranian parliament, he also mentioned that he simply followed the president's order.
While his government had 275 thousand billion toman
Iranian toman
The toman , is a superunit of the official currency of Iran, the rial. Toman, derived from a Mongolian word meaning ten thousand , was the currency of Iran until 1932. It was divided into 10,000 dinar. Between 1798 and 1825, the toman was also subdivided into 8 rial, each of 1250 dinar...
oil income, the highest in Iranian history, Ahmadinejad’s government had the highest budget deficit since the Iranian revolution.
During his presidency, Ahmadinejad launched a gas rationing plan
2007 Gas Rationing Plan in Iran
2007 Gasoline Rationing Plan in Iran was launched by president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's cabinet to reduce that country's fuel consumption. Although Iran is one of the world's largest producers of petroleum, rapid increases in demand and limited refining capacity has forced the country to import about...
to reduce the country's fuel consumption. He also instituted cuts in the interest rates that private and public banking facilities could charge. He issued a directive, according to which the Management and Planning Organization
Management and Planning Organisation of Iran
The Management and Planning Organization of Iran was one of the largest governmental establishments in Iran. From 1948 until 2007 it was fully responsible for preparing the country's budget....
should be affiliated to the government.
Family planning and population policy
In October 2006, Ahmadinejad opposed encouraging families to limit themselves to just two children, stating that Iran could cope with 50 million more people than the current 70 million. In remarks that have drawn criticism, he told MPsMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
he wanted to scrap existing birth control policies which discouraged Iranian couples from having more than two children. Critics said his call was ill-judged at a time when Iran was struggling with surging inflation and rising unemployment, estimated at around 11 percent. Ahmadinejad’s call for an increased birth rate is reminiscent of a call Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini
Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini was an Iranian religious leader and politician, and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran...
made in 1979. The policy was effective in increasing population growth, but was eventually reversed in response to the resultant economic strain.
In 2008, the government sent the "Family Protection Bill" to the Iranian parliament. Women's rights activists criticized the bill for removing protections from women, such as the requirement that a husband obtain his wife's consent before bringing another wife into the family.
Housing
The first legislation to emerge from his newly formed government was a 12 trillion rialIranian rial
The rial is the currency of Iran. It is subdivided into 100 dinar but, because of the very low current value of the rial, no fraction of the rial is used in accounting....
(US$1.3 billion) fund called "Reza's Compassion Fund", named after Shi'a
Shi'a Islam
Shia Islam is the second largest denomination of Islam. The followers of Shia Islam are called Shi'ites or Shias. "Shia" is the short form of the historic phrase Shīʻatu ʻAlī , meaning "followers of Ali", "faction of Ali", or "party of Ali".Like other schools of thought in Islam, Shia Islam is...
Imam Ali al-Rida
Ali al-Rida
‘Alī ibn Mūsā al-Rizā was the seventh descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the eighth of the Twelve Imams, according to Shia sect of Islam...
. Ahmadinejad's government said this fund would tap Iran's oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....
revenue
Revenue
In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....
s to help young people get jobs, afford marriage, and buy their own homes. The fund also sought charitable donations, with a board of trustees
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
in each of Iran's 30 provinces. The legislation was a response to the cost of urban housing, which is pushing up the national average marital age (currently around 25 years for women and 28 years for men). In 2006 the Iranian parliament rejected the fund.
However, Ahmadinejad ordered the administrative council to execute the plan.
Human rights
According to a report by the group Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, "Since President Ahmadinejad came to power, treatment of detainees has worsened in Evin Prison as well as in detention centers operated clandestinely by the Judiciary, the Ministry of Information, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps." Again according to Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, "Respect for basic human rights in Iran, especially freedom of expression and assembly, deteriorated in 2006. The government routinely tortures and mistreats detained dissidents, including through prolonged solitary confinement." Human Rights Watch described the source of human rights violations in contemporary Iran as coming from the Judiciary, accountable to Ali Khamenei
Ali Khamenei
Ayatollah Seyed Ali Hoseyni Khāmene’i is the Supreme Leader of Iran and the figurative head of the Muslim conservative establishment in Iran and Twelver Shi'a marja...
, and from members directly appointed by Ahmadinejad.
Responses to dissent have varied. Human Rights Watch writes that "the Ahmadinejad government, in a pronounced shift from the policy under former president Mohammed Khatami, has shown no tolerance for peaceful protests and gatherings." In December 2006, Ahmadinejad advised officials not to disturb students who engaged in a protest during a speech of his at the Amirkabir University of Technology
Amirkabir University of Technology
Amirkabir University of Technology , formerly called the Tehran Polytechnic is a public research university located in Tehran, Iran. AUT is one of the most prestigious universities and the first established technical university in Iran...
in Tehran, although speakers at other protests have included among their complaints that there had been a crackdown on dissent at universities since Ahmadinejad was elected.
In April 2007, the Tehran police, which is under Khamenei's supervision, began a crackdown on women with "improper hijab." This led to criticism from associates of Ahmadinejad.
Universities
In 2006, the [Ahmadinejad] government reportedly forced numerous Iranian scientists and university professors to resign or to retire. It has been referred to as "second cultural revolution". The policy has been said to replace old professors with younger ones. Some university professors received letters indicating their early retirement unexpectedly. In November 2006, 53 university professors had to retire from Iran University of Science and TechnologyIran University of Science and Technology
The Iran University of Science and Technology is a research institution and university of engineering and science in Iran, offering both undergraduate and postgraduate studies...
.
In 2006, Ahmadinejad's government applied a 50 percent quota
Quota
-Commerce:* Import quota, a type of trade restriction* Production quota* Sales quota, a minimum sales goal for a set time span* Tariff-rate quota, a type of trade restriction-Electoral systems:* Droop quota* Election threshold* Hagenbach-Bischoff quota...
for male students and 50 percent for female students in the university entrance exam for medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, dentistry
Dentistry
Dentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
and pharmacy
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
. The plan was supposed to stop the growing presence of female students in the universities. In a response to critics, Iranian minister of health and medical education, Kamran Bagheri Lankarani
Kamran Bagheri Lankarani
Kamran Bagheri Lankarani M.D., was Iran's Minister of Health and Medical Education.Born in 1965, he finished medical school at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, and attained an advanced fellowship degree in Medicine from the same university. He specializes in gastroenterology.Baqeri-Lankarani...
argued that there are not enough facilities such as dormitories for female students. Masoud Salehi, president of Zahedan University said that presence of women generates some problems with transportation. Also, Ebrahim Mekaniki, president of Babol University of Medical Sciences
Babol University of Medical Sciences
Babol University of Medical Sciences , is a medical sciences university in the city of Babol, Mazandaran province, Persia .It was founded originally as a school for laboratory technicians in 1962, and was elevated to university status in 1985....
, stated that an increase in the presence of women will make it difficult to distribute facilities in a suitable manner. Bagher Larijani, the president of Tehran University of Medical Sciences
Tehran University of Medical Sciences
- General and History :Tehran University of Medical Sciences is the largest and "most distinguished", and most highly ranked medical school of Iran. In September 2008, the health minister of Iran - General and History :Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) is the largest and "most...
made similar remarks. According to Rooz Online
Rooz
Rooz is a Persian and English news website. It is mostly staffed by exiled Iranian journalists including Masoud Behnoud, Ebrahim Nabavi and Nikahang Kowsar with occasional articles by activists and journalists inside Iran, including Shirin Ebadi and Ahmad Zeidabadi...
, the quotas lack a legal foundation and are justified as support for "family" and "religion."
December 2006 student protest
On 11 December 2006, some students disrupted a speech by Ahmadinejad at the Amirkabir University of TechnologyAmirkabir University of Technology
Amirkabir University of Technology , formerly called the Tehran Polytechnic is a public research university located in Tehran, Iran. AUT is one of the most prestigious universities and the first established technical university in Iran...
(Tehran Polytechnic) in Tehran. According to the Iranian Student News Agency, students set fire to photographs of Ahmadinejad and threw firecrackers. The protesters also chanted "death to the dictator
Dictatorship
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...
." It was the first major public protest against Ahmadinejad since his election. In a statement carried on the students' Web site, they announced that they had been protesting the growing political pressure under Ahmadinejad, also accusing him of corruption, mismanagement, and discrimination. The statement added that "the students showed that despite vast propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
, the president has not been able to deceive academia
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
." It was also reported that some students were angry about the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust
International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust
The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust was a two-day conference that opened on December 11, 2006, in Tehran, Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the conference sought "neither to deny nor prove the Holocaust.....
