Word: ahmadinejad
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...Ahmadinejad came out swinging in his 10-minute opening statement, charging that his government had been the target of unprecedented slander, not only from Moussavi, but also from previous Presidents such as Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami. These men, said Ahmadinejad, had led Iran away from the path of the 1979 Islamic revolution, and were part of a current "that saw itself as the owner of the nation, of the revolution, rulers of the people." (See pictures of the long shadow of Ayatullah Khomeini...
...subdued, said he had decided to run because he felt Iran was in great danger. The country could be managed in two different ways, he argued: by adventurism, instability, grandstanding, heroic sloganeering, illusions, superficiality and a disregard for law; or by the way of rationality and expertise. He accused Ahmadinejad of creating a culture of dictatorship, in which Iranians were becoming desensitized to violations of the law by those in power...
...That attack prompted Ahmadinejad to break a taboo by accusing high-ranking officials - by name - of using their power to enrich themselves. "What do the sons of Mr. Hashemi do in this country? Which one of my ministers has become a billionaire, or taken rents or usurped properties...
...Moussavi also accused Ahmadinejad of making the country less secure by constantly raising the issue of the Holocaust. "AIPAC [the America Israel Public Affairs Committee], the biggest Zionist institution in the U.S., sees this policy as a blessing for itself," he argued. "We have to have a more pragmatic policy. For four years now, we hear that America is about to collapse ... If that is so, why has it been requested of Obama's Administration - through the Swiss - to talk to your government before the elections...
...Ahmadinejad insisted he was the first President since the revolution to have secured Iran against U.S. intervention. "For 27 years during your reign [Moussavi was Prime Minister from 1981 to 1989] and those of Mr. Hashemi and Mr. Khatami, the U.S. was seeking to topple the Islamic Republic. Today the U.S. has declared officially that it is not seeking to overthrow us," the President said. (See the photo-essay "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Iranian Paradox...