Ahmadinejad To Obama: Return My Messages (VIDEO)

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, up for reelection later this year but appearing on ABC's This Week this Sunday, sought to portray Barack Obama as the leader most tepid about thawing or resetting U.S.-Iranian relations.

Asked about a video message that Obama recorded to the Iranian people earlier this year calling for less brinkmanship between the two countries, Ahmadinejad responded that he had sent a communique of his own, one that, he complained, went unreturned.

"I sent a congratulatory message to Mr. Obama," he told host George Stephanopoulos. "This was a major decision, although the Iranian people were very much dismayed with the conduct of previous U.S. administrations. And I was criticized here at home, in Iran. Nevertheless, I did that. I am yet to receive a response."

Later in the interview, Ahmadinejad again expressed his personal disappointment in not having his outreach returned by the president.

"Iran and U.S. relations are dependent on the decision taken by the U.S. administration," he said. "Mr. Obama sends us messages of friendship but in the communique issued by the five plus one, enmity can be seen. So this is a dual route, if you will... I have sent a message to Mr. Obama myself. We welcome change. We are praying to the All Mighty for that. And we will help to bring change about."

As for a forum in which Iranian and U.S officials could have started a dialogue -- the recently completed Durban II conference on world racism -- Ahmadinejad lamented the fact that Obama decided to pull out of the event. The White House had been concerned that world leaders would use the affair as a means to level anti-Zionist diatribes, a concern that was realized during Ahmadinejad's speech. Asked why he continued to deny the Holocaust, the Iranian leader responded:

"When I was talking against the Zionist regime in the racism conference, the first proviso for successful talks would be to give the other party the freedom to speak. Mr. Obama has the right to have his own opinion, obviously. He is ready to express his points of view. But the Geneva conference had been organized to combat racism, to oppose racism. My point of view is that the Zionist regime is the manifestation of racism."

Watch video of the interview:

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Comments

[Solaris123]

Obviously, Obama considers it beneath him to talk to Ahmadinejad.
But a person on Ahmad's level of power, US. Deputy Ambassador to U.N. Alejandro Wolff had this answer to Ahmad's speeches:
"I can't think of any other word than shameful."

[Solaris123]

UN SECRETARY-GENERAL BAN KI-MOON

"I deplore the use of this platform by the Iranian President to accuse, divide and even incite. We must all turn away from such a message in both form and substance.­"

[nowarpleez]

He's a married man, get over him.

[denlong]

I'm NO supporter of Israel, but I wonder if Ahmadinejad wants a response to "Death to America" or "We will wipe Israel off the map" ?

[Sentientbeing09]

He never said 'we will wipe Israel off the map'

[Melkor]

This is a touchy one. On one hand an overture from Iran is good, on the other you don't want to give legitimacy to a hardliner - especially in an election year. I'm not following the rightwing habit of demonizing the Iranian regime or calling them "kooks" or "crazy", but this is international politics and a cunning leader CAN use Obama's popularity for his own ends.

Still, I would use the opportunity to increase communication with Iran. And the least important consideration should be a mealy-mouthed rightwing backlash.

[Solaris123]

Good post Melkor.
Keep posting--reasonable opinions are few and far in between here.

[shoopnyc]

Stephanoupoulos did an awful job with this guy...and why Steph thinks that he needs to "make" news instead of report on what's already in the hopper is beyond me...

[Academic]

The best thing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can do, and I've advised him so in a letter I sent him when it became clear that Barack would blindly follow what Israel, AIPAC and the Zionist right tell him to do: one can't have a more explicit example of this than the comments made by Avigdor Lieberman that the US acts only with Israel’s permission and does what it’s told – to complete ignore Barack and do what's best for Iran's domestic, regional and national interests. Can anyone imagine what the furore would have been if any other foreign leader or senior minister had said about the US what Lieberman did – it would have been instantly crucified by Barack right down to the man on the street and labelled as an unwarranted intrusion in the internal affairs of the US; but look how quiet Barack is.

But I see Hillary Clinton has been doing some interfering of her own with the Obama administration, at Israel’s behest, trying to influence Lebanon’s upcoming elections, aware, as things stand, that Hezbollah and its allies will democratically remove the puppet, pro-western regime that the US likes to see in the Middle East. Not that Lebanon is democratic. Imagine a revised US constitution that states its president must be BLACK; foreign and defence ministers LATINO, and the majority white population what’s left. In Lebanon Muslims are the majority but the minority Christians and war-crime allies of Israel provide the president.