.
In response to the students' slogans, the president said: "We have been standing up to dictatorship so that no one will dare to establish dictatorship in a millennium even in the name of freedom. Given the scars inflicted on the Iranian nation by agents of the US and British dictatorship, no one will ever dare to initiate the rise of a dictator." It was reported that even though the protesters broke the TV cameras and threw hand-made bombs at Ahmadinejad, the president asked the officials not to question or disturb the protesters. In his blog, Ahmadinejad described his reaction to the incident as "a feeling of joy" because of the freedom that people enjoyed after the revolution.
One thousand students also protested the day before to denounce the increased pressure on the reformist groups at the university. One week prior, more than two thousand students protested at Tehran University on the country's annual student day, with speakers saying that there had been a crackdown on dissent at universities since Ahmadinejad was elected.
Nuclear program
Ahmadinejad has been a vocal supporter of Iran's nuclear programNuclear program of Iran
The nuclear program of Iran was launched in the 1950s with the help of the United States as part of the Atoms for Peace program. The support, encouragement and participation of the United States and Western European governments in Iran's nuclear program continued until the 1979 Iranian Revolution...
, and has insisted that it is for peaceful purposes. He has repeatedly emphasized that building a nuclear bomb
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
is not the policy of his government. He has said that such a policy is "illegal and against our religion." He also added at a January 2006 conference in Tehran that a nation with "culture, logic and civilization" would not need nuclear weapons, and that countries that seek nuclear weapons are those which want to solve all problems by the use of force. In a 2008 interview Ahmadinejad elaborated that countries striving to obtain nuclear weapons are politically backward nations and those who possess them and continually make new generations of such bombs are "even more backward".
In April 2006, Ahmadinejad announced that Iran had successfully refined uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
to a stage suitable for the nuclear fuel cycle
Nuclear fuel cycle
The nuclear fuel cycle, also called nuclear fuel chain, is the progression of nuclear fuel through a series of differing stages. It consists of steps in the front end, which are the preparation of the fuel, steps in the service period in which the fuel is used during reactor operation, and steps in...
. In a speech to students and academics in Mashhad
Mashhad
Mashhad , is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia Muslim world. It is also the only major Iranian city with an Arabic name. It is located east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Its...
, he was quoted as saying that Iran's conditions had changed completely as it had become a nuclear state and could talk to other states from that stand. On 13 April 2006, Iranian news agency, IRNA, quoted Ahmadinejad as saying that the peaceful Iranian nuclear technology would not pose a threat to any party because "we want peace and stability and we will not cause injustice to anyone and at the same time we will not submit to injustice." Nevertheless, Iran's nuclear policy under Ahmadinejad's administration has received much criticism, spearheaded by the United States and Israel. The accusations include that Iran is striving to obtain nuclear arms and developing long-range firing capabilities, and that Ahmadinejad issued an order to keep UN inspectors from freely visiting the nation's nuclear facilities and viewing their designs, a move which would be in defiance of an IAEA resolution. Following a May 2009 test launch of a long-range missile
Missile
Though a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
, Ahmadinejad was quoted as telling the crowd that with its nuclear program, Iran was sending the West a message that “the Islamic Republic of Iran is running the show.”
Despite Ahmadinejad's vocal support for the program, the office of the Iranian president is not directly responsible for nuclear policy. It is instead set by the Supreme National Security Council
Supreme National Security Council
Supreme National Security Council is the national security council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the current secretary of which is Saeed Jalili. This institution was founded during the 1989 revision of the constitution...
. The council includes two representatives appointed by the Supreme Leader
Supreme leader
A supreme leader typically refers to a figure in the highest leadership position of an entity, group, organization, or state, who exercises strong or all-powerful authority over it. In religion, the supreme leader or supreme leaders is God or Gods...
, military officials, and members of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government, and reports directly to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei
Ali Khamenei
Ayatollah Seyed Ali Hoseyni Khāmene’i is the Supreme Leader of Iran and the figurative head of the Muslim conservative establishment in Iran and Twelver Shi'a marja...
, who issued a fatwa
Fatwa
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
against nuclear weapons in 2005. Khamenei has criticized Ahmadinejad's "personalization" of the nuclear issue.
Ahmadinejad vowed on February 2008, that Iran will not be held back from developing its peaceful nuclear program and has stated that at least 16 different peaceful uses for nuclear technology have so far been identified. In a 2009 interview, when asked by reporter Ann Curry whether he would rule out an Iranian nuclear bomb in the future, he responded: "We have no need for nuclear weapons." When Curry retorted, "So, may I assume, then, your answer to that question is 'no'?" Ahmadinejad repeated his answer, adding "Without such weapons, we are very much able to defend ourselves." Curry then warned Ahmadinejad that "people will remark that you did not say no." To which Ahmadinejad responded, "You can take from this whatever you want, madam."
In October 2009 the United States, France and Russia proposed a U.N.-drafted deal with Iran regarding its nuclear program, in an effort to find a compromise between Iran's stated need for a nuclear reactor and the concerns of those who are worried that Iran harbors a secret intent on developing a nuclear weapon. After some delay in responding, on October 29, Ahmadinejad seemed to changed his tone towards the deal. "We welcome fuel exchange, nuclear co-operation, building of power plants and reactors and we are ready to co-operate," he said in a live broadcast on state television. However, he added that Iran would not retreat "one iota" on its right to a sovereign nuclear program.
Alleged Corruption
Ahmadinejad has been criticized for attacking private “plunderers” and “corrupt officials,” while engaging in "cronyismCronyism
Cronyism is partiality to long-standing friends, especially by appointing them to positions of authority, regardless of their qualifications. Hence, cronyism is contrary in practice and principle to meritocracy....
and political favouritism". Many of his close associates have been appointed to positions for which they have no obvious qualifications, and "billion dollar no-bid contracts" have been awarded to the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC), an organization with which he is strongly associated.
"Wiped Off the Map"
It has been widely alleged in the media that Ahmadinejad, during a 2005 speech, stated that Israel should be "wiped off the map". This phrase is an English idiomatic expression which implies physical destruction.According to Juan Cole, a University of Michigan Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History, Ahmadinejad's statement was inaccurately translated; Cole suggests that a more accurate translation would be:
In a June 11, 2006 analysis of the translation controversy, New York Times deputy foreign editor and Israeli resident Ethan Bronner argued that Ahmadinejad had called for Israel to be wiped off the map. After noting the objections of critics such as Cole, Bronner stated:
Despite these differences, Ethan Bronner does agree with Professor Cole that Ahmadinejad did not use the word "Israel" (but rather "regime over Jerusalem") and also did not use the word "map" (but rather "page(s) of time"). Emphasizing these points of agreement, Jonathon Steele from The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
concludes that "experts confirm that Iran's president did not call for Israel to be 'wiped off the map'". Furthermore, Steele cites a source at the BBC, as well as the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), supporting the following translation:
While this translation is quite similar to Professor Cole's version, it does use the word "eliminated" rather than "vanish", which is consistent with Bronner's suggestion that an "active" verb would more accurately reflect the original Persian.
In a speech on June 2, 2008, the Iranian presidential website quotes Ahmadinejad as saying
"the Zionist Regime of Israel faces a deadend and will under God's grace be wiped off the map."
and
"the Zionist Regime that is a usurper and illegitimate regime and a cancerous tumor should be wiped off the map."
The statements were translated by Reuters as
"The Zionist regime is in a total dead end and, God willing, this desire will soon be realized and the epitome of perversion will disappear off the face of the world."
and
"You should know that the criminal and terrorist Zionist regime which has 60 years of plundering, aggression and crimes in its file has reached the end of its work and will soon disappear off the geographical scene"
Other statements
In June 2007, Ahmadinejad was criticized by some Iranian parliament members over his remark about ChristianityChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
. According to Aftab News Agency, Ahmadinejad stated: "In the world, there are deviations from the right path: Christianity and Judaism. Dollars have been devoted to the propagation of these deviations. There are also false claims that these [religions] will save mankind. But Islam is the only religion that [can] save mankind." Some members of Iranian parliament criticized these remarks as being fuels to religious war.
