Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attacks US for Afghan 'double game', Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attacks US for Afghan 'double game'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has accused the US of playing a "double game" in Afghanistan after the US used the same term to condemn Iran's role.

Mr Ahmadinejad said the US had "created terrorists and now say they are fighting them", as he appeared with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who is also in Kabul, has accused Iran of giving the Taliban low-level support.

Later, Mr Karzai flew to Pakistan for talks with another key neighbour.

This is Mr Ahmadinejad's first visit to Afghanistan since both he and Mr Karzai were re-elected last year.

At a joint press conference with Mr Karzai, Mr Ahmadinejad rejected the presence of foreign military forces "as a solution for peace in Afghanistan".

He said: "Our policy is full support for the Afghan people and Afghan government and reconstruction of Afghanistan."

Mr Gates, who is in Afghanistan to review the progress of the current Western troop surge against the Taliban, had earlier accused Tehran of "playing a double game" of offering friendship to the Afghan government while at the same time giving "low-level support" and money to the Taliban.

The Taliban are Sunni Muslims and sworn enemies of Shia Iran, which has growing interests and influence, particularly in western parts of Afghanistan.

Mr Ahmadinejad said it was the US that was playing the "double game".

"They themselves created terrorists and now they're saying that they are fighting terrorists," he said.

Mr Ahmadinejad criticised the US for its troops' presence, saying: "Your country is located on the other side of the world, so what are you doing here?"

http://newageislam.com/mahmoud-ahmadinejad-attacks-us-for-afghan--double-game-/islamic-world-news/d/2560

The Real Struggle in Iran and Implications for U.S. Dialogue, Islam and the West, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and the West

The Real Struggle in Iran and Implications for U.S. Dialogue

The Struggle Within the Regime

By George Friedman

June 29, 2009

The key to understanding the situation in Iran is realizing that the past weeks have seen not an uprising against the regime, but a struggle within the regime. Ahmadinejad is not part of the establishment, but rather has been struggling against it, accusing it of having betrayed the principles of the Islamic Revolution. The post-election unrest in Iran therefore was not a matter of a repressive regime suppressing liberals (as in Prague in 1989), but a struggle between two Islamist factions that are each committed to the regime, but opposed to each other.

The demonstrators certainly included Western-style liberalizing elements, but they also included adherents of senior clerics who wanted to block Ahmadinejad’s re-election. And while Ahmadinejad undoubtedly committed electoral fraud to bulk up his numbers, his ability to commit unlimited fraud was blocked, because very powerful people looking for a chance to bring him down were arrayed against him.

The situation is even more complex because it is not simply a fight between Ahmadinejad and the clerics, but also a fight among the clerical elite regarding perks and privileges — and Ahmadinejad is himself being used within this infighting. The Iranian president’s populism suits the interests of clerics who oppose Rafsanjani; Ahmadinejad is their battering ram. But as Ahmadinejad increases his power, he could turn on his patrons very quickly. In short, the political situation in Iran is extremely volatile, just not for the reason that the media portrayed.

http://newageislam.com/the-real-struggle-in-iran-and-implications-for-u.s.-dialogue---/islam-and-the-west/d/1511

The rise (and fall?) of petro-states, Islam and Politics, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and Politics

The rise (and fall?) of petro-states

By Sreeram Chaulia

The Kremlin’s assertiveness and strident defence of national interests in the Putin era is ascribed to the boom in world prices of natural gas and oil, which Russia exports in abundance. Russia reaped direct dividends of the steep incline in fossil fuel prices by accumulating foreign exchange reserves to the tune of $560 billion by mid-2008. Indirectly, possession of the much-coveted strategic minerals enabled Russia to neutralise energy-hungry western European countries, particularly Germany, so that the ‘West’ was divided from taking an anti-Moscow foreign policy line.

Ever since fossil fuel prices inflated from 2004, the Middle East, Latin America and Africa saw their own versions of petro-states that turned into major regional powers to threaten American hegemony. Thanks to steady increases in the price of oil, Iran’s star rose astronomically in the most volatile area of the world. As the second largest producer of oil and natural gas, Iran could build its own web of alliances in Europe and the rest of Asia to counter the impending American and Israeli threats to its territorial integrity.

Flush with petro-dollars, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad matched American and Israeli belligerence with a scaled-up defiance that brought back memories of the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The thawing of revolutionary anti-Americanism of the late 1990s when moderate Presidents like Mohammad Khatami were in power also coincided with artificially depressed world oil prices. When crude sold for less than $25 a barrel, Tehran had a scantier resource base on which to strengthen its military and diplomatic fortifications. By the time it peaked to $145 a barrel, Mr. Ahmadinejad could afford to be as hawkish as the Ayatollahs who supervise him.

http://newageislam.com/the-rise-(and-fall?)-of-petro-states--/islam-and-politics/d/942

USA, Israel Attacking Iran? It will not happen, Islam and the West, NewAgeISlam.com

Islam and the West

USA, Israel Attacking Iran? It will not happen

By Uri Avnery

There is talk about a "sterile", a "surgical" air strike. The mighty air fleet of the United States will take off from the aircraft carriers already stationed in the Persian Gulf and the American air bases dispersed throughout the region and bomb all the nuclear sites of Iran - and on this happy occasion also bomb government institutions, army installations, industrial centers and anything else they might fancy. They will use bombs that can penetrate deep into the ground.

Simple, quick and elegant - one blow and bye-bye Iran, bye-bye ayatollahs, bye-bye Ahmadinejad.

If Israel attacks alone, the blow will be more modest. The most the attackers can hope for is the destruction of the main nuclear sites and a safe return.

I have a modest request: before you start, please look at the map once more, at the Strait named (probably) after the god of Zarathustra.

THE INEVITABLE reaction to the bombing of Iran will be the blocking of this Strait. That should have been self-evident even without the explicit declaration by one of Iran's highest ranking generals a few days ago.

Iran dominates the whole length of the Strait. They can seal it hermetically with their missiles and artillery, both land based and naval.

http://newageislam.com/usa,-israel-attacking-iran?-it-will-not-happen/islam-and-the-west/d/208