Professor Dr. Stanley Collymore.

[Solaris123]

Is this some kind of parody?

[VeroucaSalt]

Dude, put the doobie DOWN!

[kcmookie]

Did Ahmadinejad respond to YOUR letter? Also, was your letter remotely more coherent than your posts are?

Are you a Professor Dr. at one of those places where you line up with everyone else to get your magic pills, and then sit around playing scrabble and occasionally scratching your privates all day?

[Solaris123]

funny stuff, kcmookie.

[EqualMeansEqual]

Right the jews are behind everything. The secretyl control every thing even control Obama.

I wondered how long before I heard a statement that sounds like it came from Berlin circa 1939 in this section.

[Solaris123]

You wanna hear Berlin speeches of the 30s?
Easy. re-read your own posts or Ahadadinejad's speeches.

[kcmookie]

Personally I think Ahmadinejad and Bush should both be put in clown suits and put in a center ring where they are forced to fight to the death using only their bare hands. Now that would be interesting, and the world would be a better place because at the end at least one of them would no longer be around to embarrass their country.

[UsofA]

Couldn't we at least give them both "brush clearing" tools?

[Solaris123]

Good idea. Would Ahmad be required to take off his toupee? And Bush his cowboy hat?

[BlackJAC]

World to Ahmadinejad: Wear a necktie! You're the president of a nation engaging in weighty matters of state, not some business-casual used-car salesman in suburban Ohio, so dress the part!

[piul05]

That is dressing the part on his side of the planet - why should he (or any other leader from "more exotic" nations for that matter) wear conventional Western outfits?

[MideastDove]

Yeah, it's all about the wrapping paper, not what's in the package.

[BlackJAC]

Go to your next job interview wearing a Hooters T-shirt, board shorts and Crocs and see if you get hired. Then say that again.

[Amomma]

Why does Amadinejad get to use our freedom of speech, the Democracy of the UN and all Western nations as a platform for his hate?

Can we have our journalist back now?

[Soori]

Please do not speak about the democracy of the UN - that's a joke! Second of all it is called the United Nations and the platform allows all countries to voice their opinions; third what is the meaning of freedom of speech - does it only mean say what we want to hear otherwise you are not allowed? third there was no hate speech. This is what some who don't like the message like to blame the messenger for and in so doing continue to demonize him.

Show me the hate speech?

[Solaris123]

Would not dignify AhmadJihad with repeating his self-righteous drivel.
But here are some comments from people who were there.

"I I have not seen, experienced, this kind of disruptive proceedings of the assembly by any one member state. It was a totally unacceptable situation.­I
I deplore the use of this platform by the Iranian President to accuse, divide and even incite," We must all turn away from such a message in both form and substance.­""

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called the address both "unsavoury" and "obnoxious­." I was shocked and deeply saddened by everything he said," she told journalists.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned what he called “an intolerable call to racist hate”

Such outrageous anti-Semitic remarks should have no place in a UN anti-racism forum," said British ambassador Peter Gooderham, whose country chose not to send a minister to Geneva.

GOT IT???! soori-jan.
obviously not.

[MideastDove]

"Our" free speech?
I can't believe you are serious with this post.

Is there some kind of womens group starting up on behalf of this journalist?
That's fine, but your argument sounds like it came off the fox airwaves.

[skialethia]

These are the blueprints c00ked up by neocons and "Israylis" for "neutralizing" the Middle East":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clean_Break#Israel_foreign_policy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century

When I put these two together with Netanyahu's statement on 9/11:

"We are benefiting from one thing, and that is the attack on the Twin T0wers and Pentag0n, and the American struggle in Iraq," Ma'ariv quoted the former prime minister as saying. He reportedly added that these events "swung American public opinion in our favor."

and the following statement extrapolated from a Pnac document that W0lf0witz helped author and which he repeated in a speeach prior to 9/II:

"Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event " like a new Pearl Harbor."

I know that Obama will meet strong resistance against his plans for diplomacy with Iran, since Netanyahu has had "other" plans for Iran since 1996 and I'm sure that PNAC and A Clean Break have been required reading in Iran for figuring out Izrayel's intent, and sticking to their own survival strategy.

Obama should completely disengage from Isrl's self-destructive foreign policy which has already been a tragic and costly mistake for this country.

[Solaris123]

YAWN.....

