"Thanks to the blood of the martyrs, a new Islamic revolution has arisen and the Islamic revolution of 1384 (the current Iranian year) will, if God wills, cut off the roots of injustice in the world," he said. "The wave of the Islamic revolution will soon reach the entire world."
Iran's 'worldwide revolution'
From Ramita Navai in Tehran
01jul05
thecouriermail.news.com.au
IRAN'S ultra-conservative President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has thrown down a challenge to the West by declaring that his election victory marked the dawn of a new Islamic revolution that would spread around the world.
"Thanks to the blood of the martyrs, a new Islamic revolution has arisen and the Islamic revolution of 1384 (the current Iranian year) will, if God wills, cut off the roots of injustice in the world," he said. "The wave of the Islamic revolution will soon reach the entire world."
His fiery language shows he has not lost the revolutionary ardour that propelled him into politics as a young Basij Islamic militia volunteer who fought in the Iran-Iraq war.
It is also reminiscent of the rhetoric of Ayatollah Khomeini, the architect of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and is likely to sound alarm bells in the West, amid fears that his victory could signal a return to post-revolutionary fundamentalism.
Although Mr Ahmadinejad has tempered his tone since his landslide win over moderate cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, he has a reputation for defiant outbursts extolling Islamic values.
But analysts say he is stepping outside the confines of his role as President, as such rhetoric is the privilege of Iran's spiritual Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.
As mayor of Tehran, he was reprimanded by the Supreme Leader for a similar speech.
"He needs to be put in check by the Supreme Leader who will make it quite clear to him that, if anyone's going to talk about exporting Islam, it's the Supreme Leader and not the President," a veteran political analyst said. "This kind of talk won't last long as it contradicts the outlines of Iran's foreign policy."
Mr Ahmadinejad's speech is also a nod to his supporters and aides - a militant breed of young ideological conservatives whose revolutionary fervour has not been dampened by eight years of reform. Many of them are followers of Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi, a controversial firebrand cleric whose revolutionary zeal caused even Ayatollah Khomeini to sideline him from politics.
Mr Ahmadinejad's win has given the ideological Right renewed confidence and, most importantly, absolute power. Hardliners who support the Supreme Leader already control parliament, the judiciary, the army and a powerful constitutional watchdog. Analysts fear that Iran is now a step closer to a dictatorship.
With excellent revolutionary credentials, an image as a champion of the poor and an ardent defender of Islamic values, Mr Ahmadinejad's supporters are looking to him to revive the waning zeal of the revolution that overthrew the Shah.
While Tehran's mayor, Mr Ahmadinejad regularly banned concerts, closed fast-food restaurants and cultural centres and made municipal workers grow beards and wear long sleeves in an effort to preserve Islamic values and fight corrupting Western influences.
Amid escalating tension over Iran's nuclear program, he said on Sunday that Iran had no need for ties with the US. |
