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from nyobserver. com

Ahmadinejad's Wild Week, NYO's Wild Scoop

New York Observer |  Hooman Majd |  Posted Wednesday September 27, 2006 at 08:35 AM

Wow - great ultra-insider get for the New York Observer: A blow-by-blow account from inside Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's whirlwind NYC week, courtesy of his interpreter, Hooman Majd, appointed to the position by dint of his status as an "apparently trustworthy Iranian," which presumably didn't mean undercover journalist. Or maybe it did; knowing what's going on in Ahmadinejad's head is about as easy as instinctively knowing how to pronounce his name (ah-ma-DIN-e-jad, we believe).

Majd offers access — and we'll get to that — but also, understanding: Since he understands Ahmjadinejad in his native language he picks up the nuance that is so easily lost (like the fact that Ahmadinejad "didn't really care" to see much of America). Which is good, because apparently his visa limited him to a 25- mile radius from U.N. headquarters, most of which was spent in his suite at the Intercontinental on Lex "which had been turned into a fortress" or from the confines of his bullet-proof limousine. Guess a trip to Ground Zero didn't make the cut.

Quick cheat sheet on the article after the jump, including how Anderson Cooper scored his facetime with Ahmadinejad, his version of Karl Rove, and why he thinks the situation between America and Iran is better than at this time last year. Oh, and he LOVES Israel.

Other interesting nuggets:

• Mrs. A. was there, in full chador.
  
• Ahmadinejad was happy with his speech, which was actually more sparsely attended than expected, presumably because it was to be run on CNN (and only CNN).
  
• In person, in Iranian, Ahmadinejad is actually warm.
  
• Is Michael Moore that difficult to get in touch with? In this day of insta-communications, that's an eyebrow raise. In any case, Moore was unreachable to attend Ahmadinejad's breakfast meeting with academics and journalists.
  
• At that meeting, Anderson Cooper asked "the softest if not most pro-Iran question" about the ruinous Afghan opium trade. Later on, A.Coop landed an unscheduled interview with the A-man. (Majd saw a connection there.)
  
• Mostly men were invited to Ahmadinejad's secret meeting of Iranians at the Hilton, and a woman's question about relaxing hijab rules in Iran was impassively entertained, then ignored. (A quick lesson from Majd on "velayat-e-faqi", or "rule of the jurisprudent": "At least in terms of social issues, it's the Supreme Leader who decides what society will look like, not the president.")
  
• Ahmadinejad did say that "Americans are good people too," but noted "a distance between our cultures." More on this below.
  
• At the later Hilton event in the grand ballroom for what was described as a more pro-Iranian group, Majd offers this observation: "The national anthem played loudly over the speaker system, and to anyone who harbors suspicions that 2006 Iran is reminiscent of 1936 Germany, this event would have appeared to have some of the trappings of a Bund rally in 1930's New York." Eep. Majd quickly clarifies that this is based on nationalist fervor and less on a blatant call to arms. We stand by our "eep."
  
• At that dinner, Ahmadinejad disclaimed any nuclear agenda. "The time for bombs is over," he said. Modified "eep."
  
• But not by much: Majd name-checks Mojtaba Hashemi-Samareh, a "mysterious, almost Karl Rovean figure whom is always by Ahmedinejad's side. Samareh gets a whopping 249 Google hits, none from big papers or magazines (Atlantic! New Yorker! Time for a profile!). The Iran Daily describes him as "senior advisor and special envoy" to the president; the American Spectator describes him as sharing Ahmedinajad's "maniacal brand of Islam." This article gives a more complete picture.

Here's what Ahmadinejad had to say about America-Iraq relations: "It's not worse than last year; it's better." He elaborated thusly:

"Last year," he said, "we were under serious threats--military threats. Today, at the very worst, it's economic threats, and even that--well, I don't really want to say, but for those who would like to pursue them, the situation is not conducive .... Even though there are those in America who would like to put pressure on Iran, they won't be able to. We've really progressed. You see, 118 countries [of the Non-Aligned Movement] have specifically supported Iran's nuclear program. That's eliminated the excuse that four or five countries speak for the 'international community.'

"Our political situation, by God's grace, is great," he went on. "For those who don't want our people to progress, the situation is not good. In the Middle East, the situation for America has become very bad. Very. They thought if they attack Lebanon, their situation would get better," he said, allowing no difference between Israel and the United States. "They gave 33 days to the Zionists to do something in Lebanon, and it didn't happen. Same thing in Iraq; same thing in Afghanistan. It's not that our situation has gotten worse in the last year; it's that it's gotten much better.

He also said that "Two thousand Zionists want to rule the world," echoing the stance above and his speech to the U.N. America is indistinguishable from Israel; but, Americans are good people. We'll stick with our modified "eep." In the meantime, outstanding access and execution here, and kudos to the Observer for same.

UPDATE: See Majd's elaboration on HuffPo here.