Iran's presidential policies criticized by reformists

At the 10th party congress held by the Iran’s reformist Participation Front, the group’s secretary-general, Mohsen Mirdamadi, criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s “unbelievable” contempt for democracy in the country, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported today.

Mirdamadi said that Ahmadinejad acts like “the greatest defender of democracy” in the world, while continually denouncing democracy and party politics in Iran.

Describing the government, Mirdamadi said the Ahmadinejad presidency was the result of two political currents: one that works to exclude all political forces that do not adhere to the government’s strict definition of Iran’s religious and revolutionary ideology, and another he said undermines the ideals of the Islamic revolution and sees the empowerment of “the most reactionary, radical, and antifreedom” elements as the means to achieve this. According to Mirdamadi, Iran faces “the decline of moral society, the spread of lies and deceptive appearances...and the wasting of social assets.”

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Ahmadinejad visits Armenia in effort to strengthen ties

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with his Armenian counterpart, Robert Kocharian, on Monday, praising growing economic and political cooperation between the two countries, Agence-France Presse reported the same day.

“We consider our neighborly relations with Armenia to be very important and a means of strengthening security and stability” in the region, Ahmadinejad said.

Armenia, a landlocked country, has been subject to economic blockades from neighboring Azerbaijan and Turkey, and has therefore sought closer ties to Iran. The blockades stem from a dispute over the Nagorny Karabakh region, as well as Armenia’s efforts to gain international recognition of Ottoman-era mass killings of Armenians as genocide.

The presidents announced the opening of a new highway between the two countries, as well as plans to build a railroad that crosses the Iranian-Armenian border. Kocharian said that these new links provided an opportunity to “increase the flow of goods between our two countries.”

The United States has been growing concerned about the closer ties between Armenia and Iran, and the top U.S. diplomat in Armenia has urged the country to participate in economic sanctions against Iran in order to halt its nuclear program.

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University students in Tehran protest against Ahmadinejad

Approximately 100 students protested at Iran’s top university on Monday as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave a speech there to open the new academic year, Agence-France Presse reported the same day.

The protest occurred two weeks after Ahmadinejad spoke at New York’s Columbia University, where he was called a “petty and cruel dictator” by the university president. At the protest, students held banners reading: “Why only Columbia? We have questions too.”

The protestors also likened Ahmadinejad to the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, shouting: “Ahmadinejad is Pinochet! Iran will not become Chile.”

Supporters of the president clashed with the protestors, calling them hypocrites, and telling them to leave the university. The conflict between the two groups disrupted the planned live broadcast of Ahmadinejad’s speech.

Demonstrators were calling for the release of three students imprisoned since May for publishing writings considered to be insulting to Islam.

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Iranians express opinions online on Ahmadinejad visit

In an op-ed piece in The New York Times Sunday, Tom Parker, executive director of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, writes that despite harassment and intimidation, young Iranians are using blogs as a source of debate, and that these blogs provide valuable insight into popular opinion inside the country.

Bloggers expressed their feelings about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to New York last week.

One blogger notes that: “In response to the question ‘Are you willing to have a dialogue with America and what do you expect?’ after some explanations, he [Ahmadinejad] said, ‘We think that America can be a good friend for Iran.” He repeated the sentence and the phrase “good friend” one more time to show that it did not slip out accidentally.”

Another blog discusses how none of the channels in Iran broadcast Ahmadinejad’s speech live, while several American channels did. The blogger writes: “What is interesting is that we claim the Americans want to prevent our voice from being heard, so why do we censor ourselves?”

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Ahmadinejad visit causes mixed reactions

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has arrived in New York to address the United Nations General Assembly and try to convince Americans that Iran does not pose a threat to their safety, London’s Times Online reported today. According to Ahmadinejad, Americans have not been given accurate information and his visit will allow them to hear a different voice.

“It is wrong to think that Iran and the U.S. are walking towards war,” he said. “Who says so? Why should we go to war? There is no war in the offing.”

Washington has stated that it is handling the situation with Iran diplomatically, but that all options are open.

People lined up outside Columbia University yesterday to protest the Iranian president’s scheduled talk there today. New York State Assemblyman, Dov Hikind, said: “He should be arrested when he comes to Columbia University, not invited to speak, for God’s sake.”

Colombia University President Lee Bollinger promised that he will ask Ahmadinejad questions about human rights, the Holocaust, and Iran’s nuclear program before allowing him to speak.

Ahmadinejad’s arrival in New York has caused mixed reactions in Iran. Political analyst Iraj Jamshadi said of the visit: “The world has not welcomed Mr. Ahmadinejad’s hardline approach. His previous address to the assembly didn’t resolve any of Iran’s foreign policy issues and no one expects anything better this time.” On the other hand, conservative politician Alaeddin Boroujerdi told Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency that “This trip gives the president a good chance to meet world leaders and inform them of Iran’s rightful position.”

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