Manhattan Got It Wrong

New Yorkers forgot about democracy while talking about the president of Iran.

Yesterday, New York was raging furiously. The reason for the demonstration was not the 67th regular session of the UN General Assembly, which gathered more than 120 leaders of states and governments, but the public appearance of Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Due to guest status of the United Nations Organization, the Iranian leader gets to make his way into the city that “never sleeps” once a year. R.G.’s correspondent found himself in the middle of an anti-Iranian rally taking place in the immediate proximity of the hotel in which the Iranian leader was residing.

Only three streets away from the Ahmadinejad suite, practically on Times Square, in the bright lights of hundreds of enormous ads and the background of breathtaking skyscrapers, a huge poster is taking up an honorable place: “Ahmadinejad Out of New York.” And one hundred meters away from the hotel of the Iranian president, the crowd was yelling far less diplomatic slogans. Three policemen were quietly observing the event. And the demonstrators, even though they behaved in a pronouncedly aggressive way, didn’t even attempt to overcome slight barriers, restricting themselves to several dozens of meters of sidewalk given to them by the New York authorities. In other words, it was democracy in action. However, from my communication with the protesters, it became obvious that democracy was completely forgotten when the Iranian president was being brought up.

“Is he really such a horrible dictator? Do you know that back home he is actually supported by the majority of the Iranian population?” I asked the protesters. “It’s all the Iranian propaganda. Don’t believe it. Over there, they all lie,” someone from the crowd answered me nearly shouting. “But he is a president of a sovereign country. How about respecting the outcome of the elections?” I continued causing fire toward myself. “And are you from Iran?” they asked me. “Maybe you are from his team?” “No, I am from Russia,” I parried. “Well, it’s all clear now. After all, you’re in on it with them,” my company said suddenly and bluntly.

It was useless to continue the dialogue: I was already reckoned among the enemies of “the democratic world.” I stepped aside and began to take photos of the protest. Another procession passed by. Because of the tinted windows, it wasn’t visible who was in the limousine. Nevertheless, the protesters began to prove even louder, first to themselves, that there can be no opinion different from theirs about Ahmadinejad.

Without a doubt, that was the last visit to New York for the president of Iran, the last opportunity to feel himself “blocked” in the American eyes. In June 2013, presidential elections will be held in Iran. Ahmadinejad won’t participate in them: According to the Iranian constitution, he can’t be reelected for the third term. That means that in the fall of next year, a different Iranian leader will attend the 68th session of UN General Assembly.

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad continues to use the American mass media to the maximum, surpassing the American president Barack Obama by being the most quoted person in America. Last year during the 66th session, he easily succeeded. What will happen this time?

For instance, a local “top” news group got an interview [with him] yesterday, which the president of Iran gave to the Washington Post. He announced that Iran is ready to reach an agreement with the West and restrict the amount of their enriched uranium. “We have always been ready, and we are ready. We have given many sound proposals as well,” explained Ahmadinejad. “Do you really believe that this is the root of the issue? That we have some tonnage of 3 plus percent enriched uranium? What assurances or guarantees exist that if we go through this phase, there won’t be additional obstacles?”

And really, most likely there will be. On the eve of the elections. the president of the U.S. should listen to the opinion of the voters. And on the streets of New York, they give precise instructions to the leader of the White House.