Vital Perspective

Ahmadinejad's Letter to Italian PM Opens Tehran to Talks with Rome on Region

An Italian government spokesman reports that Italian PM Romano Prodi has received a letter from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad saying he is willing to consult with Rome on resolving problems in the Middle East.

The letter was a follow-up to Prodi and Ahmadinejad's talks at the UN in September, said the spokesman, adding that an Ansa news agency report that Iran had said in the letter it would cooperate with the international community was wrong.

Iran Declares Intent to Build 60,000 Centrifuges; Message to U.S. on Horizon

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has defiantly announced the ultimate aim of Iran's atomic drive was to install 60,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges to produce nuclear fuel. Iran has said it is looking to install 3,000 centrifuges by March 2007, in itself a massive step from the two cascades of 164 centrifuges apiece it has currently at its Natanz plant to enrich uranium on a research scale.

Experts say that 50,000 centrifuges would normally be sufficient to produce 20 kilos (44 pounds) of weapons grade uranium in under a month. Enrichment is carried out in lines of centrifuges called cascades and is used to make the fuel for civilian nuclear reactors. But in highly enriched form, the uranium can be used to make a nuclear bomb. Building tens of thousands of centrifuges would take Iran's enrichment program to a level where it could produce nuclear fuel on an industrial scale.

Ahmadinejad has also pledged that he would soon send "a message to the American nation." He did not say when and through which channel he would send the message but claimed that the people of the U.S. had asked him to explain the Iranian standpoints to them.

Ahmadinejad's predecessor, Mohammad Khatami, had also sent a message in 1998 to the American people onn CNN which, however, did not lead to any improvement of bilateral ties. Ahmadinejad sent a letter to President Bush which however - like his letter to German Chancellor Angel Merkel - remained unanswered.

Experts on Iran Debate U.S. Options on Iran at Council on Foreign Relations

On Wednesday, the Council on Foreign Relations hosted an event billed as "Axis of Anxiety: U.S. Options on Iran" which we were unable to attend but heard was quite interesting. The speakers were Kenneth Pollack from the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institute and Ray Takeyh from CFR. It was moderated by Barbara Slavin, Senior Diplomatic Reporter for USA Today, who is currently writing a book on Iran.

Slavin had an exclusive interview with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in February of this year. Later, Paul Mirengoff at Power Line weighed in on why the regime chose to grant her access. A transcript of the CFR event is available below the fold.

Iran Opens Nuclear Sites for Tourism; UAE Recognized as Main Trading Partner

As if they qualified as weapos inspectors, Iranian President Mahmoud Amhadinejad has ordered that the country's nuclear sites be opened to foreign tourists to prove its program is peaceful, state media report. No details were given on the nature of the trips, or when they might begin. Possible attractions would include the plants at Isfahan and Natanz, or a reactor being built in Bushehr.

The head of Iran's tourism organisation said Ahmadinejad had asked his group to study ways for tourists to see the sites, state news agency Irna reported. "This authorisation has been issued since the Iranian nuclear activities are peaceful," Esfandyar Rahim Mashaii told the agency.

In other news, Iran's Trade Development Organization has recognized the UAE as Iran's main trading partner over the past eight years. It is estimated that Iran's non-oil exports to the UAE in the first five months of the current Iranian year was $1.2 billion. The figure for the corresponding period last year stood at $638 million. Iranian imports from the UAE comprise gas, cigarettes, spare parts for machinery, telecommunications and radio apparatuses, auto teller machines, mobile phones, heavy machinery and banana.

Columbia Univ. Rescinds Ahmadinejad's Invitation Following Internal Debate

This just in to us, here's a story you'll read about in the coming days. Our sources in New York tell us that while the administration at Columbia University did in fact invite Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at the Morningside campus, the invitation was rescinded earlier today after a great deal of internal debate at the University.

Publicly, the University will place blame on security procedures and the limited amount of time between the invitation being extended and the event itself. However, our sources tell us that internal debate on the prudence of the invitation squashed the issue before security details could even be put to paper. Stay with us for additional information on this story in the coming days.

UPDATE 09/22 @ 12:39: Here's the story today from AP.

Ahmadinejad Refuses to Clarify Iranian Compliance with UNSCR Arms Embargo

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today Iran gave cultural and spiritual support to Lebanon but sidestepped questions about whether Tehran would obey the arms embargo imposed on Hezbollah in Security Council Resolution 1701. He told the press in a wide-ranging news conference that Lebanon had to manage its own affairs and "we don't interfere." You can read the full translated text of the Ahmadinejad press conference below the fold.

"We give spiritual support to all those who want to uphold their rights because... all nations have the right to defend themselves," Ahmadinejad said. "When we support nations it is a spiritual and cultural support."

As reporters continued to press him, Ahmadinejad said that Iran supports "the peace and permanent stability in Lebanon... and we will fall short of no measure in promoting this goal, whether in culture or spiritual support... or in the role we can play in the international arena."

Israeli Deputy PM Shimon Peres told reporters at another gathering: "We wish and expect that the Lebanese government will govern Lebanon, that Lebanon will remain Lebanese and not Iranian... One should tell the president of Iran -- show us that you can run a country without starvation, without unemployment,without discrimination, without hate and then you will come and run the rest of the world."

Columbia Welcomes Ahmadinejad; Maintains Holocaust Denial in Interview

Columbia University has invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to give a speech tomorrow at the Morningside campus, Columbia's president, Lee Bollinger, announced late last night. In a statement released just before midnight, Bollinger said he did not invite Ahmadinejad personally, but learned yesterday that Columbia had extended the invitation.

It's not certain, however, that Ahmadinejad will attend a world leaders academic summit that is taking place at the school. Because of the short notice, Bollinger said he couldn't be sure that high-level security arrangements would be put in place in time.

