[New York Observer] Hooman Majd - What were not covered by the media were Ahmadinejad's last two appearances in New York, the first before some 50 at a private meeting, and second, a group of 500 at a dinner. Ahmadinejad said the situation between America and Iran is better than last year. "Last year we were under serious threats - military threats. Today, at the very worst, it's economic threats....Even though there are those in America who would like to put pressure on Iran, they won't be able to. We've really progressed. You see, 118 countries [of the Non-Aligned Movement] have specifically supported Iran's nuclear program. That's eliminated the excuse that four or five countries speak for the 'international community.'" "Our political situation, by God's grace, is great. For those who don't want our people to progress, the situation is not good. In the Middle East, the situation for America has become very bad." "They gave 33 days to the Zionists to do something in Lebanon, and it didn't happen. Same thing in Iraq; same thing in Afghanistan. It's not that our situation has gotten worse in the last year; it's that it's gotten much better." "Two thousand Zionists want to rule the world. You can do it elsewhere," he said, as if speaking directly to the mysterious 2,000, "but not in Iran." The dinner was for 500 fiercely nationalistic Iranians who greeted their president with prolonged applause. The national anthem played loudly over the speaker system, and to anyone who harbors suspicions that 2006 Iran is reminiscent of 1936 Germany, this event would have appeared to have some of the trappings of a Bund rally in 1930s New York.
2006-09-29 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive