With the 16th Non-Aligned Movement summit in the books, Iran has finished hosting its largest international conference in over three decades. Iranian officials sought to make a case that it is not the "international community" that has problems with the Islamic Republic, but rather a U.S.-led "coalition of the willing" that is held together through pressure. The Obama administration essentially conceded this point by trying to dissuade various leaders from attending the summit.
So, did Iran's diplomatic showcase succeed or backfire? That depends on one's metric of success. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made his first visit to Tehran -- but he broached sensitive topics with his Iranian interlocutors, including Iran's nuclear program, its objectionable comments about Israel, and human rights problems in the Islamic Republic. Egypt's newly-minted President Mohamed Morsi made the first visit by an Egyptian head of state in over three decades -- but he bluntly told Iranian decision-makers that they are on the wrong side of the fight in Syria.
The Iranian regime will try to absorb these embarrassments, combine them with high-profile photo-ops and micromanaged media coverage, and split the difference. More than diplomatic clout, Iran's true metric of success was financial. It likely succeeded in using the summit to build international economic openings that will help forestall instability. These openings sustain the system of crony capitalism and political patronage that has long been a pillar of the regime.
Unprecedented U.S.-led sanctions seek to cripple the Iranian economy, and a key focus of Iran's diplomacy at the summit was finding new ways to remain afloat, buoyed by oil money. Indeed, all politics is local. This Iranian government is comprised of survivors who manage to muddle through, and if past is prologue, they have achieved just enough to sustain a familiar status quo: neither major success, nor major collapse.
Reza Marashi is Director of Research at the National Iranian American Council in Washington, DC.
This article first appeared in Folha de S.Paulo, the largest circulation newspaper in Brazil.
Follow Reza Marashi on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@rezamarashi
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allwarisbad, would you care to substantiate your claim?
Never ceases to fascinate me how some people are all too willing to grab the first excuse to justify hatred. What's even more fascinating is the nauseating amount of self-righteousness gushing out of Canada while its own treatment of its first nation people is almost on a par with the policies of the old apartheid South Africa. Human rights abuses are rife in iran (as are many other injustices), but wouldn't our Canadian friends be more fruitfully engaging their time and efforts getting their own house in order first before lecturing the rest of us on freedom and democracy?
While the IRGC may be unpopular in iran, i doubt 'ordinary Iranians' would want a blood bath involving literally tens of thousands just to satisfy the genocidal urges of people who care for little but their own racist tribalist ambitions.
This man is still dreaming of the Shah and returning Iran to a role of subservience.
The NAM summit has been success, despite all the efforts of the west and their cronies in the middle east.
Now I wonder what North Korea has that Iran wants ...
Your shenanigans to cover lies and criminality in the world ... :(
But what will happen to our biggest growth industry ?
www.presstv.ir. Iran Leader and president stand on Palestian was outstanding. World can not find more moral leaders then what they have in Iran.
How correct you are!
Please let everyone in Africa, Middle East,and Pakistan know these news.
West is failed. Anyone who tries to come to the West will suffer incredible economic hardship and Islamophobia.
Emigrate to Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Algeria!
I'm betting those protesters shot in the street might beg to differ.
And I KNOW those being tortured in Evin Prison see life a bit differently than you do.
"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad read out the resolution, which included over seven-hundred clauses, in the final session of the summit on Friday night. "
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/09/01/259230/nam-summit-communiqu-backs-iran/
This has more to do with a nation defending its independence and standing against bullying than "Iranian Regime". It was clearly, a diplomatic, political, economical victory for Iranian people.
Israel and West tried very hard to stop the world leader, including Morsi and Ban Ki-moon to participate in the meeting, but Iran influence and clout was too strong and prevailed. Why do you hate Iran so much?