International attorney Robert Amsterdam says that most Brazilians he spoke with during his recent visit to that country expressed outrage over the fact that their President, Luiz Lula, has embraced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a nuclear energy trading partner. Ahmadinejad will visit Brazil next month. Lula is expected to visit Iran sometime thereafter. (:26)
International attorney Robert Amsterdam says that President Barack Obama should express displeasure to Brazilan President Luiz Lula over the fact that Lula has invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit his country next month. Amsterdam, who recently returned from a visit of his own to Brazil, says that Lula is using the “politics of opportunism” to distance his nation politically from the United States. (:34)
International attorney Robert Amsterdam says that Americans should be worried over the fact that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is slowly developing relationships with more and more South American nations. Amsterdam recently returned from Brazil where Ahmadinejad will visit next month. (:24)
International attorney Robert Amsterdam says that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is finding Brazilian President Luiz Lula to be increasingly supportive of his regime. Amsterdam says that Lula appeals to Ahmadinejad in that he can be viewed as a more respectable partner than other South American allies, such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Amsterdam recently returned from Brazil where Ahmadinejad will visit next month. (:22)
International attorney Robert Amsterdam says that by agreeing to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Brazilian President Luiz Lula is showcasing his belief in “south-to-south” trade diplomacy. Amsterdam recently returned from Brazil where Ahmandinejad will visit next month. (:21)
In a joint news conference Friday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Barack Obama reiterated his position that he is taking a wait-and-see approach to the post-election chaos in Iran.
“We are still waiting to see how the situation in Iran plays out,” Obama said.
The President said that the prospect of Iran attaining a nuclear weapon in the near future is a big problem for both the U.S. and for security in the Middle East. He added that the post-election events of the past few weeks will impact the possibility of future dialogue between the U.S. and Iran.
Obama also mentioned that Iranian opposition candidate Hossein Mousavi has expressed interest in communicating directly with the White House. Obama did not say whether or not he has plans to speak with Mousavi.
When asked to respond to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahamadinejad’s demand that the U.S. apologize for ripping his regime’s strong-arm treatment of election protestors, Obama said, “I don’t take Mr. Ahmadinejad’s comments seriously.” He later added, “I would suggest that Mr. Ahmadinejad think carefully about the obligations he owes to his own people.”
Obama neatly sidestepped a question later in the news conference about Ahmadinejad’s recent comparison of him to former President George W. Bush.
The President was asked one question about the recent spike in violence in Iraq to which he professed, “there will continue to be some violence in Iraq for some time.”
He then explained that the biggest challenge facing American forces in Iraq right now is not preventing attacks by al-Qaeda, but rather helping Sunnis and Shiites resolve their differences over geographical boundaries and oil revenues. The President did not field any follow-up questions on the subject.
Talk Radio News Service White House Correspondent Victoria Jones contributed to this report.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S. Car.) says he is proud of the way President Obama has responded so far to the Iranian regime’s oppression of its citizens. (:36)
By Celia Canon- Talk Radio News Service
During this past weekend, the media attention placed on Iran’s election and popular upheavals have monopolized all TV channels while presenting images of a quasi civil war in the Islamic republic.
Many state leaders have called for a revision of the elections results, claiming that proof of irregularities is abundant, which would render this Friday’s elections undemocratic.
Yet today, experts gathered at the New America Foundation to discuss the significance and outcome of the reelection of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and some even tamed down the media-delivered message that the elections should be rejected by the international community.
Afshin Molavi, a fellow at the New America Foundation, reexamined the clouded image provided by the mainstream media.
“This was the most open and lively and vibrant elections we have seen… Ahmadinejad performed fairly well. He was really pounding his opponents, in particularly( Mir-Hossein) Mousavi as an associate of Rafsanjani who steeped in corruption,” said Molavi.
