You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran recalls senior ambassadors
2005-11-02
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has recalled a string of ambassadors from high-profile postings. Tehran's senior diplomats in the UK, France, Germany and at the United Nations in Geneva are being replaced. The ambassadors were closely involved in negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme under former President Mohammed Khatami. The move is likely to signal a tough new approach to the stalled nuclear issue, correspondents say.
Keep digging, Mahmoud
Mr Ahmadinejad came to power in June and has adopted an abrasive approach to foreign policy in recent weeks. He used a speech to the UN General Assembly to warn foreign nations to stay out of Iran's affairs - seen as a coded message about the country's nuclear programme. Last week he provoked an international outcry with remarks calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map".

The BBC's Iranian analyst Sadeq Saba says the replacement of these senior moderate diplomats may cause concern in Western capitals, especially at a time the nuclear talks have apparently reached deadlock. Until recently the UK, France and Germany spearheaded international efforts to cajole Tehran into revealing the extent of its nuclear ambitions. The US accuses Iran of seeking to develop atomic weapons but Iran insists its nuclear activities are legitimate and are aimed at generating domestic energy. Negotiations broke down when Iran restarted uranium processing at a key nuclear plant, in defiance of international opinion.

Mr Ahmadinejad's attitude has quickly distinguished him from his more moderate predecessor, Mr Khatami. Many of the diplomats replaced were closely associated with the former regime. Mohammad Hossein Adeli, the envoy to London, is a US-educated diplomat who only took up his posting in 2004. Mr Adeli, who has been accused of corruption and of betraying Iranian national interests by hard-line state newspapers in Tehran, was the first Iranian ambassador to speak fluent English since the Islamic revolution of 1979. Iran's official IRNA news agency said Mr Adeli had made a request for early retirement, but gave no reason.

According to a report in The Times newspaper in London, up to 20 ambassadors around the world will be replaced in a "purge".
I read a report in a arabic newspaper website last week that these ambassadors were going to be canned because they tried to gloss over Ahmadinejad's "wiped off the map" comment as a "figure of speech" or being "misunderstood". He wanted them to be as hardline as he is.
Dr Ali Ansari, an Iranian expert at the University of St Andrews, said the changes could backfire. "It is typical of the insularity of the regime that it creates this crisis and gets rid of its best diplomats just at a time when things could not be worse on the world stage," he told The Times.
Posted by:Steve

#16  Ahmadinejad was in the Revolutionary Guards so he knows war.

The latest free Stratfor, among others, points out that Ahmadinejad and his ilk are likely emboldened by the apparent political weakness of the Bush administration. I think there is a lot to this. He may think he can ratchet up the pressure and get more concessions while we're bogged down in Iraq to the point where the public, at the urging of the Dems and media, has come to view it as a mistake.

In his mind, we did him the favor of eliminating Sammy and are now bleeding in Iraq. Lacking the patience of, China, our other big geopolitical adversary, he's moving quickly to exploit the situation.

I think too quickly. After his outbursts, we should be able to isolate Iran a bit more economically and hurt their already lame economy. Ahmadinejad was elected largely to fix inflation and he's failing. He will become unpopular to the point where the reformers in turn will be emboldened. A key element of our strategy must be that the mid ranking government officials in Iran become scared that we may take action and become more open to a coup or some other means of undermining Ahmadinejad's control over internal security services.

Just my 2 cents.
Posted by: JAB   2005-11-02 22:10  

#15  Lots of folks here forget about the nitty gritty of diplomacy, and think its all a fancy pants way to avoid needed wars.

You forgot the part where jobs get created for useless brother-in-law types with "communications" degrees, LH. Other than that, spot on!
Posted by: Secret Master   2005-11-02 17:27  

#14  "Longstanding trade agreements stop working, new deals get derailed or strongly delayed, passport and travel are bollixed, overseas citizens lose the daily services their government provides, even financial dealings get messed up. The overall cost can run to the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars."

Lots of folks here forget about the nitty gritty of diplomacy, and think its all a fancy pants way to avoid needed wars. Good luck correcting them.
Posted by: liberalhawk   2005-11-02 15:24  

#13  trailing wife: the textbook example was when Wm Jennings Bryan was made Sec'y of State. He promptly forbade alcohol to be served at any US-hosted diplomatic function in Washington, DC. Soon, out of the innumerable cocktail parties hosted at embassies in DC, no one attended anything offered by the State Department.

