IRAN: Facts and Ahmadinejad's political rhetoric

As Americans are repeatedly being reminded during this marathon political season, all politicians stretch the truth.

But sometimes their bending of facts goes over the line.

During a lively interview with the Los Angeles Times in New York on Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad smiled amicably and graciously accepted a Los Angeles Dodgers cap as a small token of Angeleno courtesy.

But as politicians do throughout the world, he also made several statements that did not entirely square with publicly known facts.

[UPDATE, Sept. 24, 2008, 3 a.m. PST: A number of commenters below appear to believe that this blog item was the only article that came out of the interview. In fact, a news article and a partial transcript were also published in the paper and posted to the website. Click links above to access them.]

For example, responding to a question about Iran's economy, Ahmadinejad stated that "we do not have poor people or people who live below the poverty line to the extremes that you find in the United States," an assertion that raised eyebrows among Iran experts. 

Despite great successes in increasing literacy and public health, grave poverty still exists in the Islamic Republic, especially in rural areas on the country's eastern, southern and western fringes and in certain urban pockets.

According to the CIA World Fact Book, 40% of Iranians live below the poverty line. And 7.3% subsist on less than $2 a day, according to the World Bank, even as inflation has spiraled so high in Iran that authorities are planning to lop several zeros off the Iranian rial, the national currency.

Iran's prez also said he had never claimed that he was guided by God's hand. "I am the representative of the people of Iran," he told Los Angeles Times Managing Editor Davan Maharaj, Foreign Editor Bruce Wallace and Jerusalem bureau chief Richard Boudreaux.

But in his public speeches, Ahmadinejad has repeatedly invoked the Imam Mahdi, known as the as the "Savior of Times," who in the Shiite faith will appear on Judgment Day to herald a truly just government.

And when he addressed the U.N. General Assembly in 2005 Ahmadinejad asked the "mighty Lord" to hasten the emergence of the Mahdi. Some scholars say Shiite religious texts outlaw such claims to revelations.

According to a Washington Post report, Ahmadinejad ran into a spot of trouble earlier this year when several leading Iranian clerics criticized him for saying that the Imam Mahdi runs modern-day Iran.

"We see his hand directing all the affairs of the country," Ahmadinejad had told students during a speech in May. "A movement has started for us to occupy ourselves with our global responsibilities. God willing, Iran will be the axis of the leadership of this movement."

Finally, Ahmadinejad also said that in Iran "freedom is absolute and it is the law that rules.... Even academics can freely speak in the presence of our leader and criticize."

He all but condemned criticism of his country's human rights records as lies made up by "Zionists" and the U.S. government. But independent human rights groups and monitors say Iran has a fairly atrocious record when it comes to freedom of speech and repression of political dissidents.

In a Sept. 18 press release, Human Rights Watch, the New York-based advocacy group, said that "under President Ahmadinejad’s administration, Iran’s human rights record has deteriorated markedly."

The European parliament recently adopted a measure condemning Iran as the leading country in the world in terms of imposing capital punishment on juvenile offenders.

In its last serious assessment of Iran's human rights practices five years ago, the United Nations found "situations of arbitrary detention," "infringements of freedom of opinion and expression" and "abuse of 'solitary confinement,'" among other violations of basic rights.

— Los Angeles Times staff writers

P.S. Get news from the Middle East in your mailbox every day. The Los Angeles Times distributes a free daily newsletter with the latest headlines from the Middle East, as well as the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. You can subscribe by logging in at the website here, clicking on the box for "L.A. Times updates," and then clicking on the "World: Mideast" box.

Photo: From left, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Los Angeles Times Foreign Editor Bruce Wallace, Managing Editor Davan Maharaj and Jerusalem bureau chief Richard Boudreaux speak in New York on Monday. The Dodgers cap sits on the table. Credit: Raja News

Comments

[George W.]

He's a lot more liberal than George W...

[Shirin]

as a persian from iran i can say this jew and persians share a lot of culture and belong together USA should understand this.

[David Grossman]

The most pathetic blog post I've seen here so far and you know it yourself too -- that's why no one has put his or her name on it.

But it's understandable. LA Times must be under a lot of pressure by pro-Israeli LA based groups and perhaps its own board members to try to reverse the effect of giving the Iranian president a direct voice.