Columbia's last-minute offer to Ahmadinejad was evidently made under secrecy and confusion. Last night, Columbia's vice president for public affairs, Susan Brown, denied that the invitation had been extended, saying it was "rumors, rumors, rumors."

Although Bollinger said he strongly disagreed with Ahmadinejad's views, he would not stop him from speaking at the university's world leaders forum. "I happen to find many of President Ahmadinejad's stated beliefs to be repugnant, a view that I'm sure is widely shared within our university community," Bollinger said. "So whether or not all of the special arrangements needed for such a visit can be made in this unusually short period of time, I have no doubt that Columbia students and faculty would use an open exchange to challenge him sharply and are fully capable of reaching their own conclusions."

It would be the latest example of Ahmadinejad making the most of his visa to make limited travel on U.S. soil. Last evening he was interviewed by Brian Williams, in which he again denied the Holocaust and said Israel was "the root cause of many of our problems." The full text of the interview is below the fold.

The most interesting statement from Ahmadinejad was this, where he showed how fearful he is of international economic sanctions: "Iran has been under sanctions for 27 years. Even spare parts for aircraft are denied to us. Is this against the government, or an act against the people? Again, I'm saying in Iran the government and the nation are one. And I am the representative of the Iranian people, certainly not as a judge but as an elected official."

By making an effort to get the message out there that sanctions will not only hurt the regime but the Iranian people, Ahmadinejad seeks to further undermine the already weak international community and efforts to impose sanctions to dissuade the regime from uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities. Statements like the one above are very telling. The regime is working overtime to keep sanctions from being imposed because they are weak, and they know it. Instead of backing down, the international community must follow through with the disincentives presented this summer.

Ahmadinejad Rants to UN on U.S. Foreign Policy, Structure of Security Council

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke late on Tuesday to the UN General Assembly, where he focused on "a few examples of the most pressing global issues: the unbridled expansion of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons; occupation of countries and exacerbation of hostilities; and lack of respect for the rights of members of the international community." He argued against U.S. foreign policy and against American and British membership on the Security Council. He also worked in subtle arguments against the Security Council's legitimacy. The full translated text of his remarks are below.

PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD:  Madame President, distinguished heads of state and government, distinguished heads of delegation, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. I praise the merciful, all-knowing and Almighty God for blessing me with another opportunity to address this assembly on behalf of the great nation of Iran, and to bring a number of issues to the attention of the international community. I also praise the Almighty for the increasing vigilance of peoples across the globe, their courageous presence in different international settings, and the brave expression of their views and aspirations regarding global issues. 

Today humanity passionately craves commitment to the truth, devotion to God, quest for justice, and respect for the dignity of human beings. Rejection of domination and aggression, defense of the oppressed, and longing for peace constitute the legitimate demand of the peoples of the world, particularly the new generations and the spirited youth who aspire to a world free from decadence, aggression and injustice, and replete with love and compassion.

The youth have a right to seek justice and the truth, and they have the right to build their own future on the foundations of love, compassion and tranquility, and I praise the Almighty for this immense blessing.

Madame President, Excellencies, what afflicts humanity today is certainly not compatible with human dignity. The Almighty has not created human beings so that they could transgress against others and oppress them. By causing war and conflict, some are fast expanding their domination, accumulating greater wealth and usurping all the resources, while others endure the resulting poverty, suffering and misery.

Some seek to rule the world relying on weapons and threats, while others live in perpetual insecurity and danger.

Some occupy the homeland of others thousands of kilometers away from their borders, interfere in their affairs and control their oil and other resources and strategic routes, while others are bombarded daily in their own homes, their children murdered in the streets and alleys of their own country, and their homes reduced to rubble. Such behavior is not worthy of human beings and runs counter to the truth, to justice and to human dignity. 

Ahmadinejad Calls U.S. the 'Real' Nuke Threat; Calls for Removal from UNSC

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claimed the U.S. was the real nuclear threat and reiterated his insistence Tehran's nuclear atomic program had peaceful aims. "Why should people live under the nuclear threat of the United States?" he asked at a summit of the 118-strong Non-Aligned Movement in Havana. "What is the UN Security Council waiting for to react to those threats?"

He urged his counterparts to help "counter attempts to prevent Iran from developing its peaceful nuclear activity." Ahmedinejad said Iran had clearly demonstrated U.S. accusations were unfounded and insisted that the U.S., "knows our country has fully collaborated with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which declared we were not in violation of its norms."

He also called for a thorough reform of the Security Council and suggested the U.S. and Britain had no place on the Council. "The United States, with their arrogance and power, and Britain, how can those countries be represented and have a veto right?" he asked in his address to the more than 55 heads of state and government gathered for two days of talks in Havana.

Iranian FM Confirms Ahmadinejad to Address UN General Assembly This Month

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit New York later this month to speak to the UN General Assembly, state television IRIB reported. In a television interview on Saturday, FM Manuchehr Mottaki confirmed that Ahmadinejad will visit the UN General Assembly to deliver a speech, his second since taking office in August of 2005.

In his first address to the General Assembly in September 2005, Ahmadinejad said that someone present at the UN told him that a light surrounded him while he was delivering his speech to the General Assembly. Ahmadinejad said he also sensed it.

"He said when you began with the words 'in the name of God,' I saw that you became surrounded by a light until the end [of the speech]," Ahmadinejad said. "I felt it myself, too. I felt that all of a sudden the atmosphere changed there, and for 27-28 minutes all the leaders did not blink. I am not exaggerating when I say they did not blink; it's not an exaggeration, because I was looking. They were astonished as if a hand held them there and made them sit. It had opened their eyes and ears for the message of the Islamic Republic."