Conservative MP Rafat Bayat has blamed Ahmadinejad for a decline in observance of the required hijab
Hijab
The word "hijab" or "'" refers to both the head covering traditionally worn by Muslim women and modest Muslim styles of dress in general....
for women, calling him "not that strict on this issue". Ahmadinejad has been also accused of indecency by people close to Rafsanjani, after he publicly kissed the hand of a woman who used to be his school teacher.
The UN and football stadiums
Two statements that have brought criticism from some religious authorities concern his speech at the United Nations, and the attendance of women at football matches. In a visit to group of Ayatollahs in QomQom
Qom is a city in Iran. It lies by road southwest of Tehran and is the capital of Qom Province. At the 2006 census, its population was 957,496, in 241,827 families. It is situated on the banks of the Qom River....
after returning from his 2005 speech to the UN General Assembly, Ahmadinejad stated he had "felt a halo over his head" during his speech and that a hidden presence had mesmerized the unblinking audience of foreign leaders, foreign ministers, and ambassadors. According to at least one source (Hooman Majd), this was offensive to the conservative religious leaders because an ordinary man cannot presume a special closeness to God or any of the Imams
Imamah (Shi'a doctrine)
Imāmah is the Shia doctrine of religious, spiritual and political leadership of the Ummah. The Shīa believe that the A'immah are the true Caliphs or rightful successors of Muḥammad, and further that Imams are possessed of divine knowledge and authority as well as being part of the Ahl al-Bayt,...
, nor can he imply the presence of the Mahdi
Muhammad al-Mahdi
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Mahdī is believed by Twelver Shī‘a Muslims to be the Mahdī, an ultimate savior of humankind and the final Imām of the Twelve Imams...
.
In another statement the next year, Ahmadinejad proclaimed (without consulting the clerics before hand), that women should be allowed into football stadiums to watch male football clubs compete. This proclamation "was quickly overruled" by clerical authorities, one of whom, Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Fazel Lankarani "refused for weeks to meet with President Ahmadinejad" in early 2007.
Iran constitution Conflict
In 2008, a serious conflict emerged between the Iranian President and the head of parliament over three laws approved by Iranian parliament: "the agreement for civil and criminal legal cooperation between Iran and Kyrgyzstan", "the agreement to support mutual investment between Iran and Kuwait", and "the law for registration of industrial designs and trademarks". The conflict was so serious that the Iranian leader stepped in to resolve the conflict. Ahmadinejad wrote a letter to parliament speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, furiously denouncing him for an "inexplicable act" in bypassing the presidency by giving the order to implement legislation in an official newspaper. President Ahmadinejad accused the head of parliament of violating Iranian constitutional law. He called for legal action against the Parliament speaker. Haddad-Adel responded to Ahmadinejad accusing him of using inappropriate language in his remarks and letters.Ali Kordan
In August 2008, Ahmaghynejad, appointed Ali KordanAli Kordan
Ali Kordan was an Iranian conservative politician who served in the Revolutionary Guards, the judiciary and as deputy oil minister, before becoming interior minister of Iran in 2008 for just 90 days...
as Iran's interior minister. Kordan's appointment has been criticized by Iranian parliamentarians, media and analysts after it came to light that a doctoral degree allegedly awarded to Ali Kordan was fabricated, and that the putative issuer of the degree, Oxford University, had no record of Ali Kordan receiving any degree from the University.
It was also revealed that he had been jailed in 1978 for moral charges.
Fabrication of legal documents is punishable in Iranian law with one to three years of imprisonment and in the case of government officials, the maximum sentence (three years) is demanded.
In November 2008, President Ahmadinejad announced that he was against impeachment of Ali Kordan by Iranian parliament. He refused to attend the parliament on the impeachment day. Ali Kordan was expelled from Iranian interior ministry by Iranian parliament on 4 November 2008. 188 MPs voted against Ali Kordan. An impeachment of Kordan would push Ahmadinejad close to having to submit his entire cabinet for review by parliament, which is led by one of his chief political opponents. Iran's constitution requires that step if more than half the cabinet ministers are replaced, and Ahmadinejad has replaced nine of 21.
Conflict with Parliament
On February 2009 after Supreme Audit Court of IranSupreme Audit Court of Iran
The Supreme Audit Court of Iran is a government agency of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Located in Tehran, it is supervised by the Iranian Parliament and dates back to 1906....
reported that $1.058 billion of surplus oil revenue in the (2006–2007) budget hasn't been returned by the government to the national treasury, Ali Larijani
Ali Larijani
Ali Ardashir Larijani is an Iranian philosopher, politician and the chairman of the Iranian parliament. Larijani was the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from August 15, 2005 to October 20, 2007, appointed to the position by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,replacing Hassan Rowhani...
– Iran's parliamentary
Majlis of Iran
The National Consultative Assembly of Iran , also called The Iranian Parliament or People's House, is the national legislative body of Iran...
speaker – called for further investigations to make sure the missing funds are returned to the treasury as soon as possible. Ahmadinejad criticized the National Audit Office for what he called its "carelessness", saying the report "incites the people" against the government. The head of the parliament Energy Commission, Hamidreza Katouzian, reported: The government spent $5 billion to import fuel, about $2 billion more than the sum parliament had authorized. Katouzian quoted Iran's Oil Minister, Gholam-Hossein Nozari, as saying that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had ordered the extra purchase.
In May 2011 several members of parliament threatened to initiate impeachment proceedings against Ahmadinejad after his merger of eight government ministries and the firing of three ministers without parliament’s consent. According to the Majles News Web site, MP Mohammad Reza Bahonar
Mohammad Reza Bahonar
Mohammad-Reza Bahonar was the conservative First Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Iran. He is a representative from Kerman.In previous parliaments, he has been elected as a representative from Kerman and Tehran...
stated, “legal purging starts with questions, which lead to warnings and end with impeachment.” On May 25 parliament voted to investigate another allegation, that Ahmadinejad had committed election irregularities by giving cash to up to nine million Iranians before the 2009 presidential elections. The vote came within hours after the allegations appeared in several popular conservative news sites associated with supreme leader Ali Khamenei
Ali Khamenei
Ayatollah Seyed Ali Hoseyni Khāmene’i is the Supreme Leader of Iran and the figurative head of the Muslim conservative establishment in Iran and Twelver Shi'a marja...
, suggesting the supreme leader supported the investigation. The disputes were seen as part of the clash between Ahmadinejad and other conservatives and former supporters, including supreme leader Khamenei, over what the conservatives see as Ahmadinejad's confrontational policies and abuse of power.
"Earthquake Saferoom"
Ahmadinejad was involved in a fraud in which he along with Ali Akbar Mehrabian and Mousa Mazloum in 2005 published an invention by Farzan Salimi, claiming it as their own. The idea for an "earthquake saferoom"—a design for a fortified room in homes in case of disaster was owned by Farzan Salimi, an Iranian researcher and engineer.In July 2009, the general court of Tehran convicted Industry Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian and Mousa Mazloum but kept silent about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's involvement, according to Etemad-Melli daily. According to the BBC, Ahmadinejad is named as an author on the cover of the book in which the fraudulent claim was made.
Relations with Supreme Leader
Early in his presidency, Ahmadinejad was sometimes described as "enjoy[ing] the full backing" of the Supreme LeaderSupreme leader
A supreme leader typically refers to a figure in the highest leadership position of an entity, group, organization, or state, who exercises strong or all-powerful authority over it. In religion, the supreme leader or supreme leaders is God or Gods...
Ali Khamenei
Ali Khamenei
Ayatollah Seyed Ali Hoseyni Khāmene’i is the Supreme Leader of Iran and the figurative head of the Muslim conservative establishment in Iran and Twelver Shi'a marja...
, and even as being his "protege." In Ahmadinejad's 2005 inaguaration the supreme leader allowed Ahmadinejad to kiss his hand and cheeks in what was called "a sign of closeness and loyalty," and after the 2009 election fully endorsed Ahmadinejad against protesters. However as early as January 2008 signs of disagreement between the two men developed over domestic policies, and by 2010-11 several sources detected a "growing rift" between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei. The disagreement has been described as centering on Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei
Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei
Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei is a top adviser, and close confident of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He is currently Ahmadinejad's Chief of Staff. He served as the head of the Presidential Center from 2009 to 2011, and was First Vice President of Iran for one week in 2009 before he was ordered...
