Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Legitimate Middle Eastern Leader Or Crazy Clown?
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It started with a man in a piebald clown’s wig throwing his clown’s nose at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It ended with a walkout of all E.U. delegates to the United Nations. The entire episode was hardly surprising.
Railing against the “misuse” of the Holocaust to allow Jews to occupy Palestine, the Iranian president sounded off some of his well-practiced anti–Zionist rhetoric.
He aired similar theories during his 2007 visit to Columbia University, claiming more “research” was needed to prove the Holocaust’s existence.
Observers wonder if the Iranian leader really believes what he says during his public appearances or if he is just a media slut who enjoys going viral. Iran expert and former interpreter for Ahmadinejad, Hooman Majd, unpacked the potentate’s rare world view when he spoke with Big Think.
Majd said “he understands politics very well and he understands that he is immensely popular in the Arab world for example. So his position on Israel is an interesting one…Does he believe that Israel should not exist? Of course, he believes that Israel should not exist. Does he believe that it should be physically demolished by nuclear weapons? No, he absolutely does not.”
Majd went on to say Ahmadinejad might even support some form of a joint Palestinian-Israeli settlement agreement.
Majd said “he understands politics very well and he understands that he is immensely popular in the Arab world for example. So his position on Israel is an interesting one…Does he believe that Israel should not exist? Of course, he believes that Israel should not exist. Does he believe that it should be physically demolished by nuclear weapons? No, he absolutely does not.”
Majd went on to say Ahmadinejad might even support some form of a joint Palestinian-Israeli settlement agreement.
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