"God willing, with the manifestation of Imam Mehdi, Ahmadinejad will also return and work for the establishment of pure Islam."You might remember that Hugo, when he was still alive, was a firm believer in the return of the Mahdi and Jesus, at least according to this chat.
"Using the Internet, I must say, is one of my hobbies regardless of whether I need it."
"Regarding reading, I must say I prefer reading academic papers rather than a novel. I prefer historical movies, but in general I like movies and I spend part of my free time watching films."
"Eight years of isolation is enough."
"All the people in our country, no matter which ethnicity or tribe they're from, should feel they're the citizens of one country and enjoy equal rights."
"We need moderation and rationality; we have to move away from extremism. Likewise regarding the issue of foreign policy -- we need to preserve the interests and national security of the country and we have to create the conditions for the necessary opportunities in the political, economic, cultural, and other spheres for our people."
"If we want to compete with countries like Turkey, Malaysia, and South Korea, we need to create a real revolution in our economy."
"There are a number of media in our country, but there is no variety. The press should work within the framework and shouldn't play with people's reputations."
"Our revolution was a revolution of light and morality, but today, where is morality in our society?"
"We have to give people a free hand; we shouldn't intervene so much in people's private lives and culture."
"In a government of 'Hope and Prudence,' men and women, boys and girls will feel free."
Women
“Discrimination against women will not be tolerated.”
Nuclear issue
“We will stand firm to get our nuclear rights recognised as we do for sanctions to be lifted. We need nuclear energy for the nation’s progress and my government will ensure this right is recognized at the lowest cost.”
Iran-U.S. relations
“The U.S. is a world reality which no one can ignore. It is a superpower and the world’s first economy, military and scientific power.”
“We will first convert existing hostile relations to a one-on-one relationship but with tensions, and in the second phase we will gradually decrease tensions. It is then that one can think of other phases in relations.”
The economy
“I have come forward to save Iran’s economy and forge a constructive interaction with the world through a government of wisdom and hope.”
“This administration (of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) made fun of sanctions, deriding them as scrap paper, while we could have avoided them or to some extent reduced them.”
Unemployment
“There are 3.5 million people unemployed in Iran, of whom 867,000 are university graduates. We have to concentrate on national production and technology development. We will invest in small businesses that do not require much capital.”
Political affiliation
“Personally, I believe that the majority of the people seek moderation and rationality. In all of my political career I have had very good relations with the moderates of both political factions, reformists and conservatives. I believe the majority of our society is comprised of moderates.”
" ....sacred land for us true Christians. Sacred land. [Unintelligible, there might have been an edit] Ahmadinejad... we were recalling here.. that one day- the Quran says- they will return. Christ holding hands with the 12th Imam- Mahdi- They will come together- Mahdi. And on that day there will be peace in the world. Now we must ask them...the Mahdi and Christ to hurry up.. that they come quickly.. that they hurry.. that they come quickly. How many dangers, my God, there are in this world. In this new world that is being born, that pushes, that is being born. In the end, I think that all of the fights.. of all times.. of all places.. are concentrated in the Gaza Strip.. today. And in Jordan [I think that's what he said].. today. There are concentrated all the fights.. of all places..of all centuries. We fight for Palestine. [because] It's fighting for Venezuela, it's fighting for Latin America, it's fighting for ourselves."
“It would have been sufficient to simply send a diplomatic message without getting involved in ideological issues” or “religious connotations,” Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami, Tehran’s Friday prayer leader, was quoted as saying. Ahmadinejad’s message was an “exaggeration,” he added. [snip]
Khatami criticized the president for carelessness, knowing that such a remark could provoke reactions within Iran’s religious institutions.However, that won't stop him from saying more stupid and provocative things.
"I have no doubt that he [Chavez] will return alongside Jesus Christ and the Mahdi [the Hidden Imam] to establish peace and justice in the world," Ahmadinejad wrote in an emotional condolence message posted on his personal website. The Mahdi is a revered figure among Shi'ite Muslims, many of whom believe he will return to save humanity.
"Hugo Chavez is a name known to all nations. His name is a reminder of cleanliness and kindness, bravery...dedication, and tireless efforts to serve the people, especially the poor and those scarred by colonialism and imperialism."