, a top adviser and close confidant of Ahmadinejad and opponent of "greater involvement of clerics in politics", who was First Vice President of Iran
Vice President of Iran
Vice President of Iran is defined by article 124 of the Iranian constitution, as anyone appointed by the President to lead an organization related to Presidential affairs. , there are 12 Vice Presidents in Iran...
until being ordered to resign from the cabinet by the supreme leader. In 2009 Ahmadinejad dismissed Intelligence minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i, an opponent of Mashaei. In April 2011, another Intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi, resigned after being asked to by Ahmadinejad, but was reinstated by the supreme leader within hours. Ahmadinejad declined to officially back Moslehi's reinstatement for two weeks and in protest engaged in an "11-day walkout" of cabinet meetings, religious ceremonies, and other official functions. Ahmadinejad's actions led to angry public attacks by clerics, parliamentarians and military commanders, who accused him of ignoring orders from the supreme leader. Conservative opponents in parliament launched an "impeachment drive" against him, four websites with ties to Ahmadinejad reportedly were "filtered and blocked", and several people "said to be close" to the president and Mashaei were arrested on charges of being "magicians" and invoking djinns. On 6 May 2011 it was reported that Ahmadinejad had been given an ultimatum to accept the leader's intervention or resign, and on 8 May he "apparently bowed" to the reinstatement, welcoming back Moslehi to a cabinet meeting. The events have been said to have "humiliated and weakened" Ahmadinejad, though the president has denied that there was any rift between the two, and according to the semiofficial Fars News Agency
Fars News Agency
Fars News Agency is a news agency in Iran. While it describes itself as "Iran's leading independent news agency", news organizations such as CNN and Reuters describe it as a "semi-official" news agency with ties to the government...
stated that his relationship with the supreme leader "is that of a father and a son."
Relations with the United States
During Ahmadinejad's presidency, Iran and the US have had the most high-profile contact in almost 30 years. Iran and the US froze diplomatic relations in 1980 and had no direct diplomatic contact until May 2007.While the U.S has linked its support for a Palestinian state to acceptance of Israel's "right to exist
Right to exist
The right to exist is said to be an attribute of nations. According to an essay by the nineteenth century French philosopher Ernest Renan, a state has the right to exist when individuals are willing to sacrifice their own interests for the community it represents. Unlike self-determination, the...
," Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has retorted that Israel should be moved to Europe instead, reiterating Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
's 1990 statement. The U.S. has sent signals to Iran that its posturing against Israel's right to exist is unacceptable in their opinion, leading to increased speculation of a U.S. led attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. Even though Iran has denied involvement in Iraq, then-President Bush warned of "consequences," sending a clear message to Iran that the U.S may take military action against it. The Bush administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
considered Iran to be the world's leading state supporter of terrorism. Iran has been on the U.S. list of state sponsors of international terrorism
U.S. list of state sponsors of international terrorism
"State Sponsors of Terrorism" is a designation applied by the United States Department of State to nations which are designated by the Secretary of State "to have repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism." Inclusion on the list imposes strict sanctions.The list began on...
since 1984, a claim that Iran and Ahmadinejad have denied.
On 8 May 2006, Ahmadinejad sent a personal letter
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter to George W. Bush
On May 8, 2006, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent a missive directly to then United States President George W. Bush that proposed "new ways" to end the dispute over the Islamic Republic's development of nuclear power.-2006 missive:U.S...
to then-President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
to propose "new ways" to end Iran's nuclear dispute. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley
Stephen Hadley
Stephen John Hadley was the 21st U.S. Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs , serving under President George W. Bush....
both reviewed the letter and dismissed it as a negotiating ploy and publicity stunt that did not address U.S. concerns about Iran's nuclear program. A few days later at a meeting in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, Ahmadinejad said, "the letter was an invitation to monotheism and justice, which are common to all divine prophets."
Ahmadinejad invited Bush to a debate at the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
, which was to take place on 19 September 2006. The debate was to be about Iran's right to enrich uranium. The invitation was rejected by White House spokesman Tony Snow
Tony Snow
Robert Anthony "Tony" Snow was an American journalist, political commentator, television news anchor, syndicated columnist, radio host, musician, and the third White House Press Secretary under President George W. Bush. Snow also worked for President George H. W. Bush as chief speechwriter and...
, who said "There's not going to be a steel-cage grudge match between the President and Ahmadinejad."
On November 2006, Ahmadinejad wrote an open letter to the American people, representing some of his anxieties and concerns. He stated that there is an urgency to have a dialog because of the activities of the US administration in the Middle East, and that the US is concealing the truth about current realities.
The United States Senate passed a resolution warning Iran about attacks in Iraq. On 26 September 2007, the United States Senate passed a resolution 76–22 and labeled an arm of the Iranian military as a terrorist organization.
In September 2007 Ahmadinejad visited New York to address the General Assembly of the United Nations. On the same trip, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
invited Ahmadinejad to visit and participate in a debate. The invitation was a controversial one for the university, as was university president Lee Bollinger
Lee Bollinger
Lee Carroll Bollinger is an American lawyer and educator who is currently serving as the 19th president of Columbia University. Formerly the president of the University of Michigan, he is a noted legal scholar of the First Amendment and freedom of speech...
's introduction in which he described the Iranian leader as a "cruel and petty dictator" and his views as "astonishingly uneducated." Taking questions from Columbia faculty and students who attended his address, Ahmadinejad answered a series of questions, including a query about the treatment of gays in Iran by saying: "We don't have homosexuals like in your country. We don't have that in our country. We don't have this phenomenon; I don't know who's told you we have it." An aide later claimed that he was misrepresented and was actually saying that "compared to American society, we don't have many homosexuals".
In a speech given in April 2008, Ahmadinejad described the September 11, 2001 attacks as a "suspect event." He minimized the attacks by saying all that had happened was, "a building collapsed." He claimed that the death toll was never published, that the victims' names were never published, and that the attacks were used subsequently as pretext for the invasions of Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
and Iraq.
In October 2008, President Ahmadinejad expressed his happiness of 2008 global economic crisis and what he called "collapse of liberalism". He said the West has been driven to deadend and that Iran was proud "to put an end to liberal economy". Ahmadinejad used a September 2008 speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations to assert the American empire is soon going to end without specifying how. "The American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road, and its next rulers must limit their interference to their own borders," Ahmadinejad said.
On November 6, 2008 (two days after the 2008 US Presidential Election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
), President
President of Iran
The President of Iran is the highest popularly elected official in, and the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran; although subordinate to the Supreme Leader of Iran, who functions as the country's head of state...
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, the newly elected President of the United States, and said that he "Welcomes basic and fair changes in U.S. policies and conducts, I hope you will prefer real public interests and justice to the never-ending demands of a selfish minority and seize the opportunity to serve people so that you will be remembered with high esteem". It is the first congratulatory message to a new elected President of the United States by an Iranian President since the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis
Iran hostage crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian...
.
Relations with Israel
On 26 October 2005 Ahmadinejad gave a speech at a conference in Tehran entitled "World Without ZionismZionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
". According to widely published translations, he agreed with a statement he attributed to Ayatollah Khomeini
Ruhollah Khomeini
Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini was an Iranian religious leader and politician, and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran...
that the "occupying regime" had to be removed, and referred to it as a "disgraceful stain [on] the Islamic world", that needed to be "wiped from the pages of history."
Ahmadinejad's comments were condemned by major Western governments
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
, the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, Russia, the United Nations Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
and then UN
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Secretary General Kofi Annan
Kofi Annan
Kofi Atta Annan is a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh Secretary-General of the UN from 1 January 1997 to 31 December 2006...
. Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian, Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and Palestinian
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
leaders also expressed displeasure over Ahmadinejad's remark. Canada's then Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
said, “this threat to Israel's existence, this call for genocide coupled with Iran's obvious nuclear ambitions is a matter that the world cannot ignore.”
The translation of his statement has been disputed. Iran's foreign minister stated that Ahmadinejad had been "misunderstood": "He is talking about the regime. We do not recognise legally this regime." Some experts state that the phrase in question (بايد از صفحه روزگار محو شود) is more accurately translated as "eliminated" or "wiped off" or "wiped away" (lit. "should disappear") from "the page of time" or "the pages of history", rather than "wiped off the map". Reviewing the controversy over the translation, New York Times deputy foreign editor Ethan Bronner
Ethan Bronner
Ethan Samuel Bronner has been Jerusalem bureau chief of The New York Times since March 2008 following four years as deputy foreign editor.-Biography:...
observed that "all official translations" of the comments, including the foreign ministry and president's office, "refer to wiping Israel away".
