Iran and Israel: Did Ahmadinejad write a cheque Iran can’t cash?

Don’t cry for me, O Khatami

Iran’s antipathy to Israel is nothing new, entrenched in the very core of Iranian political identity. But when newly elected conservative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeated the late Ayatollah Khomenei’s words this week that “Israel must be wiped off the map,” all hell broke loose. The comments were followed by a near unanimous rebuke by the United Nations amidst an Israeli outcry to ban them from the UN (unlikely for now).

Iran’s Foreign Ministry quickly denied that Iran was a threat to Israel (at least more than philosophically), though last week a Palestinian intelligence official uncovered a $10,000 bounty for Islamic Jihad if they launched rockets at Tel Aviv from the West Bank. “Mr. Ahmadinejad did not have any intention to speak in sharp terms and engage in a conflict,” said the Iranian embassy in Moscow, adding that Ahmadinejad “underlined the key position of Iran, based on the necessity to hold free elections on the occupied territories” (before the actual wiping occurs, apparently).

Iran’s previous leader, reformist Mohammad Khatami, had been careful to mention that Iran would back the Palestinians in whatever path they chose, implying an eventual acceptance of a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Iran, a signatory to the IAEA, has also been under considerable pressure not to pursue nuclear weapons. While Iranian media was defiant, Arab media was mixed, noting that Arab countries have agreed in principle to a two-state solution (but also noting that Israel had made 30 air raids on Gaza in the past week alone, with nary a UN mention). And of course, Palestine (you know, the ones that matter) called Ahmadinejad’s statements “unacceptable.”

Still, Iran held its annual Al-Quds Day where Ahmadinejad reiterated Iran’s desire to pursue nuclear energy (and uranium enrichment) amidst hundreds of thousands of supporters. But the ability of the remarks to unify countries around the world in backlash against Iran has America gloating. And with Iran’s foreign ministry capitulating to Iran’s obligations to the UN charter (to refrain from threatening other members), the comments (or clarifications) of Ahmadinejad will only increase scrutiny of a nascent nuclear programme, whether it is used for peaceful purposes or not.

Western observers are not lost on the obvious – that Iran may, in fact, never follow through on the threats that grease its political wheels due to its ever increasing requirements for economic and political stability. Twenty-five years after Iran’s Islamic revolution, the anti-Israel/US/Britain marches may draw the same defiant crowds, but the death chants are now ringing hollow. “In a strategic masterstroke our president has broken the unipolar new world order and created a bipolar world,” said a satirical piece posted on an Iranian Web site.”Now there’s Iran on one side and Europe, America, Asia, Africa and Oceania against us on the other.”

Zahed Amanullah is associate editor of altmuslim.com. He is based in London, England.