[skialethia]

These are the blueprints c00ked up by neocons and "Israylis" for "neutralizing" the Middle East":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clean_Break#Israel_foreign_policy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century

When I put these two together with Netanyahu's statement on 9/11:

"We are benefiting from one thing, and that is the attack on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, and the American struggle in Iraq," Ma'ariv quoted the former prime minister as saying. He reportedly added that these events "swung American public opinion in our favor."

and the following statement extrapolated from a Pnac document that Wolfowitz helped author and which he repeated in a speeach prior to 9/II:

"Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor."

I know that Obama will meet strong resistance against his plans for diplomacy with Iran, since Netanyahu has had "other" plans for Iran since 1996 and I'm sure that PNAC and A Clean Break have been required reading in Iran for figuring out Izrayel's intent, and sticking to their own survival strategy.

Obama should completely disengage from Isrl's self-destructive foreign policy which has already been a tragic and costly mistake for this country.

[skialethia]

Excuse the repost.

[MideastDove]

Ski:
I agree. Isn't it nice that these guys leave tracks all over the place for us to follow?
Obama needs to know the difference between Jews and Zionists.

[Gail1]

I'm pretty sure he does. It's "Middle East 101."

[Solaris123]

YAWN.

[UsofA]

Hey, Mahmoud. I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that if you were to release US reporter, Roxana Saberi, recently convicted in Iran as a spy and sentenced to eight years in prison, you might find a more receptive Obama. You can't really expect a man of his stature to stoop to discussion with anyone who would imprison an American journalist on manufactured charges, can you?

[skialethia]

This from the NY Times:

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/jailed-american-gets-support-from-obama-and-irans-president/

[Solaris123]

For information- illiterates: a blog hosted by New York Times is NOT "from NY Times."

[JZ735]

I think there is more than this young woman preventing O. from talking to Ahmy...may­be reason number one is he's an insane whacko?

[Mollabaji]

usofa,
I hope, acutally i am sure, that Obama is not as ignorant and naive as your statement indicates.

A convicted spy must serve time so is Roxana, no exceptions unless the sentence is changed upon appeal. there is such a thing called judicial process, y'know.

[Horst]

Your football team is terrible..­.

[UsofA]

In America there is something called 'judicial process.' In Iran, Saberi's trial was closed to outsiders and provided no transcript. There is virtual unanimity among observers of law, that Saberi's trial was based on false government accusations and no evidence other than she writes and reports for a living. Hence the closed proceedings and lack of court transcripts. She is currently weakening after being on a hunger strike and still remains stronger than the ethically weak men who convicted her.

[Solaris123]

Re. "there is such a thing called judicial process, y'know."

Mollahbaji, I am sure you hold the same opinion for Palestinian terrorist convicts doin' time in Israel. ......OOPS­.

[MideastDove]

Please supply evidence of manufactured charges.

[kcmookie]

Why? Do you have actual proof of her being a spy?

[TheGuide]

For sure, Obama should respond to his message. That was the problem with the Bush administration, not recognizing this man's position of leadership and expressing the measure of respect do to someone who heads of a nation. Thus all the posturing and rooster chest gestures in flexing his nuclear muscles to get our attention. Of course, this isn't like Obama to ignore a leader. It's possible the message wasn't passed on for some reason.

[JZ735]

If Ahmadinejad wasn't a kook like Chavez, I would say go for it.

[Soori]

Look at our arrogance. During the presidency of the former Iranian President Khatami, considered to be a moderate; he forwarded a letter in 2003 to the U.S. which is known as the "grand bargain" check it out. The letter indicated that Iran wanted to open relations with the U.S., that they were willing to stop uranium enrichment, that they were willing to work with Hamas and Hezbullah so that they would disarm and they were willing to recognize Israel. What does President Bush do - he does not respond to the letter and totally disregards it. Now how dumb and stupid was that? This is exactly what we want from Iran now, and they offered this to us in 2003. So what did this show the Iranians; that we don't care about anything but regime change either through a covert operation by destabilizing their country or military attack.

Khatami could not have sent such a letter without the Supreme Leader's authorization. This is the cost of our arrogance. Maybe it is about time that we stop acting like the almighty super-power who rules the world and believes that our President is far beneath him to give a president of another country no matter foe a response. Obama wants to talk to Iran but it's too hard for him to respond to a congratulatory letter? How many times have you heard the Iranians use the word "respect" just listen to the interview!!

[piul05]

It's amazing that people who elected the inarticulate, C-student, approved-and teleprompted -questions-only, warmongering Bu$h for 8 years will make statements such as this.

[johnr49]

English as a second language, "Shoah" - what's your first language, Hebrew?

[JZ735]

You need a flag...