Bridget Russell

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Iran claims to have successfully tested-fired a new missile that would greatly improve the accuracy of current Iranian defenses. These new missiles have been named “Sajjil” after a story in the Koran where God sends a flock of birds to defend Mecca from an enemy army. These “Sajjil” use the technology of solid fuel, which makes these surface-to-surface missiles more accurate than the liquid fuel missiles that Iran currently possesses. Iranian defense minister Mostafa Mohammed Najjar claims that these new missiles have the power to reach a target 1,200 miles away, which includes Israel and some of Europe. Israel is a country with which Iran and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have a long history of antagonism; Ahmadinejad has been reported stating he would like to “wipe Israel off the map.” Israel has recently stated that they may take military action to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, though Najjar did not mention Israel or any other specific nation as one to be reckoned with. While Najjar insists these missiles have been developed solely for the purposes of defense, the hostile nature of Iran has the international community skeptical of claims that the weapons are not a response to any threats against Iran. Ahmadinejad’s proclamation that “should any power stand against the Iranian nation, the Iranian people will crush it under its foot and will strike it on the mouth” does not provide any comfort either.

Kayla Cahoon

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Steven Craig

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Kayla Cahoon

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A top Iranian minister appointed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad earlier this year is facing a motion of no confidence today on charges that he tried to bribe members of Parliament not to impeach him. The attempt to impeach Interior Minister Ali Kordan came after an investigation led to the discovery that Kordan’s Ph.D. from Oxford University was fake, as well as the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees he claimed to have obtained from an Iranian university. The scandal took a turning point last Wednesday when $5,000 dollar checks were distributed to parliamentary ministers, supposedly as donations for the legislator’s local mosques. The legislators did however sign two receipts for these donations, one of which was a letter to the speaker of Parliament asking for the impeachment to be dropped. President Ahmadinejad, however, does not seem bothered by the situation, asking “who cares even if Mr. Kordan’s degree is fake?” It has been suggested by analysts that Ahmadinejad has not been supportive of the impeachment due to the possibility that it could hurt him in the upcoming presidential elections in June of 2009, though one Parliament member has written a letter suggesting that impeaching Kordan in fact could have in fact won him millions of votes. It has also been suggested that Ahmadinejad’s nomination and unwavering support of Kordan’s position is due to Kordan’s agreement with Ahmadinejad’s policies, whereas the previous interior minister was dismissed because of his differences with the president.

Kayla Cahoon

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The New York Times reports that former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami held a high-profile conference in Tehran on the topic of “Religion in the Modern World” on Monday, which some are construing could be his way of attempting to re-enter the political realm in order to run against President Ahmadinejad in next year’s elections. Khatami’s insists that the conference was entirely unrelated to electoral politics, but many seem to hope he is just bluffing; the international support he received at the conference, including Kofi Annan, former Italian prime minister Romano Prodi, former Irish president Mary Robinson and former Portuguese president Jorge Sampaio, demonstrated a level of support from the West that Ahmadinejad does not have. This kind of western presence has been extremely rare since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Khatami has publicly scrutinized Ahmadinejad’s political and economic performance, having been a much more moderate president in his years in office (1997-2005). He has not yet announced his candidacy or intent to run in the next election, despite pressure he has been receiving from political allies to help get the internationally unpopular Ahmadinejad out of office.

Kayla Cahoon

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During Friday night’s first U.S. presidential debate, Republican U.S. presidential candidate McCain shifted on his policy regarding negotiating with Iran. This represents an attempt to narrow the gap between his foreign policy and that of his rival presidential hopeful, Democratic candidate Barack Obama, and to widen that between himself and U.S. president George Bush, who is at a record-low approval rating by U.S. citizens. Previously, John McCain has argued against authorizing “high-profile direct talks with Iran,” stating that direct face-to-face talks are “the most overrated aspect of our dialogue about international relations.” After Obama cited Henry Kissinger’s calling for negotiations at the secretary of state level without precondition earlier this month, however, McCain stated that he encourages these lower level meetings, and that he has “always encouraged them.” He is highly reluctant, however, to meet with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He has instead called for a new league of democracies, including Germany, France and Britain in working to impose sanctions on Iran, specifically regarding their nuclear program, which is a major concern for both U.S. presidential candidates. One European diplomat has voiced concerns over creating this league of democratic nations, however, suggesting that it could antagonize important countries like Russia and China with whom they would like to enjoy good relations. It has also been suggested that such a league may undermine the United Nations, and could therefore be potentially very unpopular internationally.

Kayla Cahoon

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Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues to blame U.S. policies for the many problems plaguing the world today, with specific reference to the war in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Russian situation with Georgia. He makes sure it is understood that his insults are directed at Washington and politicians, stating that he believes the American people are far more understanding and rather unhappy with world events also. Ahmadinejad further stated that the U.S. should stop meddling in the problems of other countries and concentrate on domestic issues such as the failing economy and the ensuing $700 billion bailout plan. It has been suggested that this is slightly ironic, in light of Iran’s support of Hezbollah and Hamas. When asked about Iran’s domestic problems, Ahmadinejad was much less willing to answer questions. He also suggested that the U.S. focus on Afghanistan does not involve an understanding of the country, and the U.S. belief that “all problems can be fixed with military might and bombs and guns” would not be effective, as evidenced by the war in Iraq. In addition to his previous statements that U.S. policies are the reason for the failing economy, he also suggests that the U.S. provoked Russia to attack Georgia, a decision Ahmadinejad is “unhappy with.” He also continued to criticize the Zionist presence in Israel and U.S. opposition to Iran’s nuclear program.

Kayla Cahoon

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Ahmadinejad continued his speech by calling the usefulness of UN sanctions into question.  He claimed that the military power of Iran is sufficient enough to counter any U.S. or Israeli threat.  Although, an attack on the U.S. is never mentioned, attacks on U.S. interests in the Middle East in general and Iraq specifically are deemed a necessary response to any aggression by Iran’s enemies, according to Ahmadinejad.

Posters with slogans such as “down with USA” and “down with Israel” add to the tensions in the ongoing battle over the Iranian nuclear program as the U.S. attempts to introduce a fourth round of sanctions.

Bridget Russell

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The Iranian Vice President of Tourism, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, has also attempted to show friendship for the Israeli people. President Ahmadinejad has been supporting all of Mashai’s comments to the press.

The new position President Ahmadinejad has taken is in contradiction to his beliefs about Israel expressed earlier this year. According to the NYT, he referred to the Holocaust as “fake” and “accused Israel of perpetrating a holocaust on Palestinians.”

Roopa Radakrishnan

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