Dr. Joshua Teitelbaum, an Israel-based professor with ties to AIPAC, in a paper for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs is a public policy think tank devoted to research and analysis of critical issues facing the Middle East. The center is located in Jerusalem, Israel...
, examined the language that President Ahmadinejad has used when discussing Israel. Using Persian translations from Dr. Denis MacEoin
Denis MacEoin
Denis M. MacEoin is a former editor of the Middle East Quarterly and is also a novelist. A former lecturer in Islamic studies, his academic specialisations are Shi‘ism, Shaykhism, Bábism, and the Bahá'í Faith, on all of which he has written extensively. His novels are written under the pen names...
, a former lecturer in Islamic studies
Islamic studies
In a Muslim context, Islamic studies can be an umbrella term for all virtually all of academia, both originally researched and as defined by the Islamization of knowledge...
in the United Kingdom, Teitelbaum wrote that "the Iranian president was not just calling for “regime change” in Jerusalem, but rather the actual physical destruction of the State of Israel," and asserted that Ahmadinejad was advocating the genocide of its residents as well. Teitelbaum said that in a speech given on 26 October 2005, Ahmadinejad said the following about Israel: "Soon this stain of disgrace will be cleaned from the garment of the world of Islam, and this is attainable." Teitelbaum said that this type of dehumanizing rhetoric is a documented prelude to genocide incitement. Dr. Juan Cole
Juan Cole
John Ricardo I. "Juan" Cole is an American scholar, public intellectual, and historian of the modern Middle East and South Asia. He is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. As a commentator on Middle Eastern affairs, he has appeared in print and on...
, a professor of modern Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan, has argued that Ahmadinejad was not calling for the destruction of Israel, “Ahmadinejad did not say he was going to wipe Israel off the map because no such idiom exists in Persian.” Dr. Stephen Walt
Stephen Walt
Stephen Martin Walt is a professor of international affairs at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Among his most prominent works are and . He coauthored The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy with John Mearsheimer.-Education and career:In 1983, he received a Ph.D. in...
, a professor of international affairs at Harvard University has said “I don’t think he is inciting to genocide." According to Gawdat Bahgat
Gawdat Bahgat
Gawdat Bahgat is a professor of political science at the National Defense University. Bahgat was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt and earned degrees at Cairo University and American University in Cairo...
of the National Defense University
National Defense University
The National Defense University is an institution of higher education funded by the United States Department of Defense, intended to facilitate high-level training, education, and the development of national security strategy. It is chartered by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with Navy Vice Admiral...
, "the fiery calls to destroy Israel are meant to mobilize domestic and regional constituencies" and that "Rhetoric aside, most analysts agree that the Islamic Republic and the Jewish state are not likely to engage in a military confrontation against each other."
In July 2006, Ahmadinejad compared Israel's actions in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War #Other uses|Tammūz]]) and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War , was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon, northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. The principal parties were Hezbollah...
to Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's actions during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
saying that "like Hitler, the Zionist regime
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
is just looking for a pretext for launching military attacks" and "is now acting just like him." On 8 August 2006, he gave a television interview to Mike Wallace
Mike Wallace (journalist)
Myron Leon "Mike" Wallace is an American journalist, former game show host, actor and media personality. During his 60+ year career, he has interviewed a wide range of prominent newsmakers....
, a correspondent for 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
, in which he questioned American support of Israel's "murderous regime" and the moral grounds for Israel's invasion of Lebanon. On 2 December 2006, Ahmadinejad met with Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah in Doha
Doha
Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...
, Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
. At that meeting, he said that Israel "was created to establish dominion of arrogant states over the region and to enable the enemy to penetrate the heart Muslim land." He called Israel a "threat" and said it was created to create tensions in and impose US and UK policies upon the region. On 12 December 2006, Ahmadinejad addressed the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust
International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust
The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust was a two-day conference that opened on December 11, 2006, in Tehran, Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the conference sought "neither to deny nor prove the Holocaust.....
, and made comments about the future of Israel. He said, "Israel is about to crash. This is God's promise and the wish of all the world's nations."
When CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
's Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
asked Ahmadinejad "does Israel remain Israel" in his version of the Middle East, Ahmadinejad suggested that throughout the Palestinian territories free elections for all be conducted under the supervision of international organizations. Ahmadinejad suggested that "..we must allow free elections to happen in Palestine under the supervision of the United Nations. And the Palestinian people, the displaced Palestinian people, or whoever considers Palestine its land, can participate in free elections. And then whatever happens as a result could happen."
Relations with Russia
Ahmadinejad has moved to strengthen relations with Russia, setting up an office expressly dedicated to the purpose in October 2005. He has worked with Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
on the nuclear issue, and both Putin and Ahmadinejad have expressed a desire for more mutual cooperation on issues involving the Caspian Sea
Caspian Sea
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of and a volume of...
. More recently, Iran has been increasingly pushed into an alliance with Moscow due to the controversy over Iran's nuclear program. By late December 2007, Russia began to deliver enriched batches of nuclear fuel to Iran as a way of persuading Iran to end self-enrichment.
Relations with Venezuela
Ahmadinejad has sought to develop ties with other world leaders that are also opposed to U.S. foreign policy and influence like Hugo ChavezHugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
of Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
. Venezuela voted in favor of Iran's nuclear program before the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
, and both governments have sought to develop more bilateral trade. As of 2006, the ties between the two countries are strategic rather than economic; Venezuela is still not one of Iran's major trading partners.
Regional relations
Immediately after the Islamic Revolution, Iran's relations with most of its neighbors, particularly those with large Shi'a minorities, were severely strained. Ahmadinejad's priority in the region has been to improve ties with most of Iran's neighbors in order to strengthen Iran's status and influence in both the Middle East and Greater Muslim WorldMuslim world
The term Muslim world has several meanings. In a religious sense, it refers to those who adhere to the teachings of Islam, referred to as Muslims. In a cultural sense, it refers to Islamic civilization, inclusive of non-Muslims living in that civilization...
.
Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
has always been important in the region due to its ties to the West through NATO, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, and its potential entry into the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. Ahmadinejad visited Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
to reinforce relations with Turkey immediately after the 2007 NIE report was released. Relations were briefly strained after President Abdullah Gul
Abdullah Gül
Dr. Abdullah Gül, GCB is the 11th and current President of the Republic of Turkey, serving in that office since 28 August 2007. He previously served for four months as Prime Minister from 2002-03, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2003-07....
had stated that he wants the atomic threat to be eliminated from the region, perhaps a hint to Iran; however, business has remained cordial between the two countries. Despite US disapproval, they signed a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline deal in late 2007.
Iran's relations with the Arab states have been complex, partly due to the Islamic Revolution of decades ago, as well as more recent efforts by the United States to establish a united front against Iran over the nuclear issue and War on Terror
War on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
. Ahmadinejad has sought reconciliation with the Arab states by encouraging bilateral trade and posturing for Iranian entry into the Gulf Cooperation Council. Outside the Persian Gulf, Ahmadinejad has sought to reestablish relations with other major Arab states, most notably Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. As of 2007, Iran did not have an open embassy there.
Iran's ties to Syria have been most notable in the West. Both nations have had to deal with international and regional isolation. Both have cordial ties to the militant group, Hezbollah, and concerns over Iran-Syria relations were further exacerbated following the 2006 Lebanon War, which both Ahmadinejad and President Assad claimed as a victory over Israel.
Ahmadinejad has also tried to develop stronger, more intimate ties with both Afghanistan and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, to ensure "regional stability." In particular, Ahmadinejad is interested in more bilateral talks between Iran and both Afghanistan and Pakistan. His administration has helped establish the "peace pipeline" from Iran that will eventually fuel both Pakistan and India. In theory, the plan will help to integrate
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
n economies, and, thus to calm tensions between Pakistan and India.
Ahmadinejad met foreign minister Elmar Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
to discuss increased cooperation between the two nations. Mammadyarov also expressed desire to expand the North-South corridor between Iran and Azerbaijan and to launch cooperative projects for power plant construction. Iran has also redoubled efforts to forge ties with Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
; during Ahmadinejad's visit in October 2007 the discussions were focused on developing energy ties between the two countries.
