Iran's president cancels U.N. appearance

NF Reporter · 03-23-2007, 06:50 PM

AP - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad canceled a trip to New York to address the U.N. Security Council before it votes on whether to impose further sanctions against his country for refusing to stop enriching uranium, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday.

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waltky · 08-18-2007, 08:07 PM

Ol' Camel-lips runnin' his mouth off again...

Iran: Israel Is "Standard Bearer Of Satan"
Aug. 18, 2007 - Iran's President Ahmadinejad Says The Jewish State Will Soon Fall Apart

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Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday that Israel was the standard bearer of Satan and the Jewish state would soon fall apart, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Saturday. The agency quoted Ahmadinejad as he spoke at a religious conference and did not elaborate on what he meant by Satan. Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, however, Iran has regularly referred to the United States as "the Great Satan."

"The Zionist regime is the standard bearer of invasion, occupation and Satan," he said, predicting Israel's eventual demise. "When the philosophy behind the establishment of a regime is in question, it is not unlikely that it will find itself on a course of decline and dissolution." Ahmadinejad has made anti-Israel comments in the past.

In October 2005, he caused outrage in the West when he said in a speech that Israel's "Zionist regime should be wiped off the map." His supporters have argued Ahmadinejad's words were mistranslated and should have been better translated as "vanish from the pages of time" — implying Israel would vanish on its own rather be destroyed.

Iran: Israel Is "Standard Bearer Of Satan", Iran's President Ahmadinejad Says The Jewish State Will Soon Fall Apart - CBS News

08-19-2007, 09:06 AM

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Originally Posted by NF Reporter

AP - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad canceled a trip to New York to address the U.N. Security Council before it votes on whether to impose further sanctions against his country for refusing to stop enriching uranium, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday.

Full Story...

He might have think it is a waste of time.

waltky · 10-24-2008, 05:50 PM

Mebbe he got the epizootics...

Ahmadinejad health rumours
24 Oct 2008 - Iran's hardline president is under mounting political pressure as plummeting oil prices damage the national economy and persistent reports suggest that he may be in poor health.

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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who achieved global fame by calling the Holocaust a "myth" and declaring that Israel should be "wiped from the pages of history", faces re-election in June. In the last week, however, the 52-year-old leader has missed a cabinet meeting and failed to deliver two official speeches. A string of broken appointments from earlier in the year has also come to light. Mr Ahmadinejad, who has a reputation for being a workaholic to the point of hyperactivity, may be suffering from the strains of office.

Rapid falls in the price of oil are adding to his woes. Iran produces about 4.2 million barrels of oil every day, making its economy and national finances largely dependent on the price of crude. Yesterday, oil was trading at about $66 per barrel – less than half the peak price of $145 recorded in July. Whenever the oil price falls by a dollar, Iran probably loses about $1 billion. The national coffers are being hit at exactly the time when Mr Ahmadinejad should be concentrating on securing another four-year term at the elections due in June.

But the president was widely unpopular even when oil prices were rising. Mr Ahmadinejad was accused of driving up inflation and damaging living standards by squandering the oil money on wasteful prestige projects. This alienated a large faction of hardline conservatives, who are determined to oppose Mr Ahmadinejad. Their group includes Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament, and Mohammed Baqer Qalibaf, the mayor of Tehran, who may have ambitions to contest next year's election. They might prefer Mr Ahmadinejad to stand aside and refrain from seeking another term. If so, ill health would give him a face-saving way out.

"They can't say officially that Mr Ahmadinejad is no good as president, so maybe this is a diplomatic solution to the problem," said Isa Saharkhiz, the editor-in-chief of Aftab, a reformist newspaper banned by the authorities. "Every day, a group of conservatives are thinking that he shouldn't stand for the next election. Some analysts believe this might solve the problem."

Iran's national budget for 2008 presumed an oil price of only $40 a barrel. In theory, this means that Tehran still has a cushion against the recent fall in prices. In practice, however, Mr Ahmadinejad has been so spendthrift that Iran needs oil to be much more expensive. The International Monetary Fund estimates that Tehran needs an oil price of $75 per barrel to avoid a large budget deficit.

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waltky · 10-27-2008, 03:04 AM

Granny says is Jesus chastizin' him for threatenin' the Jews...

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad admits exhaustion
27 Oct 2008 - Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said he is suffering from exhaustion, in a rare public disclosure apparently designed to combat rumors he is more seriously ill.

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"Thanks to God, I do not have an illness. Exhaustion is possible, but no illness," Mr Ahmadinejad said, in footage of an interview that was aired on state television on Sunday night. "Of course, we are also human beings, and sometimes we catch a cold," he said, adding that there was "no room" for illness in his administration. Earlier, Parliament member Mohammad Ismail Kowsari, an ally of the president, announced that Mr Ahmadinejad was feeling sick because of the strain of his job, according to the state-run news agency, IRNA. But he downplayed the seriousness of Mr Ahmadinejad's fatigue. "The president will eventually get better and continue working," he said. "Every human being can face exhaustion under such a workload."

Mr Ahmadinejad, who is known for working long hours and getting little sleep, has low blood pressure and has gone to the hospital occasionally to seek treatment, said Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi, the Iranian Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance. "Even if you are immortal, you will suffer from working so much. ... That is what has happened several times to Mr President over the last years. However, he is up and about and fresher than us right now," he said. Rumors that Mr Ahmadinejad was seriously ill have been popping up on some Iranian Web sites affiliated with the president's opponents for several months. One of his cleric supporters, Ayatollah Abolqasem Khazali, had even warned Mr Ahmadinejad that his work habits could lead to hospitalization.

But a flurry reports appeared after Mr Ahmadinejad, who will turn 53 on Monday, canceled a scheduled speech at a conference on Wednesday and did not attend a Cabinet meeting the same day. He did attend a religious ceremony on Saturday in Tehran, though he looked tired as he greeted supporters. Mr Kowsari has accused opponents of using Ahmadinejad's illness as an excuse to spread rumors casting doubt on whether he will run for a second term in the June 2009 presidential race. "Those who use such a natural issue for psychological warfare will fail" to gain support in public opinion, he said.

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