Zach LarkinsISLAM 4 (cont'd)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently made news by hosting an international conference devoted to Holocaust denial. While we here in the West objected to this latest expression of radicalism and hatred, Mr. Ahmadinejad doesn't care what we think. By making noise against the United States, Israel and Western civilization in general, the President has wagered, he can make Iranians forget the unemployment, corruption, stagnation and theocratic repression besetting their nation. However, there is evidence that Iranians aren't as easily duped as Mr. Ahmadinejad thinks. Local elections show candidates aligned with Mr. Ahmadinejad did not fare well in many races. In a number of key cities, the President's hardline allies were unable to win even a single seat. This means little in the way the country is governed though. The "Supreme Leader," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, ultimately dictates the nation's policies. And he and his mullahs know they cannot ignore the will of the people entirely. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his ruling clique of Shiite clerics have remained in power by maintaining a delicate balance. That is, enforcing the forms of an Islamist state in the public sphere, but permitting citizens to drink alcohol, watch satellite television, blog and otherwise behave like infidels in their private lives.
Mr. Ahmadinejad is destroying that balance, shutting down reformist newspapers and persecuting Iranians deemed insufficiently pious. He is also pursuing a reckless foreign policy, calling for Israel's destruction as he simultaneously insists that his country's nuclear program has only peaceful uses. Many Iranians no doubt share their President's hatred of Israel. But a majority likely question whether prosecuting this hatred is worth turning their nation into an international pariah.
But there is a glimmer of hope. Chinks in the political armour of Mr. Ahmadinejad have begun to multiply. While Mr. Ahmadinejad has dismissed recently imposed U.N. sanctions as "a scrap of paper," a recent editorial in Jomhuri-yi Islami, a newspaper reflecting the views of the country's political and religious elite, stated that "The resolution is certainly harmful for the country. [It is] too much to call it a piece of torn paper." Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, a senior Iranian cleric, declared that Mr. Ahmadinejad's confrontational nuclear policy is harming Iranian interests. The President also has problems with ordinary Iranians, whom he'd promised to help with populist economic policies. Inflation has skyrocketed, unemployment is high, the stock market is down, and the economy is beset by corruption. Many Iranians, including the Grand Ayatollah wonder aloud why a country with such wealth in oil and gas can't seem to take care of basic necessities. Mr. Ahmadinejad is a holocaust denier who openly speaks about the destruction of Israel and the End of Days. His fall from grace within Iran may help peacefully remove this madman from power.
While the sanctions purported to ban the transfers of sensitive nuclear materials to Iran, there were plenty of loopholes inserted at the insistence of China and Russia, Iran's traditional defenders at the UN Security Council. When the UN Security Council imposed these sanctions against Tehran on December 23, many commentators dismissed the move as a slap on the wrist. Just think what might happen if the sanctions actually had some teeth. If Russia and China come to their senses, and permit the UN Security Council to get truly serious with Iran, Mr. Ahmadinejad could well become yesterday's man, and the world will become a safer place.
While the sanctions purported to ban the transfers of sensitive nuclear materials to Iran, there were plenty of loopholes inserted at the insistence of China and Russia, Iran's traditional defenders at the UN Security Council. When the UN Security Council imposed these sanctions against Tehran on December 23, many commentators dismissed the move as a slap on the wrist. Just think what might happen if the sanctions actually had some teeth. If Russia and China come to their senses, and permit the UN Security Council to get truly serious with Iran, Mr. Ahmadinejad could well become yesterday's man, and the world will become a safer place.
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