Iran: Clashes Within

Excerpts from today's Washington Post story are below the fold:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared a "new beginning" for Iran late Saturday after he was declared victor in the presidential election, but as he spoke on national television violent demonstrations rolled through several areas of Tehran. Supporters of defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi burned dumpsters, threw stones and clashed with police in the worst rioting in Tehran in many years.

What new beginning is Ahmadinejad talking about? The same mullah-controlled thug will be at the helm of Iran. Supposedly, he had a landslide victory:

The Interior Ministry, controlled by Ahmadinejad, announced that he had been elected in the first round with 62.6 percent of the vote, compared with less than 34 percent for Mousavi, who was the leading challenger. Turnout was a record 86 percent of the 46.2 million eligible voters.

Oh, really? Check out this information about the 2005 election, which brought Ahmadinejad to power. Should we believe that this 2009 election was run with more integrity?

According to today's Washington Post:

Announcement of the results triggered protests throughout the day. Families lined the streets in the middle-class neighborhood of Saadat Abad, cheering on the demonstration and shouting, "Death to the dictator!"

[...]

Talks between Iran and the United States are still a possibility with Ahmadinejad at the helm. On several occasions, he has said he wants such talks. His oft-repeated verbal attacks on Israel are not expected to change.

So, no fresh start, really.

Meanwhile,

The White House released a two-sentence statement...

In Tehran, Mousavi's whereabouts were unknown. Reporters on their way to a news conference by the former candidate were stopped by security personnel, who said the meeting had been canceled. Several journalists were beaten.

[...]

"We are hopeful," Ahmadinejad said during his speech. "Now it's time to move on and continue to build our great Iran."

In essence, Ahmadinejad is speaking of change and hope. No wonder BHO cuts him so much slack.

With all this unrest over the election in Iran going on right now, BHO's weekly address was about healthcare reform, also the topic on the lead page of the White House web site. Not a word of support for the oppressed people of Iran. Does that community not matter to him?



ADDENDUM: More from Gateway Pundit.

Mohamed ElBaradei Insists That Iranians "Are Not Fanatics"

From this article in Newsweek, with regard to the bargaining style of the Iranians, in ElBaradei's own words:

...They know what they want. They are excellent on the strategic goals, excellent on waiting for the right price. I don't want to make them sound like superhumans; you do see a lot of infighting among them. And part of it is about who is going to get credit for finally breaking out of this 30 years of fighting and confrontation with the United States. Everybody is positioning himself to be the national hero who would finally put Iran back onto the world map as part of the mainstream. They are not like the stereotyped fanatics bent on destroying everybody around them. They are not.

And this fellow - a Moslem and member of the ummah, of course - has been doing the following, according to Newsweek's own introduction to the article:

As head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei has spent the past 11 years trying to keep Iran from getting nuclear weapons. The Nobel Peace Prize winner recently spoke to NEWSWEEK'S Christopher Dickey about his intense, often frustrating dialogue with the Iranians—and with the Americans.

ElBaradei hasn't done a good job of keeping Iran from going nuclear. Iran has been proceeding in that direction for much of the time that ElBaradei has been employed by the IAEA.

Please see this May 16, 2009 posting by Reliapundit for one example of how ElBaradei rebukes Israel. He doesn't use that same tone about or with Iran.

Just how did ElBaradei merit receiving the Nobel Peace Prize?

From Iran: BHO's Efforts Indicate That The West Is A Failure

Anybody with half a brain could have seen this coming (with thanks to Michael):

US President Barack Obama's offer to talk to Iran shows that America's policy of "domination" has failed, the government spokesman said on Saturday.

"This request means Western ideology has become passive, that capitalist thought and the system of domination have failed," Gholam Hossein Elham was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency....

BHO has shown weakness and even a willingness to submit. Instead of being a strong man, BHO reached out.

What a mistake!

Don't any of the West's leaders even bother to look at the history of Islam?

The ummah feel even more emboldened now. They are looking for Islam to rise up, in accordance with the will of Allah.

Obama, Iran Talks Next?

FOXNews.com

Monday, January 26, 2009


U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice restates President Obama's calls for direct negotiations with Iran.

President Obama did a quick pivot Monday, shifting his focus to foreign policy by contacting a handful of major world leaders -- including Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French President Nikolas Sarkozy -- as his new U.N. ambassador restated the desire for vigorous and "direct diplomacy" with Iran.

Obama spoke with the foreign leaders ahead of a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and his Middle East envoy George Mitchell, who was leaving immediately afterward for a trip to the region. Mitchell will go to Cairo, Egypt; Jersusalem, Israel; Ramallah in the West Bank; Amman, Jordan; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He will also visit Paris and London.

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Click here to read the rest

Iran : Shoes at picturesof Obama & Mubarak

Suicide bomber targets soccer fans

Football fans celebrating an Iraqi win in a World Cup qualifier have been targeted by a female suicide bomber who maimed 34 people north of Baghdad.

The young woman, in traditional Islamic robe, struck as dozens poured on to the streets after watching Iraq beat China 2-1 on TV in a cafe in Qara Tappah.

She told police she was waiting for her husband, but blew herself up after an officer spotted the detonator.

From Teletext

Iran Expects 'Different Approach' from Next US Leader: Ahmadenijad

04/06/2008




ROME (AFP) - Iran expects a "different approach" from the next US president, whoever wins the November elections, President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad said in an interview published in Italy Wednesday.

"Whoever wins the elections, I'm sure that the United States will change, it will have a different approach," the Iranian leader told the Italian daily La Repubblica.