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Iranian Conservative MPs Dismayed At Letter

Tehran, 10 April (AKI) - by Ahmad Rafat - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has failed to convince George W. Bush of his willingness to resolve the international crisis over Tehran's nuclear programme. Bush will not answer Ahmadinejad's 18-page letter sent through the Swiss embassy in Tehran - the first letter from an Iranian leader to a US president since the 1979 Iranian revolution. Iranian conservative MPs told Adnkronos International (AKI) they weren't surprised there would be no reply, given the harsh tones of the missive, and admitted their disappointment at a missed opportunity to find a solution.

In the letter, Ahmadinejad offers advice to the US president on a number of issues but doesn't suggest any solution to end three decades of tensions between the two countries. Ahmadinejad also repeatedly criticises Bush. He accuses the US president of being responsible of evils ranging from terrorism to the violation of human rights, the war on Iraq and famine in Africa.

Iran's president also talks about the need to cancel Israel whose existance is a "historic injustice" and casts once again doubts on the Holocaust. He also announces the end of liberalism and democracy. Finally, he invites Bush to rediscover his religious faith and follow the example of the prophets. There are no proposals however on the nuclear issue - something which has deeply disappointed many Iranian politicians, even conservatives supporting the president.

"A letter with such tones, at a moment like this when tension is very high, could not produce anything exceptional," said Hossein Mozaffer, a conservative member of Parliament. "If president Ahmadinejad thought that by inviting Bush to follow the principles of Christianity he could solve problems that have influenced relations between the two countries for decades, then it is legitimate to accuse him of naivete." "The problems between our country and the United States are such that it is unthinkable to solve them with a letter," said Mehdi Falahatpishe, a member of Parliament's foreign and national security commission. Mahmoud Mohammadi, another commission member and a conservative, described as "childish" the idea that Ahmadinejad could solve such delicate problems with such a letter.

Now, the meat of the article...

Indeed, according to a leading Iranian political analyst, Ahmadinejad seeks to convey a messianic image of himself to the international community rather than seeking a solution to the crisis.

"He's a legend in his own mind"

"Once again Ahmadinejad has sought to stress his faith, taking as example for his letter to Bush the one written by the Prophet Mohammed to the emperors of Persia, Rome and to the Egyptian Pharaoh," said Ahmad Zeidabadi. Ahmadinejad tells Bush to return and "pursue the straight path" as the Prophet wrote in his letter more than a thousand years ago.

"President Ahmadinejad doesn't appear to want to present himself as a head of state worried about a crisis pitting his country against the international community, but as a man above such pettiness who has the mission of saving humanity," said the analyst. The role of world saviour or guide which Ahmadinejad appears to pursue in the letter to Bush is worrying the Iranian clergy.

He seems to think he's holier than the clergy who put him in power

The grand ayatollahs of Tehran and Qom are seriously concerned by the president's attitude - and not just because the president is attempting to reduce the power of the clergy and strengthen the role of the army in the country's management.

He's got the Black Turbans worried, which could be hazardous to his continued health

Many Iranian clerics judge a first step towards heresy Ahmadinejad's non-stop references to the Mahdi, the twelfth Shiite imam whose expected reappearance on earth should bring justice to the world. The Iranian president - who claimed he was surrounded by an aura of light during a speech last Septmebr at the UN's headquarters in New York - recently said his frequent absences from government meetings are due to "the need to exchange ideas with the Mahdi on current events in the country and the world."

This from iranian.com on Ahmadinejad and the Hidden Mahdi:

A new version of the Imams myth is now shown by Ahamadinejad. The president of the IRI, who has an infamous record for his role in the firing squads, torture, terrorism and all kinds Islamist and extreme right tendencies, is now engaged in many bizarre stories and rumors circulating about his relations with the Hidden Imam.

As for the Hidden Imam, it seems he will not be quite as hidden as might be. The new IRIs president believes that he has been assigned to pave the way for the reappearance of the Imam in two years. The president has even during his recent controversial speech at the UN, where he was allegedly surrounded and protected by a divine light, called for the Imams reappearance.

Through these allegations, he is not only trying to gain a holy status among those who do not attribute him a charismatic personality, but is also likely trying to prepare some conditions for his divine mission. The next two years will be probably marked by increasing tensions between the devoted followers of the Hidden Imam following controversial views about the Imams reappearance.

The president is in an effort of giving himself an important impression. He presents himself as reincarnation of legendary hero from religious fiction. He dreams of being assigned an enlightened or saint, someone who is protected by divine light for divine missions, a gift to the Islamic world. In the most hypocritical manner, he wears and acts as an example of a non-corrupt Islamic leader. Apparently, he seems to be holding back enough to be quite busy with other ambition -- he may ultimately play the role of the Hidden Imam himself, if the promised Imam does not physically reappear in two years. What he needs is a plan of preparation and manipulation of the signs indicating the Imams reappearance.

The president, who is known for his personality disorder, boasts of being assigned to prepare all conditions for the Imams return, which will be according to the Shiite sect after the following signs:

- Before the Imams appearance, the people will be reprimanded for their acts of disobedience by a fire that will appear in the sky and a redness that will cover the sky. It will swallow up both Baghdad and Kufa. Peoples blood will cover their destryed houses . Death will occur amid their people and a fear will come over the people of Iraq from which they will have no rest--a reason for the IRIs nuclear programme to blow in jets of fire and plumes of smoke.

- There will be an insurgence by the Sufyani, a descendent of Abu Sufyan, who was one of the Muhammads enemy, along with his son, Muawiya and his Muawiya's son,Yazid, which starts from Palestine and jordan, and his reign of tyranny will span the Middle East from Iraq to egypt.

- A loud call from the sky should announce the Hidden Imams reappearance.

In such an apocalyptic world, since the main principle of the Mahdi is that he is absolutely guided by God, the IRI, as a part of the divine guidance, has nothing of a normal state, it is a Gods handpicked guidance for the mankind, and its acts are in complete accordance to God's will.The IRI, which already established a Gods state, now at the best, prefers to have the Hidden Imam embodied by one of its members. Since the Mahdi is for Islam as well as for islamisation of the world, the amount of crimes can bloodily exceed many times than that of the old scores of the IRI; especial groups of elite jihadists can appear throughout the world to convert or massively kill non-believers.

More at the link. Question, do the Iranian clerics still have enough pull to bring down Ahamadinejad politically if they think he's going too far or do they have to have him wacked and try to blame it on the US?

Posted by: Steve 2006-05-10

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