As Afghanistan looms large, with the election closing in, Iran’s Ahmadinejad stepped in to ask for a reexamination of Roxana Saberi’s harsh prison sentence and a review of her case. Now an Iranian judge has done just that.
Juxtapose this against what was quite a spectacle at the U.N. council on race, as the Iranian president lashed out at Israel in a rant that provoked a walk out.
Dozens of Western representatives at the UN-sponsored Durban II conference against racism walked out during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s address to the forum on Monday.
The diplomats rose from their chairs and walked out of the hall in Geneva as Ahmadinejad launched a tirade against the Israeli government. The Iranian leader also blasted the United States for its invasion of Iraq.
Ahmadinejad on Sunday branded Israel a “racist government,” seemingly living up to concerns that the United Nations conference on racism which he was addressing would turn into a forum to vilify the Jewish state.
In Trinidad yesterday, Pres. Obama spoke emphatically about Saberi’s situation:
“She is an American citizen, and I have complete confidence that she was not engaging in any sort of espionage,” Mr. Obama said, adding that the United States would ask Iran for “a proper disposition of this case.”
Secretary Clinton recently said that this is the sort of thing that needs to be resolved before the U.S. and Iran can have real dialogue.
It sets up a moment where Iran’s president can act, looking as if he has intervened on behalf of an American, provided the Iranian court obliges, while he continues to rail against the U.S., but especially Israel, proving he can walk and chew gum at the same time.
Still railing against Israel, playing Netanyahu against Obama, the Iranian tries to help save an American woman, no less. That Ahmadinejad guy, at least he helped free an American.
If it’s in U.S. interests, it’s good.
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