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The Independent on Sunday
Despite the welcome for their President's nuclear bragging and anti-Israel
rhetoric, many Iranians have private worries about the economy - and the
threat of war.
 Iran's turbulent
President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
was compared to Saddam Hussein yesterday by a senior Israeli figure as the
rhetoric and recriminations over the Iranian nuclear programme
surged ever higher.
On Friday Mr Ahmadinejad
said Israel was a
"rotten, dried tree" that would be annihilated by "one
storm", increasing fears over what Iran might do with the nuclear
weapons it is presumed to be seeking. Shimon Peres, the veteran Israeli
statesman, retorted that he sounded like Iraq's fallen despot, adding:
"Ahmadinejad will end up like Saddam
Hussein."
This followed moments of sheer surrealism earlier in the week, when the
President told a rapturous crowd in the eastern city of Mashhad that
Iranian scientists had successfully enriched uranium, despite the bullying of
Western powers. "Iran
is now a nuclear power," he said. Moments later, against the same
doves-of-peace backdrop, students danced with enormous plastic vials
representing enriched uranium.
The national pride that greeted Mr Ahmadinejad's announcement was heartfelt, and showed how
far many Iranians mistrust foreign powers. "We have to resist and
achieve things like this that are our legal right," said Kambiz Bayat, a former civil
servant. "Fortunately, we are used to hardship. In the [Iran-Iraq] war we
went through periods without anything. I have brought up my children to learn
they must be ready for such difficulties."
So is Iran
a nation of zealots, united behind its messianic President? Is George Bush
justified in contemplating the use of tactical nuclear weapons to eradicate
the threat from Tehran,
as the veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh
charged last week?
Many years and much technological development lie between enriching uranium
by 3.5 per cent for use in nuclear reactors, which is what Iran claims
to have done, and the 90 per cent enrichment needed for warheads. But the
more extravagant the Iranian President's language, the less doubt there
appears to be that his country will inevitably get nuclear weapons.
What may be less obvious is that as Mr Ahmadinejad is using the issue to overshadow his
unpopularity on other matters. Four months ago he was in crisis, reeling from
stinging attacks made by critics within and outside his regime. But as he
confronts the West with ever greater brio, his domestic opponents find it
harder to challenge him in public since to do so looks
unpatriotic and divisive.
Behind this façade of togetherness, however, the cracks are very real. The
firebrand President has already faced several revolts in a parliament
controlled by members of what should be his own faction. And the pragmatic
former president Akbar
Hashemi Rafsanjani, his defeated rival in the elections last year,
remains an influential opponent.
It is unclear where the true sentiments of other senior regime figures lie. On
Friday the head of the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog with
extensive powers, joined the chorus of officials attacking the US, calling
it a "decaying power". And the military, which is believed to
represent one of the President's power bases, has in recent weeks carried out
major manoeuvres in the Persian Gulf and announced
the development of new weapons systems.
But for all the public support of Iran's right to a nuclear programme, real doubts persist about the cost of it. The
Iranian new year dawned three weeks ago - and on the streets people are
worried what 1385 holds in store. "Will there be a war?" Iranians
frequently ask foreigners. In public, Western officials have dismissed talk
of military action, but speculation remains high.
Many people privately say the President should concentrate on the issues that
brought him to power, such as corruption, drug abuse and the economy.
"As far as finance is concerned, sanctions are already under way,"
said a foreign banker in Tehran.
"All the foreign banks now are too worried about the political situation
and have just stopped lending. That's having a really big impact on all the
major industrial projects that Iran is trying to carry
out."
"Mr Ahmadinejad
means well, but he's not experienced and this is just causing us
problems," said a taxi driver who served in the Revolutionary Guard
during the war with Iraq.
"It's getting very dangerous."
WHAT IRANIAN BLOGGERS SAY...
Iran's acquisition of a full nuclear cycle... is more significant than
qualifying for the World Cup... a memorable event in Iran's history
Sharare-ha va Shokufe-ha (Flames and Blossoms)
Iran's nuclear activities [are] just a cover up for continuing violation of
human rights, a means to limit freedom of speech and to suppress opposition
voices
Jomhur (Republic)
We congratulate Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei]
and Mr Ahmadinejad for
the success of Iranian scientists... and we all chant loudly: 'Down with
America!' and 'Long live Revolutionary Guards!'
Basiji-ye Tondro
(Extremist Militia)
Recent military exercises, combined with the 'good nuclear news', leave no
doubt about issues Iran has repeatedly denied in recent years
Hengameh Shahidi,
activist and journalist
[The quake-hit city of] Bam was supposed to be revived. For three years no
laughter has been heard in Bam. NO! We don't want nuclear energy!
Armanshahr (Dreamland)
Negotiating with the US...
is sheer stupidity
Morteza Shimiyayi
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