This is a translation of today's blog post on a Persian blog called Bluefuture. I do not know the author's real name (the posts are by "Noorinia") or location, but I do know this is a popular blogger who has been at this for a long time.

It is intolerable to me to listen to Ahmadinejad's speeches and interviews. The content of his remarks, his way of speaking, his movements and pauses, his ridiculing, his denials and even his face have no appeal. For this reason I usually listen to narratives or read about it in the press. However the night before last I head his latest interview on France 2. In just that few minutes he made three claims which must also have seemed strange to informed French journalists.

First, when a journalist asked about student opposition to him he said: Who said that? Out of 2000 students, 1900 of them were my supporters and there were 100 opponents making a fuss in the hall, which is a sign of freedom.

Ahmadinejad probably does not know or has forgotten that the day before his arrival the students at Amir Kabir University protested his presence, and fearing a spread of the student protest riot police lined up in front of the university. On the day of his speech they brought his supporters from other universities and tried to fill the hall with them. Of course they were not entirely successful and that small group who had imposed themselves on the event organizers showed Ahmadinejad's place at the university and among the students. The French journalist knew this very well and his denial does not change anything.

Second, when a journalist asked about his defeat in the city council elections he said: I do not have a political party when I run in elections. The journalist was chivalrous and did not challenge him about this. Everyone knows the Rayeheh-ye Khosh Khedmat [scent of service] Coalition is his political party, although he is not an official member [for more on this see today's International Affairs Forum Interview with Meir Javedanfar].

However after his election his father-in-law said Ahmadinejad
opposed the revolution with the Principled Party [osulgarayan]
(of course I do not consider this the appropriate word for them) and
believed that the candidates who supported him would win (the image
and understanding he has of the province trips have disrupted his
calculations). We and the French journalists knew this very well and
his denial changes nothing.

Third, when a journalist asked him about his own the failure to observe official presidential positions such as standards of attire he said: For minimum freedom I must choose my own clothing. He then continued: If I wore American clothing everything would be lost. We must be ourselves.

On what basis does he consider trousers to be American? If this
were so--and of course it is not--is it only the coat that is
American, while the trousers he wears are not? When he dresses does
he become American? Wouldn't this be the funniest and most surprising
answer for a French listener?

At the end of the interview I was reminded of a poem by the wise man of Iran [Ferdawsi]:

It was not a Turk, a villager or an Arab

These words were about performance

Crossposted from Satellite News