Aftab The Monkey: I Thank My Brother President Ahmadinejad – My Model In Carrying Out This Divine Mission
"After many efforts, and after bribing the zoo bouncer... our correspondent managed to interview the Iranian space monkey:
"Is your name Aftab ["sun" in Persian], and can we call you that?
"Aftab the monkey: I was sent into space from a street named The Glory of Islam, at a cost of three billion to man, bringing the blessing of peace to all space aficionados and to Iran, the breeder of martyrs, and also to the leader of the astronauts, the supporters of the space [program of] in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also to all the monkeys who were martyred on the path to the conquest of the heights of space. [This came] in advance of the 10 days of Fajr [Iranian Revolution Day celebrations] or what people call the 10 days of suffering... You may call me Aftab.
"What made you decide to become an astronaut?
"Aftab the monkey: Truly, we [monkeys] are mistaken in thinking that we want to, or like to, become astronauts and go into space. What does a monkey have to do with space? We belong in the treetops! But after being kidnapped by the sinful soldier brothers of the Imam Zaman [usually referring to the Mahdi; here it is apparently mocking Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei], I was transferred to Evin [Prison], where I spend six months in solitary confinement. After that [came] interrogation by the confession brothers, under the guidance of brother Hossein the interrogator, and I resisted. Ultimately, they brought in a large bear who called me a rabbit. I broke; I volunteered to become an Islamic astronaut in order to destroy the plundering Israel and the imperialist America. I only insisted that they present me as an astronaut who is a member of the Basij. They refused, and I don't know why.
"All in all, how long did it take you to become an astronaut?
"Aftab the monkey: If you count the time I spent in solitary [and in Evin] and in training, I managed to attain this great honor in under a year. Indeed, I [would like to give] special thanks to my brother Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of the state and the servant of Imam Zaman, who was my model in carrying out this divine mission."
"Via Chat, The Brothers Read Me Verses" Of The Ayatollahs – "And The Light Of Belief Again Shone In My Heart"
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| Iranian Space Monkey: The Washington Post |
Reports have emerged in recent weeks of shortages of some critical medicines for treatment of cancer, multiple sclerosis, blood disorders and other serious conditions.
Last month, Dastjerdi said only a quarter of the $2.4 billion earmarked for medicine imports had been provided in the current year and there was a shortage of foreign currency for the shipments.
"Medicine is more essential than bread. I have heard that luxury cars have been imported with subsidized dollars but I don't know what happened to the dollars that were supposed to be allocated for importing medicine," she said on state television.
"Although the president has the authority to sack the health minister, the move was not wise and doesn't have acceptable logic," the head of parliament's health committee, Hosseinali Shahriari, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.
"The dismissal of the health minister was caused by nothing but ... personal issues. I hope the president has the courage to explain why he made this change," Fars quoted Shahriari as saying.
In a short statement, he announced the interim appointment of Mohammad Hassan Tariqat Monfared as head of the ministry, replacing Dastjerdi.
"Noting your commitment and valuable experience and based on the ... constitution, I appoint you as the caretaker health minister," read the statement published widely across Iranian media.
Although the dateline for the news brief says that the reporting was done in Tehran by Fars, the first sentence is identical to the earlier Onion parody:
“According to the results of a Gallup poll released Monday, the overwhelming majority of rural white Americans said they would rather vote for Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than U.S. president Barack Obama.”
The second sentence of the Fars report, however, changed “have a beer with Ahmadinejad,” to “have a drink with Ahmadinejad,”[snip]
The final two sentences of the original Onion report, quoting a fictional voter in West Virginia who prefers Iran’s president, were published unchanged by Fars:
“He takes national defense seriously, and he’d never let some gay protesters tell him how to run his country like Obama does.” According to the same Gallup poll, 60 percent of rural whites said they at least respected that Ahmadinejad doesn’t try to hide the fact that he’s Muslim.
The only other difference between the two versions of the fake report is that The Onion used a more flattering photograph of Mr. Ahmadinejad, showing him with a broad smile.
"Western countries have designed plans to cause drought in certain areas of the world, including Iran. According to reports on climate, whose accuracy has been verified, European countries are using special equipment to force clouds to dump" their water on their continent, he said.