Flynt Leverett, director of the American Strategy Program at NAF, wrote in his Politico article titled ‘Ahmadinejad Won. Get Over It’ that “The [mainstream media] ignore the fact that Ahmadinejad’s 62.6% of the vote in this year’s election is essentially the same as the 61.69% he received in the final count of the 2005 presidential election.”
According to Ken Ballen, president of the Terror Free Tomorrow, there has also been a misconception on the Ahmadinejad followers whom he claims have been demonized by foreign press and categorized as anti-democratic hard-liners.
On the contrary, polls carried out by Terror Free Tomorrow show otherwise. “86% of the people who said they would vote for Ahmadinejad and supported his reelection also chose ensuring free elections,’ said Ballen.
As for media anticipation that Mousavi would be elected on the account that Ahmadinejad was blamed for having hurt the economy, Leverett added that “While many Iranians complain about inflation, the TFT poll found that most Iranian voters do not hold Ahmadinejad responsible.”
Leverett insisted that the impact of the demonstrations has declined, since demonstrators have expanded their stance from simply protesting voter irregularities to standing against the the notion of an Islamic Republic, which according to Leverett is less likely to achieve results.
“This demonstration is over, in any real strategic sense,” said Leverett.
The demonstrations this weekend have seen both Pro-Ahmadinejad and opposition crowds amass in the streets of Tehran.
Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah of Iran, told a captive audience at the National Press Club Monday that worldwide media must help expose the government-led oppression of citizens in Iran following that nation’s controversial Presidential election.
“Only an information blackout can isolate individuals so that they can be oppressed separately. Thus, the outcome of this struggle will depend on your ability, the free media, to fight their blackouts with the light of information.”
Pahlavi acknowledged the Iranian Government’s recent crackdown on foreign media, as well as its restrictions on the use of social networking websites including Facebook and Twitter, but urged dissenters in the country to continue sharing their stories with the rest of the world.
“It is the third leg of communication, from people to people, from one resistance cell to another, from leaders to supporters inside of which the regime is most fearful.”
Pahlavi, recognized by some as the Crown Prince of Iran, left Iran in 1978 to study collegiately in the U.S., and was exiled from his home country for good following the 1979 Iranian Revolution. He has not returned to Iran since.
Moments after expressing his desire to help Iranians achieve freedom, Pahlavi became visibly shaken up, pausing his speech to choke back tears after detailing some of the violence that has occurred in Iran as a result of clashes between protestors and government-backed forces.
Later, Pahlavi called on foreign governments to allow opponents of the Iranian regime to be the sole owners of the current revolution.
“Your governments have insisted that they would not interfere in Iran’s internal affairs; I applaud that. Any such attempt will give the tyrants the excuse they need to paper over their own differences, and target every man struggling for freedom as a foreign agent.”
In a possible reference to the U.N.’s failure to strongly condemn the government-backed violence against demonstrators in Iran, Pahlavi urged the international community to show solidarity, and to “provide the Iranian people with more than just verbal support.”
Pahlavi encouraged protestors to continue being resilient, and to sustain their movement for change.
“It may not succeed immediately, but it will not die because we will not let it die!” Pahlavi exclaimed. Later, when asked by a reporter for a prediction on how long the protests will last, Pahlavi responded by saying “the numbers will grow.”
Note: Pahlavi reminded the audience on more than one occasion that his public appearance did not signal a desire to return to politics in Iran. “The opposition is not about me,” he said. Pahlavi also divulged that he has spoken with military intelligence sources inside Iran who told him that the regime has enlisted members of Hamas to help quell some of the protests taking place in cities such as Tehran.
***CLICK ON THE AUDIO LINK BELOW TO LISTEN TO TALK RADIO NEWS SERVICE’S GEOFF HOLTZMAN INTERVIEW REZA PAHLAVI FOLLOWING HIS ADDRESS AT THE NATIONAL PRESS CLUB***
Speaking to a gathering at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former Shah of Iran, calls on free media from around the world to help shine a light on the revolt currently taking place in Iran. (:24)