Afghanistan
Due to the similar culture and language Iran has with AfghanistanAfghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, the two countries have historically been close and, even though the US has a military presence in Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai
Hamid Karzai, GCMG is the 12th and current President of Afghanistan, taking office on 7 December 2004. He became a dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001...
of Afghanistan maintains he wants Iran to be one of its closest allies. At Camp David in August 2007, Karzai rejected the U.S. claim that Iran backs Afghan militants. Karzai described Iran as "a helper and a solution," and "a supporter of Afghanistan", both in "the fight against terror, and the fight against narcotics". He called relations between Afghanistan and Iran "very, very good, very, very close ". Iran is also the largest regional donor to Afghanistan. Al-Arabiya television, considered by many Western sources as a more neutral Middle Eastern media network, said "Shi'a Iran has close ethnic and religious ties with Afghanistan."
Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. Ahmadinejad, in Baghdad 2 March 2008 for the start of a historic two-day trip, said that "visiting Iraq without the dictator Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
is a good thing." Heading home after a two-day visit to Iraq, Ahmadinejad again touted his country's closer relations with Iraq and reiterated his criticism of the United States.
United Nations
On September 23, 2009, Ahmadinejad gave a speech to the UN General Assembly which focused on accusing Western powers of spreading "war, bloodshed, aggression, terror and intimidation" in the Middle East and Afghanistan. He also promised that Tehran was "prepared to warmly shake all those hands which are honestly extended to us". But he accused the West of hypocrisy - saying it preached democracy yet violated its fundamental principles - and added that it was time for the world to respond.
"The awakening of nations and the expansion of freedom worldwide will no longer allow them to continue their hypocrisy and vicious attitudes," he said.
He also spoke out against Israel for its "barbaric" attack on the Gaza Strip, "inhuman policies" in the Palestinian territories and what he called its domination of world political and economic affairs.the end of which focused largely on the plight of the people of Palestine and a blaming of Israel, though without mentioning the nation or Jews, referring only to "the occupiers" and "the Zionist regime".
"How can the crimes of the occupiers against defenseless women and children... be supported unconditionally by certain governments," Ahmadinejad asked.
"And at the same time, the oppressed men and women be subject to genocide and heaviest economic blockade being denied their basic needs, food, water and medicine?"
"It is no longer acceptable that a small minority would dominate the politics, economy and culture of major parts of the world by its complicated networks," he added. And he accused the so called Zionist regime of seeking to "establish a new form of slavery, and harm the reputation of other nations, even European nations and the US, to attain its racist ambitions." His remarks culminated in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
leading a walkout of a dozen delegations, including the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in protest. "It is disappointing that Mr Ahmadinejad has once again chosen to espouse hateful, offensive and anti-Semitic rhetoric," Mark Kornblau, spokesman to the US mission to the United Nations, said in a statement. Delegations from Argentina, Australia, Britain, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, New Zealand and the United States left the room as Ahmadinejad began to rail against Israel. Israel had already called for a boycott of the speech, and was not present when the Iranian leader began his address. Canada had already said it would heed the boycott call.
Controversies
On 14 December 2005, Ahmadinejad made several controversial statements about the Holocaust, repeatedly referring to it as a "myth," as well as criticizing European laws against Holocaust denialLaws against Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is illegal in a number of European countries. Many countries also have broader laws that criminalize genocide denial. In addition, the European Union has issued a directive to combat racism and xenophobia, which makes provision for member states criminalising Holocaust denial, with...
. According to a report from Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Ahmadinejad said, referring to Europeans, "Today, they have created a myth in the name of Holocaust and consider it to be above God, religion and the prophets." The quote has also translated as "They have created a myth today that they call the massacre of Jews and they consider it a principle above God, religions and the prophets."
In a 30 May 2006 interview with Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
, Ahmadinejad insisted there were "two opinions" on the Holocaust. When asked if the Holocaust was a myth, he responded "I will only accept something as truth if I am actually convinced of it." He also said, "We are of the opinion that, if a historical occurrence conforms to the truth, this truth will be revealed all the more clearly if there is more research into it and more discussion about it". He then argued that "most" scholars who recognized the existence of the Holocaust are "politically motivated," stating that:
"...there are two opinions on this in Europe. One group of scholars or persons, most of them politically motivated, say the Holocaust occurred. Then there is the group of scholars who represent the opposite position and have therefore been imprisoned for the most part."
In August 2006, the Iranian leader was reported to have again cast doubt on the existence of the Holocaust, this time in a letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Angela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
, where he wrote that the Holocaust may have been invented by the Allied powers to embarrass Germany. During the same month, in a public speech that aired on the Iranian News Channel (IRINN), Ahmadinejad reportedly implied that Zionists may not be human beings, saying “They have no boundaries, limits, or taboos when it comes to killing human beings. Who are they? Where did they come from? Are they human beings? ‘They are like cattle, nay, more misguided.’”
On 11 December 2006 the "International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust
International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust
The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust was a two-day conference that opened on December 11, 2006, in Tehran, Iran. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the conference sought "neither to deny nor prove the Holocaust.....
" was held in Iran. The conference was called for by and held at the request of Ahmadinejad. Western media widely condemned the conference and described it as a "Holocaust denial conference" or a "meeting of Holocaust deniers", though Iran maintained that it was not a Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
conference, commenting the conference was meant to "create an opportunity for thinkers who cannot express their views freely in Europe about the Holocaust".
In his September 2007 appearance at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, Ahmadinejad stated "I'm not saying that it didn't happen at all. This is not judgment that I'm passing here" and that the Holocaust should be left open to debate and research like any other historical event.
At the 18 September 2009 Quds Day ceremonies in Tehran, he stated that "the pretext for establishing the Zionist regime is a lie, a lie which relies on an unreliable claim, a mythical claim, (as) the occupation of Palestine has nothing to do with the Holocaust". He also referred to the Holocaust as a sealed "black box" asking why western powers refuse permission for the claim to be "examined and surveyed". — what the New York Times considered "among his harshest statements on the topic," and one immediately condemned by the US, UK, French and German governments. Widely interpreted as referring to the Holocaust, the media have been criticized for lack of objectivity by reporting the quote without context as it could equally be interpreted as referring to Israel's Biblical claims to the land of Palestine.
In response to some of Ahmadinejad's controversial statements and actions, a variety of sources, including the U.S. Senate, have accused Ahmadinejad of anti-Semitism. Ahmadinejad's September 2008 speech to the UN General Assembly, in which he dwelled on what he described as Zionist control of international finance, was also denounced as "blatant anti-Semitism" by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Frank-Walter Steinmeier is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany , and currently the leader of the opposition in the Bundestag. Steinmeier was a close aide of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, serving as Chief of Staff in the German Chancellery from 1999 to 2005...
.
American President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
posed a direct challenge to Ahmadinejad during his June 2009 visit to Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
, saying that Ahmadinejad "should make his own visit" to the camp and that "[t]his place is the ultimate rebuke to such thoughts, a reminder of our duty to confront those who would tell lies about our history".
In October 2008, Ahmadinejad's statements on the Holocaust were criticized within Iran by cleric and presidential hopeful Mahdi Karroubi.
Khamenei's main adviser in foreign policy, Ali Akbar Velayati
Ali Akbar Velayati
Ali Akbar Velayati is an Iranian politician, academic and diplomat. He was the Foreign Minister of Iran from 1981 to 1997...
, refused to take part in Ahmadinejad's Holocaust conference. In contrast to Ahmadinejad's remarks, Velayati said that the Holocaust was a genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
and a historical reality.
Response to allegations
Ahmadinejad has denied allegations of Holocaust denial and acknowledged that it seems the West is right in its claim of the Holocaust:"If the Europeans are telling the truth in their claim that they have killed six million Jews in the Holocaust during the World War II – which seems they are right in their claim because they insist on it and arrest and imprison those who oppose it, why the Palestinian nation should pay for the crime. Why have they come to the very heart of the Islamic world and are committing crimes against the dear Palestine using their bombs, rockets, missiles and sanctions.
Ahmadinejad has said he respects Jews and that "in Palestine there are Muslims, Christians and Jews who live together". He added, "We love everyone in the world – Jews, Christians, Muslims, non-Muslims, non-Jews, non-Christians... We are against occupation, aggression, killings and displacing people – otherwise we have no problem with ordinary people." Ahmadinejad has further said the Jewish community in Iran has its own independent member of parliament. Ahmadinejad has argued Zionists are "neither Jews nor Christians nor Muslims", and has asked "How can you possibly be religious and occupy the land of other people?"
Shiraz Dossa, a professor at St. Francis Xavier University
St. Francis Xavier University
St. Francis Xavier University is a post-secondary institution located in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The school was founded in 1853, but did not offer degrees until 1868. The university has approximately 5000 students.-History:...
