August 3, 2005
New Iranian President Spells Trouble for the West
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was appointed Iran's new president today, just over a month after his surprise victory in the Iranian elections. No matter how you measure it, this spells serious trouble for the West -- America and Israel in particular. Ahmadinejad is best known for his role in the taking of 54 American hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979. He's also rumored to have participated in the assasinations of several Iranian dissidents during the 1980s. Now he's helping to govern a country which is the world's leading state sponsor of global terrorism, and which continues to forge ahead with its plans to build nuclear weapons. I say "helping to govern" because Ahmadinejad ultimately has to answer to Iran's ruling clerics--specifically the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who just today made a speech denouncing America as "the Great Satan."
For a sneak preview of Ahmadinejad's reign, check out this recent rant in which he praised "the art of martyrdom" and stated that "Islam will conquer all the mountain tops of the world." Memo to the European Union, which is currently trying to talk Iran out of pursuing nuclear weapons: President Ahmadinejad really sounds like someone you guys can do business with -- hat is, if you want nukes pointed at Paris, London and Berlin within the next few years.
Another interesting Iran note: Mohammad-Reza Jaafari, a senior officer in Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, told an Iranian newspaper recently that a new “Lovers of Martyrdom Garrison” (Gharargahe Asheghane Shahadat, in Persian) is currently recruting Iranians to carry out suicide bombings against Western targets. Glad to see that he is being so secretive about it.
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