Face-to-face US foreign policy came screeching to a halt.

But there have been lots of embarassing ambassadors who were "neutralized" because of their undiplomatic candor, crudeness, or bad manners. It is one step below being declared personna non grata, deportation effective immediately, but it still means that you are no longer recognized as a diplomat.

When a country, such as Iran, goes on a diplomatic rampage, as I suspect is soon to happen, where they appoint fanatics and brutes to be their ambassadors, everything goes haywire.

Longstanding trade agreements stop working, new deals get derailed or strongly delayed, passport and travel are bollixed, overseas citizens lose the daily services their government provides, even financial dealings get messed up. The overall cost can run to the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars.

It also puts other nations on notice that the issuing country is behaving badly, perhaps even belligerently, and must be treated accordingly.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2005-11-02 13:07  

#12  I can think of some not recalled...

N KOREA
VENEZUELA
CUBA
ZIM-BOB-ME
SYRIA...
Posted by: BigEd   2005-11-02 12:19  

#11  When we nab him like we did Saddahm, lets get some of this stuff :

Tie him up, and, let the surviving members of the 53 give him a basting...
Posted by: BigEd   2005-11-02 12:12  

#10  Not ironically, diplomats have been forced to deal with non-diplomat ambassadors before, and know how to both bitch-slap them and how to punish their home country for its impoliteness. There are thousands of linkages that can be manipulated from afar that can make just about any nation squeal like a pig.

Would you be so kind as to expand on that, Anonymoose?
Posted by: trailing wife   2005-11-02 12:11  

#9  I am waiting for the blackhats to take a shot at one of our RC-135's or EP-3E's.
Posted by: anymouse   2005-11-02 10:39  

#8  Maybe in a weird and perverted way, Ahmadinejad's bellicose behavior and hardening attitude may do some good in the end. What he is doing is alienating any good will or support he had from other countries, including the EU, and his actions will force the world to deal with the fundamental issues with Iran: namely, export of terrorism and MMs in possession of nukes.

Hey, it's a long shot.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2005-11-02 10:39  

#7  N.B.: Ambassadors are also recalled prior to launching a war, both because it is far too secret to risk a leak and they want everybody on exactly the same sheet of music, and because diplomats around the world have to work double-time at the outbreak of hostilities.

I suspect that this is not the case right now, however. I think that the fanatic is one of those people who despises the "gray area" that is diplomacy. He sees it as sinfully "lying" and dishonorable. As such, he will probably come out soon with even more bellicose rhetoric, which will alienate more potential allies or neutrals.

He will appoint a bunch of new ambassadors who will not be diplomatic, but who will bluff and bluster and threaten and try to crudely bribe, and with bribes far lower than what they should be.

Not ironically, diplomats have been forced to deal with non-diplomat ambassadors before, and know how to both bitch-slap them and how to punish their home country for its impoliteness. There are thousands of linkages that can be manipulated from afar that can make just about any nation squeal like a pig.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2005-11-02 10:28  

#6  I forsee a short, sharp shock in this mook's future.
Posted by: mojo   2005-11-02 10:26  

#5  So they say. A career thug.
Posted by: wxjames   2005-11-02 10:23  

#4  I read a comment- just the one- that Ahmadinejad was one of the interrogators of the American captives back in Carters day. Is this true?
Posted by: Grunter   2005-11-02 10:10  

#3  how's that stock market doing?
Posted by: 2b   2005-11-02 09:28  

#2  This guy is heading straight toward a fight. He isn't about to show any weakness. He hasn't a clue about real war and he will provoke one very soon. These jerks dream of superiority. They believe their dream. Reality can't surface through the fog of wishful thinking which surrounds them, and he, in particular, will allow no opposing counsel. It's a happy circle jerk on it's way to a trainwreck.
Get the popcorn.
Posted by: wxjames   2005-11-02 09:25  

#1  I think Ahmadi Nejad's training as an engineer makes him dislike the kitman/taqiya approach.

This will make things tough on the Islamic apologists in the West but they'll carry on somehow.
Posted by: mhw   2005-11-02 09:18  

00:00