ABUSE in another form!

Unacceptable words from Iran
It is difficult to say which is worse
about Iran right now.
The disturbing and unacceptable
statement by new populist
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
that Israel should be
``wiped off the map''
deserves strong rejection and
condemnation from every civilised country
and leader.
At the same time, however, Teheran
under its new regime seems determined
to isolate itself. The government is jerking
back even the small steps of tolerance
recently gained by Iranians, while
simultaneously embarking on a foreign
policy certain to raise tensions at a time
the world suspects Iran is building
nuclear weapons.
The weekend statement by the Iranian
Foreign Ministry that the country has
no intention of attacking Israel is
welcome, but Mr Ahmadinejad must
account for his inflammatory remarks.
He was the first national leader of this
generation to use such words. Even
the most hysterical rhetoric by the
most radical leaders during the Cold
War years never proposed wiping out
a country.
Mr Ahmadinejad is a president now,
not just another rabble-rousing politician.
His statement that any country
which recognises Israel supports the
surrender of the Muslim world is
hateful, unacceptable and dangerous.
The Thai Foreign Ministry has the
duty to talk to, or even to summon
the Iranian ambassador to this country
and determine from him just what this
new Teheran policy means. Thailand is
a nation with long and rather friendly
relations with Israel, even as it supports
a homeland for the Palestinians with
peace in the entire Middle East. Does
the Iranian president consider that
Thailand is somehow an enemy to
Muslims?
Thai people have the right to know, as
do the citizens of the many countries
which recognise Israel _ many of them
strategic Muslim nations such as Egypt
and Jordan.Outrage against the call for
the extinction of Israel rose quickly
around the world because of the way
the Iranian leader linked it to other
countries. The new president must be
called to explain what he means. Iran
cannot be allowed to throw out cavalier
insinuations about, say, Thai relations
with Israel. These cover a wide
range _ diplomatic, trade and cultural
among others. If Mr Ahmadinejad
repeats or defends his remarks, Thailand
must consider its next step.
The remarks about Israel also raise
strong questions about other Iranian
policies. President Ahmadinejad,
elected largely because of a protest vote
against the establishment of political
clerics, has radical views on many
subjects. In the past couple of weeks,
his government has banned all foreign
films _ ironic, given the praise for Iranian
films in many places including Bangkok
film festivals. New and renewed censorship
policies have begun new crackdowns on
feminists, Western clothing, satellite
TVs and many other societal niches.
All of these petty attempts to return Iran
to the bad old 1980s of the Islamic revolution
are doomed to partial, if not complete,
failure. But placed against a menacing,
hardline foreign policy, these and the
call to exterminate Israel must worry
the world. No country publicly believes
Iranian statements that the country is
developing peaceful nuclear energy,
not weapons. On the United Nations
watchdog (and Nobel Peace Prize winning)
board of the International Atomic Energy
Agency, only Venezuela has voted to
support Iran for its excessive, unnecessary
and illegal secrecy. A self-isolated, bellicose
Iran with nuclear weapons is not a
pleasant image to consider. In a way,
however, Mr Ahmadinejad has done
everyone a favour by making his
government's policies so stark and
shocking. Iran's constant support for
war over peace in the Mideast has been
long overlooked. The Syrian support for
assassination in Lebanon is more crucial
because of Iranian backing for
Lebanon's extremist Hizbollah group.
The president has close ties to groups
which maintain their so-called fatwa
and death sentence on British author
Salman Rushdie. All of this, along with
harassment of progressive Iranian
citizens, is laid beside Iran's opaque
nuclear policy, bellicose Mideast
actions and, now, a call for the
annihilation of a nation and its citizens.
President Ahmadinejad should retract
his statement, admit he made a terrible
error of judgment and pledge to
cooperate with the world community
of nations.

President Ahmadinejad you have
only manage to increase my
distrust of your religion.