Page 2 of
2 Mahmud Ahmadinejad -
the movie By Sami Moubayed
provide for its own citizenry? The
average marriage age is rising because people
cannot make enough money to start up families and
the cost of housing in urban centers is becoming
increasingly unaffordable.
To deal with
that, Ahmadinejad called for the creation of a
housing fund of $1.3 billion, which should have -
had it been effected - helped young people find
jobs and afford marriage. That proposal was turned
down by the Majlis (parliament) because its funds
were
supposed to come from oil revenues - revenue that
could be put into more useful political
objectives, such as developing nuclear energy.
Or would Stone deal with Ahmadinejad's
attempt at giving more equality to women by
lifting a ban on them attending sports matches to
watch male athletes? That was passed in April 2006
after the president objected to punishing women
appearing at stadiums without proper headscarves
(hijab).
His remarks angered some
of the highest-ranking clerics, including
Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi and Grand Ayatollahs Nouri
Hamedani, Safi Golpaygani and Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei, who finally reversed the president's
orders. One of the president's advisers said that
the measure was a political one - coming out of
political need rather than conviction - to "defend
the government" against US accusations of being
unfair to women.
A recent poll showed that
of 20,177 Iranians who voted for Ahmadinejad in
2005, 62.5% were reluctant to vote for him again.
The poll was conducted via the Internet by the
Baztab News Agency. Of those who did not vote for
him in 2005, only 5.3% would in the next
elections.
As news of the poll was
announced, Ahmadinejad was busy inaugurating an
English-language satellite TV channel, aimed at
countering what he claimed was the Western
dominance of the international media. He
commented: "Press and TV should broadcast the
truth to the world. This network should be a
podium for freedom seekers and Muslims of the
world."
It is doubtful whether this
channel had the right to broadcast news coming out
of Tehran on Wednesday that authorities had closed
the liberal daily newspaper Hammaihan. The daily
had been shut down for seven years, only to
reappear briefly before being shut down again. The
newspaper said this was an attempt to silence its
staff because they were critical of Ahmadinejad.
The newspaper, founded in early 2000, had
originally been closed for advocating closer ties
with the United States.
Finally, what
could Stone say about Ahmadinejad's foreign
policy, which led to two UN resolutions against
Tehran and which might lead to the US making war
on Iran? What would he say about the senseless
kidnapping of 15 British sailors in May by the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard, who are under the
president's command?
Ahmadinejad needed
the crisis to boost his image in the eyes of
ordinary Iranians. He wanted to strike a deal with
the United States through Britain: we free the
sailors, you lift the sanctions imposed on Iran
over its nuclear program. He was eventually forced
to release them by Ayatollah Khamenei. These
policies have alienated not only Khamenei, but a
rising chorus of Iranian politicians such as
moderate former presidents Ali Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami.
In
January, more than 50 parliamentarians called on
the president to appear before the Majlis and
explain his behavior, which was putting Iran at
odds with the international community. Khamenei
has the right - if he so wishes - to dismiss the
president, and some in Tehran are starting to talk
about early presidential elections; they are not
willing to wait until Ahmadinejad's term expires
in 2009.
A leading cleric, Hossein Ali
Montazeri, has harshly and publicly criticized
Ahmadinejad and accused him of damaging Iran's
interest with his wild behavior. That came after
Ahmadinejad sparked international controversy by
saying that the Holocaust did not take place and
promising to "wipe Israel off the map". Khamenei
challenged him by explaining to the terrified
international community that Iran "has never
threatened and will never threaten any country".
Khamenei's chief adviser, former foreign
minister Ali Akbar Velayati, who is one of
Ahmadinejad's prime rivals and is close to
ex-president Rafsanjani, refused to attend
Ahmadinejad's Holocaust conference and
acknowledged that the Holocaust is a historical
reality - pointing out that it is not the Arabs or
Muslims who committed it, and therefore they
should not be paying the price for it.
There are two sides to the Iranian
president. Last December, students protested
against him at the Amirkabir University of
Technology in Tehran, burning his photographs as
he spoke and chanting "death to the dictator".
Rather than arrest them, Ahmadinejad ordered that
they not be harassed or questioned.
He
said: "We have been standing up to dictatorship so
that no one will dare to establish dictatorship in
a millennium even in the name of freedom. Given
the scars inflicted on the Iranian nation by
agents of the US and British dictatorship, no one
will ever dare to initiate the rise of a
dictator."
In his weblog, Ahmadinejad
described his reaction to the incident as "a
feeling of joy" because of the freedom that people
enjoyed after the revolution. Opponents of the
president claimed that the entire ordeal had been
staged by the president himself to market himself
as a democrat. Since there is no proof to that
story, one must take the official and public
version of it, which is that Ahmadinejad sided
with the students - rather than the security
services - and acted in a civilized manner.
Which Ahmadinejad would Stone have brought
to Hollywood? The one whose policies led to
gasoline demonstrations in Tehran this month, or
the one who stood with the students against the
security services in 2006? It is doubtful whether
American moviegoers want to see a film showing the
good sides to the Iranian leader.
Ahmadinejad said no to Stone not because
he misunderstood the power of US cinema, but the
exact opposite. He knew precisely how powerful
Hollywood is and realized that there is not much
Stone could say to polish his image in the Western
world. No matter how much Stone tried to be nice,
he would have had to show both sides of the coin
to moviegoers in North America.
More than
anybody else, Ahmadinejad knows how rusty the
other side of the coin is - because he was unable
to deliver the promises he gave the Iranians in
2005. The reasons vary, from complexities in
Iranian society to US restrictions and domestic
power politics in Iran, but they lead to the same
result: failure. No film about Ahmadinejad - he
believes - would be better than a film that shows
both sides of the coin.
Sami
Moubayed is a Syrian political analyst.
(Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd.
All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
