Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Or The “Ranting Loon” Administering Shocks To U.N. General Assembly’s Audience

The rather shocking remarks made by the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seem to never end. As usual, most of them come in his annual turnout in New York. The Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday that most people believe the U.S. orchestrated the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, thus practically making any diplomacy efforts undertaken by Obama administration seem useless.

In a statement that was immediately released by U.S., Mr. Ahmadinejad’s remarks were termed “as abhorrent and delusional”, yet “predictable”.

But as the White House and State Department officials stressed Thursday night, the Iranian President’s speech did not determine a break down in the future planned talks with Teheran over its nuclear program. Washington as well as the entire international community still wants to sit down and discuss the problems arising from Iran’s alleged desire to develop a nuclear weapon that would destroy and wipe Israel out of the world’s map.

According to the state department spokesman P.J. Crowley, “We didn’t offer engagement with Iran because we agree with what Ahmadinejad says. We have offered engagement with Iran because we think it’s in our national security interest.”

Obama’s annual address to the UN gathering seems to have proven quite efficient since it permitted Obama to freely promote his Mideast peace agenda. On Thursday, he insisted on the importance of an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, practically urging the two countries to reach to an agreement within the next year.

Mr. Obama called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend a construction freeze in the disputed West Bank that is set to expire this month. He said Israel’s building moratorium “has made a difference on the ground, and improved the atmosphere for talks.”

Yet, it looks like Israelis will have to find out all this information from other countries’ officials present in the gathering, as Israeli officials were absent from both speeches Thursday, celebrating a Jewish holiday.

In the same gathering, Obama insisted on the need of more support being given to the idea of an independent Palestinian state, support that should come from the other Arab states.

As shocking as this may prove to be to the United States, Mr. Ahmadinejad found an explanation for his remarks, saying that there were three theories about the 2001 attacks. The first, that terrorists penetrated U.S. intelligence and defenses. The second: “That some segments within the U.S. government orchestrated the attack to reverse the declining American economy and its grips on the Middle East in order also to save the Zionist regime. The majority of the American people as well as other nations and politicians agree with this view.”

When speaking about the “Zionist regime” it is a well known fact that the Iranian President is referring to Israel.

The Iranian President’s remarks were considered to be offensive by the U.S. delegation as well as by other allied nations, including the European Union, and as such both of these representatives decided to walk out and leave Ahmadinejad continue his shocking pleiad. Ahmadinejad went all the way in his speech and did not fail to mention the fact that the U.S. “”took advantage of the situation,” being created at that time.

“The fact that the U.S. and the Europeans walked out speaks for itself,” said Jonathan Peled, a spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

It has been frequently mentioned that the Iranian leader shouldn’t be allowed to speak before the U.N. General Assembly, because of his racist and anti-Semitic statements. The opinion seems to be embraced by Israel too, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry. Yet, it appears to be a quite normal attitude since Israel is being directly involved in the matter, being the very element stirring Ahmadinejad’s hate and destruction thoughts.

Bieng considered by many Americans to be a crazed dictator, the New York Post calling him a “ranting loon” during his 2008 UN visit, Ahmadinejad once more shocked his auditory.

Seeming not to care about the effect his speech had on U.S. officials, Ahmadinejad made a new statement on Friday, saying the following: “I do not wish to make any judgment at all myself.” He also claimed that at the basis of his earlier speech stood the fact that according to him, most New Yorkers believe that the attacks were part of a U.S. conspiracy to justify its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He also added: “Don’t you feel the time’s come to have a fact-finding committee, because hundreds of thousands of people have died as a result of that event?”

It is a well known thing that this year’s Ahmadinejad speech to the General Assembly has been much awaited, as it often comes as a surprise and as a contradiction in the various tones adopted. It is also due to the fact that the Iranian leader became famous for his rather infamous previous speeches before the body, speeches creating quite a stir.

After having accused the US of imposing “nuclear apartheid,” and after calling the U.S. “the enemies of humanity” promoters of “lewdness and violence”, he now had the guts to tell the Americans the so called theory of self-inflicted attack.

Rather contradictory if we were to think about his already expressed attitude of a person representing a country eager to begin negotiations. It remains unclear whether Iran is serious about engagement with the U.S. and most importantly if the country’s president is the right person to make the country’s political vision public.

His attitude triggered important reactions among Iranian opposition groups this week, as thousands of protesters gathered outside the U.N., his speeches as well as his attitude facing mounting criticism. In Iran, he faces hate coming from the reformers who believe he stole the last presidential election as well as suspicion coming from parts of the clerical establishment, who think he’s trying to increase his power at their expense.

Obama himself, when talking about 2009 Iran’s presidential election, mentioned the fact that the United States would have supported the results if the election had been conducted in a fair manner stating that “we will speak out forcefully when we see governments abusing and oppressing their own people.”

Obama’s attitude when it comes to Iran’s policy has become quite clear as he seems to be prepared for the worst, yet keeping his options open.

Yesterday’s interview to the BBC Persian service has made it clear that he seeks a diplomatic solution to the impasse created by Iran’s desire to develop nuclear weapons, as well as the fact that he doesn’t agree with and condemns the Iranian president. Obama also expressed his support to all the Iranians who didn’t approve Ahmadinejad’s alleged policy.

It is a well known thing that in trying to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, UN imposed a number of sanctions to Iran, sanctions which according to President Obama were not aimed at the Iranian people but came as a result of the failure of the Iranian government to comply with the U.S. demands. Calling Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ‘s remarks regarding the September 11, 2001 attacks, “offensive” and ”hateful”, Obama promised to reconsider the relations between the two countries if Iran decides to change its policy and comply with the U.S. demands.

So far, Iran seems to wish to return to the negotiating table, yet Ahmadinejad‘s speeches seem to transmit something else.

Can this lead to a military reaction on behalf of the United States? According to Obama, no, as he recently declared that he is interested in “in resolving issues diplomatically,” being interested in finding a peaceful solution to Iran’s nuclear challenge.

Doubting Obama’s words would mean to somehow agree with Ahmadinejad‘s words, and as such another contradiction makes its way when it comes to this matter.