|
RRI newsletter subcription
(e-mail address):
|
 |
Archives:
|
|
| IRAN, A HOT SPOT ON THE WORLD MAP 18/06/2009 |
| (2009-06-18) |
| Last updated: 2009-06-19 13:52 EET |
Amid speculation that last week’s presidential elections in Iran were rigged, the international community is left with nothing else to do but reaffirm its underlying principles. “The people of Iran deserve the right to have their voices heard, and their votes counted," said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in response to the violent protests in Iran following the controversial re-election of the ultraconservative incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. She then added: "The outcome of any election should reflect the will of the people. And it is for the Iranians to determine how they resolve this internal protest concerning the outcome of the recent election. But it is a fundamental value that the United States holds, with respect to free, fair and credible elections."
A sworn enemy of the West and Israel, Ahmadinejad focused his election campaign on his usual aggressive statements which have outraged the world some years now. For Ahmadinejad, the Holocaust is a ‘myth’, and Iran is the ‘number one power in the world’. His moderate challenger Mir Hossein Moussavi, a former prime minister who returned to political life after 20 years, accused Ahmadinejad of spoiling Iran’s image in the world. On a domestic level, however, commentators note that the true leader is the ayatollah, the Shiite religious leader Ali Khamenei, which means that Ahmadinejad’s departure would not change things fundamentally. The Iranian journalist Madjid Rezae told our special correspondent to Iran that the protests staged over the last few days should not be seen as the early days of a revolution. He says the people in Iran only wanted a president who is open to foreign investment in the economy and has a more moderate approach to foreign policy.
According to Madjid Rezae, nobody in Iran believes the president can single-handedly change the country’s policy, as the ayatollah takes all the big decisions. In his opinion, a reformist president would have found it difficult to work with a parliament dominated by ultraconservatives. The students and the urban middle class seem to be the only ones who believe in the reforms promised by Moussavi. The traditionalist and poverty-stricken majority are still seduced by the brutal populism of Ahmadinejad, who has cultivated their visceral fear of an armed attack by America or Israel.
|
|
| |
WMA |
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
128kbps : |
1
2
3
|
| |
MP3 |
|
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
128kbps : |
1
2
3
|
| |
AAC+ |
|
|
48kbps : |
1
2
3
|
|
|
64kbps : |
1
2
3
|
 Historical mascot of
RRI |
| |
© 1999 - 2011 Copyright Radio Romania International |
|
2025-04-03
Print
Listen again