[John]

Iran ripped US and Israel in show stealing speech at UN. Iran leader also gave interviews to LA TIMES and National Radio. He also gave live interview to CNN's Larry King and said he would like to debate with Obama and McCain. He said US is a dying nation. Its nearing the end of its road. Israel too is about to collapse. He said Jews are responsible for financial choas on Wall Street and London. Larry King did not correct him on these allegations. Maybe Larry secretly believes them too. In his previous visits to new York, President Ahmadinejad had challenged George Bush to live TV debate. I want to know why are our politician running scared from this little man. Why not take him up and prove your point in before the American people. He is showing daring and bravery. He believes he is right and medie twists his words. Our leaders seems to lack moral and intellectual courage to accept the challenge. Bush should either put up or shut up.

[Jerusalemite]

to Tehrani - you should check your "FACT" - which is untrue according to your own link!

the link YOU posted http://indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?c=ir&v=69
lists Iran's poverty rate as LOWER than Israel.

[Algerian]

Iran educational level is almost the same in US

[Paulo]

LA Times can do better

[Quinterius]

To echo what a couple of other comments have already stated, this article is ridiculous. Did you ask any questions? Please skip the standard commentary and give us the hard facts. As Ahmadinejad has stated, all the nuclear accusations are pure propaganda by the US and it allies. If you read the IAEA reports, there is not a single concrete evidence of nuclear weapons work in Iran. It is all speculation. The so-called stolen computer documents appear to be forgeries that the US refuses to provide to Iran for verification. Somehow, Iran is supposed to jump up and down because some Word documents contains accusations. Who wrote them and where did they find them? If they are so important, why are they not stamped SECRET or TOP SECRET?

It is all just a waste of time. Instead of working on the economy and trying to end the war in Iraq, all this energy is spent for absolutely no reason on an imaginary Iranian threat. US reporters are like marionettes that jump every time Bush or Rice say jump. Why don't you investigate the charges instead of just repeating the same old drivel? Have you actually read any of the IAEA reports?

[Anti-Israel]

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD SHOULD SUE NEWS ANCHOR DANIEL VIOTTO FROM CNN FOR TWISTING HIS SPEECH AT THE UNITED NATIONS

http://www.nmt.co.il/CNN/anchors_reporters/images/viotto.daniel.jpg

What a liar and crook the CNN news anchor are, this crook from CNN just twisted Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at UN. This CNN crook Daniel Viotto said that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wanted to erase Israel from the map. And never did Iran's president said that in his speech.

I swear Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can even file a suit against Daniel Viotto in an international court of law..

[Oscar Amaro]

"Iran's prez also said he had never claimed that he was guided by God's hand. "

I don't understand why we're so taken aback by this. Didn't Bush claim that he was told by God to invade Iraq?

[Tehrani]

FACT:

Iran's poverty rate is 18% which is on par to Portugal and Poland, and better than Israel.

http://indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?c=ir&v=69

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/900677.html

[Ali]

Why doesn't the LA Times do us a favor by posting the full interview and leaving it up to the readers to judge. This is one of the most ridiculous pieces of journalism I have ever seen. Of course we may disagree with what he says, but for God's sake, let us hear what he actually says.

[Mohamad Purqurian]

Regardless of how American media demonized Ahmadinejad, the basic principle of an interview is to ask questions and publish answers.

Reading this interview, you would hardly see a series of questions and answers. Instead, it is like a public court where anything he says is used against his country!

So this is a new tactic to keep demonizing him, but with a sugar frosting on the top! So much for independent journalism.

[George]

Divorced from reality? Religious fanatic? A true soulmate of W!

[hass]

Actually, you can use your own fact-checker. IIran's poverty rates are well under what is claimed. See this study by the Brookings Institute:
http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2008/0805_iran_salehi_isfahani.aspx

Also, Iran's economy has been doing well in macroeconomic terms. See this study by the USIP:
http://www.usip.org/pubs/usipeace_briefings/2007/0510_iran_economic_crisis.html

As for Ahmaidnejad's invocation of the Mahdi -- that's normal in the Persian language which is full of poetic appeals to the transcendant. Only scaremongers are trying to use it against him.