The Islamic Awakening Will Echo in New York

Every year on the third Tuesday in September, Manhattan — right in the heart of New York City, alongside the East River — is the host of the world’s top leaders of at least 130 countries. They get together to express the viewpoints and opinions of their nations on global and regional issues.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been playing an active role in the UN General Assembly every year. However, his attendance was always accompanied by some controversies from the enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Part of Ahmadinejad’s challenging plans in his trips to the United States included his speech in Columbia University, a proposal for a TV debate with the U.S. President, having special interviews with the Western media, etc.

Ahmadinejad’s active attendance in the United Nations Annual Assembly has always hit the headlines. In the past four years, he succeeded in attracting the global community’s attention to the standpoints of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Above all, he has established the foundation of a new revisionist dialogue on the issue of global justice in international relations.

According to Resalat journalists, in September, some Iranian officials would like to advance the outdated plan of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. They believe that right now the United States is at a very weak political position in the region, and that may be the best time for Ahmadinejad to make a new diplomatic move by proposing a new round of negotiations to persuade the United States to lift part of its sanctions against Iran.

On the other hand, three years ago, after Obama came to power, Ayatollah Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, discussed the issue of U.S.-Iranian relations and said: “The Americans say that they have extended the hand of friendship toward Iran, but we believe that the United States has already hidden a cast-iron fist inside its velvet glove; hence, its friendship request means nothing to us and is an untrue pretense.” He also added, “We do not know for sure who the decision-makers in the U.S. are — the president, the Congress or others behind the scenes. But I emphasize the point that the Iranian nation has always acted based on logic and not on emotion, specifically regarding the issues that are important to them and the integrity of their country. Here, we make decisions based on calculations, rather than emotions.”

In another place, Ayatollah Khamenei questioned Obama’s slogan of change: “Change should not be merely rhetoric and/or a fraudulent intention. If what you are after is only to change your policies and tactics while still maintaining the same old approach and goals, we would not believe that as a change but a deceit. If the real change is your true intention, it needs to be put in practice. Anyway, the United States authorities need to know that the Iranians will not be deceived by or scared of the U.S.’ false statements or threats.”

As Ayatollah Khamenei predicted before, Obama’s presence in the White House, in spite of some optimistic assumptions, was not meant to bring any substantive changes in the U.S. foreign policy, especially against Iran. Although the Republicans and Democrats differ from one another in the intensity of their approaches toward Iran, the Democratic administration of Obama made only a few tactical changes in Washington’s strategy of dealing with Tehran.

In the past couple of years, there has been a significant and meaningful shift in the U.S. policies toward Iran from a warmongering attitude to a so-called soft war. In other words, the U.S. put into force its unilateral pressure levers on some critical issues like Iranian human rights, democracy, political freedom, women, etc. The Democrats have made every effort to build a coalition against Tehran, especially in the case of Iran’s nuclear program.

Considering the recent Islamic awakening that is spreading through the entire Muslim world and the global awakening growing throughout the other nations in Europe and the United States, a question is raised: Why are some authorities in Iran still seeking to negotiate with the United States when the Islamic Republic can instead take an aggressive stance against the U.S.?

Kazem Jalali, spokesman for the National Security Commission of the Iranian Parliament, has lately mentioned that in the past few days, there have been whispers heard from some Iranian officials about the interaction between the U.S. and Iran. Jalali firmly stated, “There is no doubt that we all are required to follow Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s orders in this case; all the government officials must deal with this subject according to his commands.” Jalali also indicated that “the Americans are bringing up the old issue of interaction with Iran at a time when they are at their lowest ebb in the region (Middle East).” He added that “the Islamic Republic of Iran has set an example of resistance against tyranny and injustice for the people of this region in their new quest to attain their own rights and freedom.”

A country’s foreign policy is not a cheap commodity for sale in the political games and speculations of international relations. Obama has nothing but an illogical offer and preconditions for Iran to stop its peaceful nuclear activities and uranium enrichment — and that is not acceptable at all. The position Washington has adopted today against Tehran is obviously an indication of no change in U.S. foreign policy. Fortunately, President Ahmadinejad has refused the irrational U.S. nuclear proposal.

Ahmadinejad will definitely convey the message of the Iranian nation to the whole world from a position of authority in the next UN General Assembly. He should draw global attention in New York to the point that they need to recognize the awakening of the Muslim countries, and that the world must accept the fact that they cannot suppress this Islamic rise by calling it names like al-Qaida or radicalism. The world must open an appropriate space for one and a half billion awake and aware Muslims to take part in. The world management will reach a deadlock by ignoring and/or insulting the intelligence and passion of the awakened Muslim community.

Today, the Muslim world expects Iran to be the leader of the Islamic awakening movement in the region.