, in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, argued in June 2007 that
Ahmadinejad has not denied the Holocaust or proposed Israel’s liquidation; he has never done so in any of his speeches on the subject (all delivered in Persian). As an Iran specialist, I can attest that both accusations are false... What Ahmadinejad has questioned is the mythologizing, the sacralization, of the Holocaust and the “Zionist regime’s” continued killing of Palestinians and Muslims. He has even raised doubts about the scale of the Holocaust. His rhetoric has been excessive and provocative. And he does not really care what we in the West think about Iran or Muslims; he does not kowtow to western or Israeli diktat.Dossa was criticized in Canadian media, by university president Sean Riley, and by 105 professors at his university for his attendance at Tehran's Holocaust conference. Dossa replied he did not know Holocaust deniers would be in attendance, that he has "never denied the Holocaust, only noted its propaganda power", and that the university should respect his academic freedom to participate.
Cabinet Members
| Ministry | Minister | Time in office |
|---|---|---|
| President President of Iran The President of Iran is the highest popularly elected official in, and the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran; although subordinate to the Supreme Leader of Iran, who functions as the country's head of state... |
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad | 2005–present |
| First Vice President Vice President of Iran Vice President of Iran is defined by article 124 of the Iranian constitution, as anyone appointed by the President to lead an organization related to Presidential affairs. , there are 12 Vice Presidents in Iran... |
Parviz Davoodi Parviz Davoodi Parviz Davoodi is an Iranian hardline conservative politician.He was born in Tehran to an Iranian Azeri family from Astara, Ardebil, northern Iran. He served as the First Vice President of Iran from September 11, 2005 to July 17, 2009. He is also an economist at Shahid Beheshti University.... |
2005–2009 |
| Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei is a top adviser, and close confident of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He is currently Ahmadinejad's Chief of Staff. He served as the head of the Presidential Center from 2009 to 2011, and was First Vice President of Iran for one week in 2009 before he was ordered... |
2009 | |
| Mohammad-Reza Rahimi | 2009–present | |
| Foreign Affairs Minister of Foreign Affairs (Iran) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is an Iranian government ministry. The Minister for Foreign Affairs is the Cabinet member in charge.... |
Manouchehr Mottaki Manouchehr Mottaki Manouchehr Mottaki is an Iranian politician and diplomat. He was the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs. Whilst technically appointed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he is considered to be closer to more pragmatic conservative factions and during the 2005 presidential election, he was the campaign... |
2005–2010 |
| Ali Akbar Salehi Ali Akbar Salehi Ali Akbar Salehi is an Iranian politician, diplomat and academic and the current Minister of Foreign Affairs since 13 December 2010. Previous to his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs, he was Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran from 16 July 2009 to 13 December 2010... |
2010–present | |
| Agricultural Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture (Iran) The Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture established in 2001, is an Iranian government body responsible for the oversight of Agriculture in Iran... |
Mohammad-Reza Eskandari | 2005–2009 |
| Sadeq Khalilian | 2009–present | |
| Commerce | Masoud Mir Kazemi Masoud Mir Kazemi Masoud Mir Kazemi is an Iranian politician who was Minister of Petroleum from 2009 to 2011, replacing Gholamhossein Nozari after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected. Kazemi had previously headed Shahed University and headed Iran's Ministry of Commerce... |
2005–2009 |
| Mehdi Ghazanfari Mehdi Ghazanfari Mehdi Ghazanfari is an Iranian politician who is the current Minister of Industries and Business since 3 August 2011. He was Minister of Commerce in the second cabinet of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 9 August 2009 to 3 August 2011.-References:... |
2009–2011 | |
| ICT | Mohammad Soleimani Mohammad Soleimani Mohammad Soleimani is an Iranian politician and former Minister of Communication and Information Technology and formerly the Iranian ambassador to Mali.He was born in kazerun.-Academics:... |
2005–2009 |
| Reza Taghipur | 2009–present | |
| Cooperatives Ministry of Cooperatives (Iran) The Ministry of Cooperatives established in 1991 and dissolved in 2011, was an Iranian government body responsible for the oversight of Cooperative business in Iran.-External links:*... |
Mohammad Ardakani | 2005 |
| Mohammad Abbasi Mohammad Abbasi Mohammad Abbasi is an Iranian politician who is the current Acting Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports. He was Minister of Cooperatives in the first and second Cabinet of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2005 to 2011... |
2005–2011 | |
| Cooperatives, Labour and Welfare Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare (Iran) The Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare is an Iranian government body responsible for the oversight of Cooperative business, regulation and implementation of policies applicable to labour and social affairs and oversight of Social security in Iran that formed on 3 August 2011.... |
Reza Sheykholeslam Reza Sheykholeslam Reza Sheykholeslam is an Iranian politician who is the current Minister of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare since 3 August 2011. Before that, he was Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in the second cabinet of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2009 to 2011.-Early life:He was born on 1 January 1967... |
2011–present |
| Culture | Hossein Saffar Harandi | 2005–2009 |
| Mohammad Hosseini | 2009–present | |
| Defense | Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar Mostafa Mohammad Najjar is the current Interior minister of Iran since August 9, 2009. He was Minister of Defense in the first cabinet of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2005 to 2009. He is a veteran of the Revolutionary Guards .-Early life:... |
2005–2009 |
| Ahmad Vahidi Ahmad Vahidi Ahmad Vahidi is an Iranian politician and former commander of the Revolutionary Guards. He is the current Minister of Defense of Iran, having held the post since August 9, 2009.-Early life:... |
2009–present | |
| Economy | Davood Danesh-Jafari | 2005–2008 |
| Shamseddin Hosseini Shamseddin Hosseini Seyyed Shamseddin Hosseini is an Iranian politician. He is currently the Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance.Hosseini has previous taught at Islamic Azad University, Payame Noor University and Allameh Tabatabai University.... |
2008–present | |
| Education | Mahmoud Farshidi | 2005–2007 |
| Ali-Reza Ali-Ahmadi | 2007–2009 | |
| Hamid-Reza Haji Babaee Hamid-Reza Haji Babaee Hamid-Reza Haji Babaee is an Iranian politician who is the current Minister of Education. He was Member of the Parliament of Iran from 1996 until 2009 when he was nominated as Minister of Education by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and was confirmed by Parliament. He was Head of Education Commission in the... |
2009–present | |
| Energy | Parviz Fattah Parviz Fattah Parviz Fattah is an Iranian politician, former member of Revolutionary Guard and former Iran's Minister of Energy in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's cabinet -Biography:... |
2005–2009 |
| Majid Namjoo | 2009–present | |
| Health | Kamran Bagheri Lankarani Kamran Bagheri Lankarani Kamran Bagheri Lankarani M.D., was Iran's Minister of Health and Medical Education.Born in 1965, he finished medical school at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, and attained an advanced fellowship degree in Medicine from the same university. He specializes in gastroenterology.Baqeri-Lankarani... |
2005–2009 |
| Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi Marzieh Vahid-Dastjerdi is an Iranian university professor and former parliamentarian, who is Iran's Minister of Health and Medical Education.... |
2009–present | |
| HUD | Mohammad Saeedi Kia | 2005–2009 |
| Ali Nikzad Ali Nikzad Ali Nikzad is an Iranian politician and academic and the current Minister of Transportation and Housing. He was Minister of Housing and Urban Development from August 2009 to June 2011. He was also Acting Minister of Roads and Transportation from February to June 2011... |
2009–2011 | |
| Industrial | Ali-Reza Tahmasbi | 2005–2007 |
| Aliakbar Mehrabian Aliakbar Mehrabian Ali Akbar Mehrabian is an Iranian politician who wasMinister of Industries and Mines from 2 November 2007 to 3 August 2011. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has proposed he retain this post in the 2009 cabinet... |
2007–2011 | |
| Industries and Business Ministry of Industries and Business (Iran) The Ministry of Industries and Business is an Iranian government body responsible for regulation and implementation of policies applicable to domestic and foreign trade and also regulation and implementation of policies applicable to industrial and mine sectors that formed on 3 August 2011.... |
Mehdi Ghazanfari Mehdi Ghazanfari Mehdi Ghazanfari is an Iranian politician who is the current Minister of Industries and Business since 3 August 2011. He was Minister of Commerce in the second cabinet of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 9 August 2009 to 3 August 2011.-References:... |
2011–present |
| Intelligence | Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i | 2005–2009 |
| Heydar Moslehi | 2009–present | |
