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Thursday, June 25, 2009

Ahmadinejad Assails Obama As Opposition Urges Defiance

The New York Times
By Nazila Fathi and Alan Cowell

TEHRAN — As Iran’s embattled opposition leader said he would “not back down for a second” in challenging the disputed elections, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told President Obama on Thursday to avoid interfering in Iran’s affairs and demanded an apology from the American leader for striking the same critical tone as his predecessor, George W. Bush.
The sharp words offered no prospect of eased tensions between Washington and Tehran at a time of profound differences over issues such as Iran’s nuclear program and its support for Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, which the United States calls terrorist organizations.

Mr. Ahmadinejad’s comments, quoted on the semi-official Fars news agency, came as at least three Iranian newspapers reported that only 105 of 290 members of the Iranian Parliament invited to a victory party for him Wednesday night actually attended the event, suggesting a deep divide within the political elite over the election and its aftermath. Neither the speaker of Parliament, Ali Larijani, nor the deputy speaker, Mohammed Reza Bahonar, an erstwhile ally of Mr. Ahmadinejad, made an appearance.

Opposition figures said Thursday that 70 academics had been arrested after meeting with the main opposition leader, Mir Hussein Moussavi, on Wednesday, adding to a wave of detentions that has been depicted as the most sweeping since the Iranian revolution in 1979. But Mr. Moussavi said Thursday in a Web posting: “’I will not back down even for a second, even for personal threats or interests.”

In his first public comments for several days, Mr. Moussavi called the recent election a “big fraud” and said government security forces had “attacked protesters inhumanely, killed, injured or arrested them.” In remarks on an opposition Web site, he said, “I am willing to show how election criminals have stood by those behind the recent riots and shed people’s blood.”

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15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Surprised these two don't get along they're basically the same man.

Anonymous said...

Hey Obamamamas:

Send Iran the very Reverend Wright!

Anonymous said...

He wont last another week, Ill say Monday.

Anonymous said...

And he criticized Bush for holding a hard-line stance with this Animal? now he sees what W was dealing with!

Anonymous said...

Our government is certainly anxious to convince us that the CIA has NOT been involved in this election.

Anonymous said...

If Americans really really really care about the Iranian people who are protesting to get their freedoms we would . . . BOMB THEM!

Anonymous said...

Yea, I pretty sure we will be liberating them soon.

Anonymous said...

We need to stay out of it. Since when is it our job to police another nations elections?

Anonymous said...

What I don't understand is how we can take out pirates in the dark on rough seas with a single shot but we can't take out this guy in Iran?
Take the shot!

Anonymous said...

liberals sure do have a short memory

Anonymous said...

Great 3:09, state sponsored assasination. How did we get to the point that Americans would even suggest such a thing?

Anonymous said...

Anon 3:42
Are you kidding yourself? You sure aren't kidding us. Get educated lady. You apparently know nothing about our government.
Until you educate yourself, stop embarassing yourself.

Anonymous said...

3:42
If we had used your so-called "state sponsored assasination" a long time ago, we wouldn't be dealing with some of the BS we're dealing with today!
We also wouldn't have troops dying and getting maimed on a daily basis because we didn't take the shot!
Get a spine!

Anonymous said...

Assasination IS spineless. What is wrong with you people?

Anonymous said...

The people who control our government gained it by assassination. They have never given it up.