BY ICEJ NEWS—
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave an interview on state TV Tuesday, dismissing recent street protests against his regime which resulted in two deaths and dozens of injuries, saying they are “going nowhere.”
“It is clear the Iranian nation has enemies because it is a nation that wants to shine, conquer peaks and change relations,” Ahmadinejad declared, while admitting that “there is a lot of hostility against the government,” but that Iran “is a shining sun. They threw some dust towards the sun… but the dust will return to their eyes.”
US President Barack Obama commended the protesters and expressed disgust at the brutal security crackdown at a White House press conference on Tuesday.
“My hope and expectation is that we’re going to continue to see the people of Iran have the courage to be able to express their yearning for greater freedoms and a more representative government,” Obama said. “I find it ironic that you’ve got the Iranian regime pretending to celebrate what happened in Egypt when, in fact, they have acted in direct contrast to what happened in Egypt by gunning down and beating people who were trying to express themselves peacefully in Iran.”
The comments were in marked contrast to Obama’s lukewarm support for opposition activists following fraudulent presidential elections in June 2009 which gave Ahmadinejad a second term.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi posted a statement on his website Wednesday, saying that he was not afraid of calls by political allies of Ahmadinejad to put him and other reform leaders to death and that he is willing to “pay any price” to bring social and political changes to Iran.
Elsewhere, protests continued in the Persian Gulf island nation of Bahrain, where two people have been killed in violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa made a rare appearance on national television appealing for calm, promising reforms and offering condolences to the families of the dead and injured.
Street protests continued Wednesday in several other Arab countries, with members of Islamist parties playing a prominent part in the demonstrations.
