Hydrablog

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/world/middleeast/30iran.html
July 30, 2008
Iran’s Leader Blames U.S. and Its Allies for Global Ills
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS [Iran] [wmd] [and domestic politics shapes its foreign policy just as with any nation state] [intersection of Iran’s domestic politicis-cum foreign policy with America’s domestic politics-cum foreign policy] [not long ago Ahmadinejad was rubuked by mullahs for making religious remarks-predictions] [followup to recent external where Iran was said to be warming to diplomacy] [the question, as always, is which faction?] [brinkmanship again after brief thaw] [strike yesterday’s comments on Iran possibly extending olive branch] [********]
TEHRAN (AP) — Iran’s president on Tuesday blamed the United States and other “big powers” for global ills like nuclear proliferation and AIDS, and he accused them of exploiting the United Nations for their own gain and the developing world’s loss. [***]
But, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said, time was on the side of the poor countries.
“The big powers are going down,” he said at a meeting of foreign ministers of the Nonaligned Movement in Tehran. “They have come to the end of their power, and the world is on the verge of entering a new, promising era.”
The movement is made up of such diverse members as Cuba, Jamaica and India, and it depicts itself as independent. But most of the more than 100 member nations share a critical view of the United States and the developed world in general.
Iran assumed the chairmanship of the conference on Tuesday, and Mr. Ahmadinejad’s keynote speech was tailored to reflect the struggle against the world’s rich and powerful countries that some nonaligned members see themselves engaged in.
A draft of the final document that ministers will be asked to approve, made available to The Associated Press as the conference opened on Tuesday, reflected that struggle.
“The rich and powerful countries continue to exercise an inordinate influence in determining the nature and direction of international relations, including economic and trade relations, as well as rules governing these relations, many of which are at the expense of developing countries,” the draft said.
Iran has in the past counted on nonaligned nations to blunt pressure from the United States and its allies for harsh sanctions from the United Nations and other penalties imposed on Iraq because of its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment, which can produce both nuclear fuel and the fissile payload of warheads. Iran has faced three sets of United Nations sanctions because of its nuclear defiance; new penalties loom unless Tehran shows compromise.
While only infrequently mentioning the United States by name on Tuesday, Mr. Ahmadinejad made it clear that he blamed Washington and its allies for trying to “impose their political will on nations and governments.”
He accused the great powers of “fomenting discord” so they can feed their arms industries. [****]AIDS, he said, was also the result of world conditions “imposed by big powers.”
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company