Monthly Archives: September 2011

Ahmadinejad Sticks to Script in Seventh U.N. Appearance

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the sixty-sixth session of the U.N. General Assembly. Credit:UN Photo/Marco Castro
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the sixty-sixth session of the U.N. General Assembly. Credit:UN Photo/Marco Castro

NEW YORK, Sep 23, 2011 (IPS) – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s address to the United Nations Thursday followed the script of his previous six visits to New York, with strong criticism of the United States, messianic language, and vague utopian statements on how to govern the world, Iranian-style.

He accused European countries of “still us(ing) the Holocaust after six decades as the excuse to pay fine or ransom to the Zionists”, and condemned the U.S. for killing Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden instead of trying him in a court of law. That was enough to lead diplomats from the U.S. and some European countries to walk out of the General Assembly hall while he was speaking.

The address “was similar in tone and content to his previous six speeches. It was a mélange of anti-imperialism, anti-Zionism, conspiracy theory, and Shiite fervour,” Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran policy analyst at the Carnegie Endowment, told IPS. Continue reading Ahmadinejad Sticks to Script in Seventh U.N. Appearance

Hikers’ Fate Exposes Fractures Between Executive and Judiciary

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani meets with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.  Credit:www.leader.ir
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani meets with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Credit:www.leader.ir

NEW YORK, Sep 14, 2011 (IPS) – Just 24 hours after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared that two U.S. hikers who have been detained for nearly two years would be released on bail, the country’s judiciary insisted that the decision remains under review.

Ahmadinejad made the announcement during an interview with NBC News ahead of his departure from Tehran to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.

On Monday, Shargh Newspaper in Tehran reported that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani had mediated talks with high-ranking Iranian officials leading to the imminent release of the two U.S. citizens, Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal. Continue reading Hikers’ Fate Exposes Fractures Between Executive and Judiciary