Iranian leader demands US apology

Iran's president has responded to an overture by the new US president by demanding an apology for past US "crimes" committed against Iran.

The US "stood against the Iranian people in the past 60 years", Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during an address in the western region of Khermenshah.

"Those who speak of change must apologise to the Iranian people and try to repair their past crimes," he said.

The US president has offered to extend a hand if Iran "unclenched its fist".

President Barack Obama discussed the possibility of a softening of US policy towards Iran in an interview recorded with a Saudi-owned Arabic TV network on Monday.

Mr Ahmadinejad will, as expected, stand for re-election in June, close aide Aliakbar Javanfekr told Reuters news agency on Wednesday.

Strong tirade

America's crimes against Iran, the Iranian leader said in his televised speech, included support for the Iranian coup of 1953 and backing for Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.

The Iranian president welcomed the possibility of US change, but said it should be "fundamental and effective" rather than just a change of tactics.

The remarks are the first Iranian comment on the US since Mr Obama took office eight days ago.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Tehran describes it as one of Mr Ahmadinejad's strongest tirades against the US.

Our correspondent says we may see twists and turns out of Iran as its leaders work out whether Mr Obama is offering real change and what they may offer in return.

While he was playing to the crowd, adds our correspondent, he could also be staking out his position ahead of Iran's presidential election in June.

Mr Ahmadinejad congratulated Mr Obama after his election in November but the message was criticised in Iran and received a cool response from Mr Obama.

'Hell' for Bush

Mr Ahmadinejad also attacked US support for Israel and its wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

He called on Mr Obama to withdraw US troops from their bases around the world and for America to "stop interfering in other people's affairs".

Referring to Mr Obama's predecessor, George W Bush, he said he trusted that he had "gone to hell".

Relations between Washington and Tehran reached new lows in recent years over attempts by the US and its allies in the United Nations to curtail Iran's nuclear programme over fears it is trying to build nuclear weapons.

Tehran says its programme is to develop civilian nuclear power only.

The new US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, said on Monday that she was looking forward to "vigorous diplomacy that includes direct diplomacy with Iran".

The US broke off diplomatic ties with Iran in 1979, after students stormed the US embassy in Tehran after the Islamist revolution overthrew the US-backed Shah.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7855444.stm

Published: 2009/01/28 16:52:03 GMT

© BBC MMIX

And this is related to a topic i will start tomorrow

Iran is in the unfortunate historical position of being an adversary to the reigning power. What's more they do actually seem to glory in it, they are as willing to tango as anybody. I think most would agree that Iran has it's own imperial ambitions, and as such they are bound to continue to be rivals to the US and other powers in their region. As in the other thread I don't understand what the value of a theatrical apology would be, especially since there is no question these two powers (US & Iran) will continue to clash.

Unlike a certain other side show Iran is a genuine opponent to US interests, and the US is a genuine opponent to Iranian ambitions.

No doubt.

Manny,

You are correct. As the saying goes "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" During the Iran Iraq conflict we backed Saddam, now Iran backs former mortal enemy Iraq by sending supplies and or turning a blind eye to travel there by others. If we played the game and they are playing the game, wheres the rub? A lot of people in the US and the world for that matter fail to grasp the actual running of Iran, what Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says and wants can easily overturned by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Do you remember when northern Iran was freezing last year and Ahmadinejad was fooling with the gas supplies, the Ayatollah spoke up and the problem dissapeared literally overnight.

Yeah, the mideasterners have a very peculiar structure , where the spiritual leaders yield much much influence (e.g. remember that Iraqi cleric , the bearded chubby one, he literally was a man to deal with )...
but while I was reading Chill's post , I coulnd t stop thinking that if the US was looking to stop an attack on the US by destroying the US's enemies weapons of mass destruction, these eniemies defined by dubya as Iran, Irak and Korea, how is it that the US attacked IRAQ and not the other two , who for sure one has nuclear weapons and the other most likely has too! How convenient to have chosen Irak !!

What the U.S. post about Iran can not verified as truth, the U.S. lies a lot.
You should know that, they lied into this war we are fighting now.
Countries do not want nuclear missiles because they hate the U.S., it’s because they fear the U.S.

By the way you know we gave the bomb to India, Pakistan and Israel. China did espionage to get nuclear secrets from the U.S.
But it’s Iran and North Korea we hate the most!!!!!!!

OIL. you know there is a interview where Bush talks about Invading Iraq even Before he is elected.

can some one find that ??????

For a US President to apologize would be a sign of weakness.

So no surprise that Obama already is apologizing. This Traitor will make Carter look like a Hawk.

It takes a strong man to apologize , not a weak one....

It is the true leaders who self analyze themselves and acknowledge their mistakes.... Read this and you'll see if the US is really appreciated in their invasion of the IRak.,..

Bush Legacy: Iraqi Orphans Help Build Shoe-Throwing Monument
By David Knowles
Jan 30th 2009 8:45AM
Filed Under:ePresident Bush, Bush Administration, Featured Stories, Iraq


Via CNN:


A huge sculpture of the footwear hurled at President Bush in December during a trip to Iraq has been unveiled in a ceremony at the Tikrit Orphanage complex.

Assisted by children at the home, sculptor Laith al-Amiri erected a brown replica of one of the shoes hurled at Bush and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki by journalist Muntadhir al-Zaidi during a press conference in Baghdad.


Still awaiting his trial, Al-Zaidi's protest and the sculpture it inspired have marked what could be seen as the perfect symbolic closure to the United States' invasion of Iraq. What began with the toppling of an enormous likeness of Saddam Hussein--and its subsequent shoe drubbing--ended with a sculpture of the shoe aimed at the head of the man who largely responsible for leveling Hussein's bronze.


A Journalist's OutburstEvan Vucci, AP8 photos Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi hurls a shoe at President George W. Bush during a news conference Dec. 14 in Baghdad. He has been in custody since then, and a lawyer who claims to represent al-Zeidi said Monday the reporter will seek political asylum in Switzerland because "he is in danger" in Iraq.(Note: Please disable your pop-up blocker)



But why are these Iraqis so ungrateful to our former president given that the tyrant who led them, Saddam Hussein, has been deposed and executed? Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that 5.1 million Iraqis were displaced by the war and the sectarian violence that ensued. According to the International Organization for Migration, that figure represents the largest human relocation in modern times.

Consider, too, the mind-boggling number of orphans caused by the war. The Iraqi Government estimates that the conflict has left 5 million children without parents.

Given these hard realities, perhaps a shoe-sculpture can be viewed as a civilized reaction to the legacy of Mr. Bush.


http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2009/01/30/bush-legacy-iraqi-orphans-help-build-shoe-throwing-monument/