By doing so, "they prevent rain clouds from reaching regional countries, including Iran," Mr Ahmadinejad charged.
"droughts in some regions spanning from Turkey and Iran to east of Asia are predicted for the next 30 years. The regions (referred to in) the article ... include countries whose culture and civilisation frighten the West."
“I am suspicious about the drought in the southern part of the country. The world arrogance and colonist (term used by Iranian authorities to label the West) are influencing Iran’s climate conditions using technology... The drought is an acute issue and soft war is completely evident... This level of drought is not normal.”
The UK-based International Centre of Development Studies (ICD) warned of an environmental catastrophe that might hit the eastern and southern provinces of Iraq if Iran keeps on tampering with Iraq’s share of rivers that run through both countries.
The ICD report, obtained by Al Arabiya, stated that Iran stopped the flow of Alwand River, which runs from western Iran to eastern Iraq, for the past four years.
This caused the damage of around 10% of arable land and rendered the residents of several villages around the river homeless.
The production of several crops has also been greatly affected whether through quantity with a loss that amounted to 80% in some years or through quality that has witnessed a remarkable drop.
Iran, the report added, has also been pumping drainage water into several Iraqi rivers, which led to a rise in their salinity levels and in turn inflicted a substantial damage on marine life, basically demonstrated in the death of several fish species.
This also caused the migration of birds that lived in the area and the emergence of snakes which attack crops and kill livestock.
Iran has also diverted several tributaries of the Tigris River and built dams on others, which had a negative impact on the residents of provinces overlooking the river.
Like BBC Arabic and Al-Arabiyah, IRNA reported that Morsi’s spokesman said in a statement that the president-elect had not conducted any interview with Fars before or after his victory. IRNA also claimed that an audio file of the alleged interview made available by Fars on its website was not Morsi's voice at all.I'm not sure why they would bother lying about something like that, but it certainly proves one can not trust any news outlet.
Fars, meanwhile, refused to back down, linking on its website to the extensive coverage the story received in regional and international media.
The hard-line news agency also attacked IRNA, branding the state news agency as aligned with "antirevolutionary" media for trying to denounce the interview and its "key and valuable points."
In recent months, Fars articles have attacked Ahmadinejad's inner circle, which hard-liners describe as a deviant current in Iranian politics.
Not to be outdone, IRNA last week issued a list of what it called "continued gaffes by Fars," which it said can lead to "security misunderstandings" inside the Islamic republic.
The list includes a Fars story about a large joint military exercise by Iran, China, Russia, and Syria that was allegedly to include 90,000 troops and hundreds of ships, tanks, and warplanes. Syria and China later denied the report.
IRNA also accused Fars of having fabricated a 2011 interview with former International Atomic Energy Agency chief Muhammad ElBaradei. His office also denied the interview.
In February, Fars fabricated references to Iran's sensitive nuclear program in its coverage of Iranian film director Asghar Farhadi's acceptance speech at the Oscars.
Some Iranians refer to the agency as "False news" or "Farce news."
Meanwhile, in the United States, a reporter asked State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland for her reaction to the alleged interview. Washington is wary of Iranian influence in the Middle East and is working to ensure that the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty survives the political transition in Cairo.
"Well, obviously we look forward to talking to President-elect [Muhammad] Morsi and his whole government about Egypt's relationships in the neighborhood going forward [and] its upholding of all of its international obligations, including obligations vis-a-vis Iran," Nuland said. "But that said, I wouldn't believe everything that you read on Fars."
IRNA, it seems, has found a rare point of agreement with the U.S. government.
“The destruction of the Zionist regime does not necessitate making war,” he said in a speech during a tour of northeast Iran.
“If countries of the region cut ties with the Zionists and give them dirty looks, it will spell the end of this puppet regime,” said the hardline Iranian leader.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is fundamentally opposed to the atomic bomb and weapons of mass destruction.”This, from a man who claims there are no homosexuals or oppression of women in Iran, and that the Holocaust is a myth.
“Iran and Japan can exert a common effort to create a world without atomic weapons ... Difficult but humanitarian efforts will win in the end.”
“International trust-building and respecting regulations are important part of the world community which should be seriously pursued.”