| Interior | Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi Hojatoll-Islam Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi is a politician in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 2005, he was appointed as the new interior minister of the country by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with the approval of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei... |
2005–2008 |
| Ali Kordan Ali Kordan Ali Kordan was an Iranian conservative politician who served in the Revolutionary Guards, the judiciary and as deputy oil minister, before becoming interior minister of Iran in 2008 for just 90 days... |
2008 | |
| Sadegh Mahsouli Sadegh Mahsouli Sadegh Mahsouli is an Iranian politician who was Minister of Interior from 2008 to 2009 and Minister of Welfare and Social Security from 2009 to 2011. He was appointed to this post in 19 November 2009, as part of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second cabinet after received vote of from Parliament... |
2008–2009 | |
| Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar Mostafa Mohammad Najjar is the current Interior minister of Iran since August 9, 2009. He was Minister of Defense in the first cabinet of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2005 to 2009. He is a veteran of the Revolutionary Guards .-Early life:... |
2009–present | |
| Justice | Jamal Karimi-Rad Jamal Karimi-Rad Jamal Karimi-Rad was the Minister of Justice of the Islamic Republic of Iran.He was killed in a car accident on December 28, 2006. Gholam-Hossein Elham became the acting justice minister after this fatal event.-External links:**... |
2005–2006 |
| Gholam-Hossein Elham Gholam-Hossein Elham Gholam-Hossein Elham was Iran's official government spokesperson. He was a member of the Guardian Council and former Minister of Justice upon the death of Jamal Karimi-Rad.... |
2006–2009 | |
| Morteza Bakhtiari | 2009–present | |
| Labour | Mohammad Jahromi | 2005–2009 |
| Reza Sheykholeslam Reza Sheykholeslam Reza Sheykholeslam is an Iranian politician who is the current Minister of Cooperatives, Labour and Social Welfare since 3 August 2011. Before that, he was Minister of Labour and Social Affairs in the second cabinet of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2009 to 2011.-Early life:He was born on 1 January 1967... |
2009–2011 | |
| Petroleum Ministry of Petroleum of Iran The Ministry of Petroleum manages the oil industry, the producer of oil and petrochemical products. MoP is in charge of all issues pertaining to exploration, extraction, exploitation, distribution and exportation of crude oil and oil products. In addition, according to the "", issuing import... |
Kazem Vaziri | 2005–2007 |
| Gholam Hossein Nozari Gholam Hossein Nozari Gholam Hossein Nozari was the last Minister of Petroleum of Iran.He was born in Kazerun.In February 2008, he announced that the Minister of Economy and Finance Affairs, Davoud Danesh-Jafari, would become the head of the Iranian Oil Bourse, which opened on February 17, 2008 on Kish... |
2007–2009 | |
| Masoud Mir Kazemi Masoud Mir Kazemi Masoud Mir Kazemi is an Iranian politician who was Minister of Petroleum from 2009 to 2011, replacing Gholamhossein Nozari after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected. Kazemi had previously headed Shahed University and headed Iran's Ministry of Commerce... |
2009–2011 | |
| Rostam Ghasemi Rostam Ghasemi Rostam Ghasemi is an Iranian military officer and politician who is the current Minister of Petroleum since 3 August 2011. He was Head of the Khatam Anbia Troops in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard from 2007 to 2011.... |
2011–present | |
| Roads | Mohammad Rahmati | 2005–2008 |
| Hamid Behbahani Hamid Behbahani Hamid Behbahani is an Iranian university professor and politician who served as Minister of Roads and Transportation from 2 August 2008 to 1 February 2011 when he was impeached by the Parliament of Iran.... |
2008–2011 | |
| Science | Mohammad Mehdi Zahedi Mohammad Mehdi Zahedi Mohammad Mehdi Zahedi is an Iranian politician and was the former minister of science and technology in Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first cabinet from 2005 to 2009. He was approved by Iran's parliament with the least number of supporting votes possible.... |
2005–2009 |
| Kamran Daneshjoo Kamran Daneshjoo Kamran Daneshjoo is an Iranian university professor who is currently serving as Iran's minister of Science, Research, and Technology.-Education:... |
2009–present | |
| Transportation and Housing Ministry of Transportation and Housing (Iran) The Ministry of Transportation and Housing is an Iranian government body responsible for the oversight of Construction industry, roadway, railway, airway and seaway transport inside the country and transport connections between Iran and other countries that formed on 27 June 2011.-See... |
Ali Nikzad Ali Nikzad Ali Nikzad is an Iranian politician and academic and the current Minister of Transportation and Housing. He was Minister of Housing and Urban Development from August 2009 to June 2011. He was also Acting Minister of Roads and Transportation from February to June 2011... |
2011–present |
| Welfare Ministry of Welfare and Social Security (Iran) The Ministry of Welfare and Social Security established in 2004 and dissolved in 2011, was an Iranian government body responsible for the oversight of Social security in Iran.-See also:*Social security in Iran*Health care in Iran*Subsidy reform plan... |
Parviz Kazemi | 2005 |
| Abdul-Reza Misri | 2005–2009 | |
| Sadegh Mahsouli Sadegh Mahsouli Sadegh Mahsouli is an Iranian politician who was Minister of Interior from 2008 to 2009 and Minister of Welfare and Social Security from 2009 to 2011. He was appointed to this post in 19 November 2009, as part of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second cabinet after received vote of from Parliament... |
2009–2011 | |
| Sports Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (Iran) The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is the government ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in the Islamic Republic of Iran.... |
Mohammad Abbasi Mohammad Abbasi Mohammad Abbasi is an Iranian politician who is the current Acting Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports. He was Minister of Cooperatives in the first and second Cabinet of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from 2005 to 2011... |
2011–present |
Iran's President is constitutionally obliged to obtain confirmation from the parliament for his selection of ministers. Ahmadinejad presented a short-list at a private meeting on 5 August, and his final list on 14 August. The Majlis rejected all of his cabinet candidates for the oil portfolio and objected to the appointment of his allies in senior government office. The Majlis approved a cabinet on 24 August. The ministers promised to meet frequently outside Tehran and held their first meeting on 25 August in Mashhad
Mashhad
Mashhad , is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia Muslim world. It is also the only major Iranian city with an Arabic name. It is located east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Its...
, with four empty seats for the unapproved nominees.
Ahmadinejad announced controversial ministerial appointments for his second term. Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei
Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei
Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei is a top adviser, and close confident of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He is currently Ahmadinejad's Chief of Staff. He served as the head of the Presidential Center from 2009 to 2011, and was First Vice President of Iran for one week in 2009 before he was ordered...
was briefly appointed as first vice president, but opposed by a number of Majlis members and by the intelligence minister, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i. Mashaei followed orders to resign. Ahmadinejad then appointed Mashaei as chief of staff, and fired Mohseni-Eje'i.
On July 26, 2009, Ahmadinejad's government faced a legal problem after he sacked four ministers. Iran's constitution (Article 136) stipulates that, if more than half of its members are replaced, the cabinet may not meet or act before the Majlis approves the revised membership. The Vice Chairman of the Majlis announced that no cabinet meetings or decisions would be legal, pending such a re-approval.
The main list of 21 cabinet appointments was announced on August 19, 2009. On September 4, Majlis approved 18 of the 21 candidates, and rejected three, including two women. Sousan Keshavarz
Sousan Keshavarz
Sousan Keshavarz was the 2009 nominee of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as Minister of Education. She was voted down by the Majlis of Iran on September 3, 2009 with 49 favoring, 209 opposing, and 28 abstaining votes.-Nomination:...
, Mohammad Aliabadi
Mohammad Aliabadi
Mohammad Aliabadi is former Vice President and Head of Physical Education Organization of Iran. He is also President of the National Olympic Committee of Islamic Republic of Iran. As of 14 July 2011, He is Vice President of Olympic Council of Asia.-References:...
, and Fatemeh Ajorlou
Fatemeh Ajorlou
Fatemeh Ajorlou is a conservative female member of the Iranian parliament representing Karaj, near Tehran. She is Rapporteur of the Majlis Women Faction...
were not approved by Majlis for the Ministries of Education, Energy, and Welfare and Social Security respectively. Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi is the first woman approved by Majlis as a minister in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
See also
- Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
- Cabinet of IranCabinet of IranThe Cabinet of Iran is a formal body composed of government officials, ministers, chosen and led by a President. Its composition must be approved by a vote in the Parliament...