Iran Gives Ahmadinejad Hero's Welcome After UN Defiance

by Saloumeh Peyman

(IPS) TEHRAN -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is turning into a national hero and a symbol of defiance against the West in the face of possible UN sanctions.

Much of the adulation for "Engineer Chamran," as the president is popularly known, was on display when he returned to a hero's welcome in Tehran on the weekend after proclaiming Iran's "inalienable right" to produce nuclear fuel at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Germany, France and Britain, known as the EU-3, began drafting a resolution to get the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to refer the intransigence to the UN Security Council immediately after Ahmadinejad's speech at the General Assembly Saturday.

Hundreds of Iranian men, families in tow and the women doffing their veils in a departure from Islamic tradition, joined in welcoming Ahmadinejad, who won a landslide victory against wealthy reformists in the presidential elections in June.

Many older-generation Iranians said the welcome accorded to Ahmadinejad reminded them 60 years ago when another popular leader, Mohammed Mossadegh, returned home from the Hague after successfully defending Iran's national rights to its oil against British oil companies and Iranian elite.

On Monday, Ahmadinejad declared over state television that Iran was not worried about any reference by the IAEA to the Security Council. "They do what they have to do and we do what we have to do -- our position will remain unchanged," he declared.

"The people of Iran will insist on their rights and nothing is going to happen to them," he added.

A retired engineer, Hasan Daqiqi, told IPS: "Ahmadinejad is not doing anything special -- only what every single Iranian patriot would do."

"Do not ask my name, I am one of the millions of Iranian Muslim, secular nationalists from different walks of society, and President Ahmadinejad has just lifted our spirits -- we are proud of him," said an old man with a luxuriant white beard.

The homecoming celebrations continued through the weekend and merged into Sunday's commemoration of the birth of Mohammed Al Mahdi, the 12th and last Shiite imam.

On the other hand, the Iranian government is bracing for tough times days ahead.

"Europeans and the IAEA should look into Iran's nuclear case with logic and avoid language of threat and pressure which will bear no fruit," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said at a news conference Sunday.

"Our advice to the agency (IAEA) is to review Iran's case tomorrow, logically and realistically, to avoid making the case more complicated," Asefi said.

Asefi also said Iran would not hesitate to begin enriching uranium (another step toward making atomic bombs) if it disagreed with the IAEA's course of action.

Asefi won praise in Monday's Farsi-language press.

The Aftabyazd daily used Asefi's statement: "Sending Iran's dossier to the UNSC does not imply military assault on Iran," in a headline.

But Iran could be banking heavily on support from Asian and African countries as well as China and Russia in the Security Council, if sanctions were proposed.

In a commentary in the Sharq daily on Monday, Farzaneh Roostaee said: "The dispute on how to cope with Iran's nuclear case may extend to the next 2006 (UN General Assembly) as the U.S. has failed to woo Indian support against Iran."

The 35-nation IAEA, the UN's nuclear watchdog, could take as much as a week behind closed doors to decide how to handle Iran, which could eventually lead to punitive sanctions against Iran.

The weekend celebrations focused on the religious tone of Ahmadinejad's UN speeches and many said it would help the president mobilize the support that may be needed in the coming days in the event of international sanctions or a confrontation with the U.S.

At the celebrations, which included the singing of Shiite lyrics praising the 12 "immaculate imams," one panegyrist intoned: "Ahmadinejad is the only Shiite president to mention the holy name of the 12th Imam Mahdi from the UN podium. He, the president, has shaken the heart of America in the heart of America (UN headquarters)."

The 12th Mohammed Al Mahdi, a direct descendent of Prophet Mohammed, disappeared mysteriously 12 centuries ago, but Shiites believe he will return before the "day of judgment."

"Ahmadinejad has demonstrated to the world that Iran is powerful, a seeker of peace and a reformist," the panegyrist sang, and called for "more voices from Africa and Asia in the UNSC so that justice may prevail."