[New York Daily News] Abbas William Samii - Ahmadinejad is pursuing what for him and Iran is sound and perfectly strategic policy. His rhetoric only echoes the opinion of the founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and the sentiments of Iran's current supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. As a Shiite and mostly Persian state in a majority Sunni and Arab Middle East - with grand ambitions to lead the region - Iran must work hard to position itself as Palestine's greatest defender and supporter. In addition, by portraying itself as the victim of Great Powers that are trying to restrict the progress of developing countries generally and the Muslim world specifically, Iran earns points in the developing world, whose populations admire his anti-Western bravado. The writer is a regional analyst at the Center for Naval Analyses.
2006-12-15 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive