Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Iran reformist leader says attack unwise

The politician says military strikes would set back democracy a decade or more in Iran.

TEHRAN, Iran - One of Iran's top reform politicians said Wednesday that demonizing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - such as in this week's Columbia University forum - only strengthens hard-liners' hand as Iranians rally around their otherwise unpopular leader.

Even more damaging would be a military strike against Iran, which Mohsen Mirdamadi said would set back democracy a decade or more.

Mirdamadi leads Iran's largest pro-reform party, which has been working to make a comeback after being forced from power by hard-liners like Ahmadinejad who are close to the country's Islamic clerical leadership.

He told the Associated Press that Ahmadinejad should have little chance of re-election in two years because of increasing criticism that he has failed to fix the economy and has hurt Iran on the world stage.

But sharp criticism of the hard-line leader this week in New York - including during his appearance at Columbia - boosts his popularity, Mirdamadi said in an exclusive interview.

"The remarks by the Columbia University president were like an indictment against the Iranian president. Ahmadinejad's opponents don't support this," he said.

"The blistering speech against Ahmadinejad only strengthened him back home and made his radical supporters more determined," Mirdamadi said.

Columbia University President Lee Bollinger gave a tough introduction to Ahmadinejad on Monday, including telling him that he resembles a "petty and cruel dictator."

Many Iranians found the comments insulting, particularly because in Iranian traditions of hospitality, a host should be polite to a guest, no matter what he thinks of him. To many, Ahmadinejad looked like the victim, and hard-liners praised the president's calm demeanor during the event, saying Bollinger was spouting a "Zionist" line.

Fears are high in Iran that the United States or Israel will carry out a military strike on the country, which Iranian leaders have warned would spark retaliation against Israel and U.S. bases in the region.

Mirdamadi said Western powers have to stop any talk of war if they want democracy to succeed in Iran. The threat of an attack "helps Ahmadinejad's political agenda," he said.

"Any U.S. military action against Iran will only boost radicals within Iran. ... Military action will set back democracy in Iran for a decade or two," Mirdamadi warned.

Mirdamadi, leader of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, was a top lawmaker among the democracy activists who held a majority in Parliament under Ahmadinejad's predecessor, pro-reform President Mohammad Khatami, from 1997 to 2005.

FAST FACTS

Bush pushes for Iran U.N. sanctions

The Bush administration moved Wednesday to cement international support for new U.N. sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programs and rebuked Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for declaring the issue "closed." A day after a defiant Ahmadinejad told the United Nations General Assembly that his country would defy further U.N. Security Council efforts to impose additional penalties, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her top aides sought to marshal consensus on the move. "I am sorry to tell President Ahmadinejad that the case is not closed," said Nicholas Burns, the State Department's No. 3 diplomat.

[Last modified September 27, 2007, 00:33:08]