Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq is on a state visit to Iran (which began on Saturday evening), his third since he assumed office in 2005. He was, as is customary for Muslim heads of state (and prime ministers), granted an audience with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The photographs below show Maliki with President Ahmadinejad and in his subsequent meeting with the Supreme Leader.
What is of note is the absence of a tie around his neck, a tie that he normally wears daily, in that second meeting. His not wearing one is both a sign of respect for the leader of a regime that believes ties are a symbol of western influence and decadence (or "westoxification", in the revolutionary lexicon), but perhaps, more importantly, a sign that he really didn't want to piss off the Supreme Leader of Iran.
Now, any questions on Iran's influence in Iraq?
I've always felt is is quite an oppressive look and feel.
Really, you get up every day and one of the final touches in your adornment is to put a noose around your neck? Making them with pretty patterns and out off fine materials doesn't change the fact that it is still a noose...
If you want to read something worth reading on this visit, check out Patrick Cockburn in The Independent:
`US issues threat to Iraq's $50bn foreign reserves in military deal`
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hooman-majd/what-iran-means-to-iraq_b_106043.html
Hooman Majd
Majid writes:
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq is on a state visit to Iran (which began on Saturday evening), his third since he assumed office in 2005. He was, as is customary for Muslim heads of state (and prime ministers), granted an audience with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The photographs below show Maliki with President Ahmadinejad and in his subsequent meeting with the Supreme Leader.
ApolloSpaeks:
In his 19 years as Iran's Supreme Spiritual Leader, and God's supreme agent on earth, his holiness only met once with a non-Moslem leader: Vladimir Putin. His holiness made this one rare exception because Russia is an ally of Iran and a friend of the revolution helping it on its holy quest to become a nuclear armed state and the hegemon of the Middle East. What his holiness won't do is meet with the leader of the world's Great Satan-or any other toxic Western state. To do so would defile his immaculate person and desecrate his high office, his country and his God.
If Obama thinks he can get an audience with his holiness after promising a gathering of Zionist thugs that he will do everything in his power to stop Iran's Russin backed nuke program then he is clearly out of his mind.
b. K h a m e n e i DOES speak with other presidents. Last year, he has received P u t i n for talks, too. There's NO OBSTACLE whatsoever from K h a m e n e i's side to receive a President O b a m a for talk, should the desire / neccessity occur.
QED.
you said quote:
"What is of note is the absence of a tie around his neck, a tie that he normally wears daily, in that second meeting. His not wearing one is both a sign of respect for the leader of a regime that believes ties are a symbol of western influence and decadence (or "westoxification", in the revolutionary lexicon), but perhaps, more importantly, a sign that he really didn't want to piss off the Supreme Leader of Iran."
Unquote.
Without any due respect, this is utter nonsense. After the revolution, wearing ties in Iran was OUTLAWED by the mullahs, because ties were the former identification mark of the Shah's notorious SAVAK-secret service-.
So, women MUST wear a head-scarf, while men MUST NOT wear a tie in Iran. IT'S A LAW, STUPID!
Do you REALLY expect al Maliki, the head of a (kind of) sovereign state on official visit in Iran, to break the law of the country he is visiting, only to satisfy your fashion-sentiments?
WHAT is your qualification to comment on Iraq-iran-matters, exactly?
"He often writes on Iranian affairs, and travels regularly to Iran. He has also served as an advisor and translator for two Iranian presidents, Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on their trips to the United States and the United Nations, and has written about those experiences."
BTW, neckties were never outlawed. They were put out of fashion, which is an entirely different thing. During the 2001 Elections in Iran, lots of conservative candidates for the Majlis were wearing them to prove to a young demographic that they were "hip."
http://counterpunch.org/tilley08282006.html
When I have to wear one, I feel like I'm wearing a leash.
It is always difficult for me to trust someone that wears a tie.