The duty of the country’s highest executive official is defending national interests
An interview with Pirooz Mojtahedzadeh, an international affairs expert
Following Barack Obama’s victory in US presidential election and the congratulation letter sent to him by Mahmood Ahmadinejad, there were many discussions on the letter’s content, and its impact on Iran’s foreign relations especially with the US. Some state officials, who faced criticisms on the issue of the taboo-breaking letter, claimed that Ahmadinejad’s letter has been addressed to the American nation, not the US government.
Here is an interview with Dr.Pirooz Mojtahedzadeh, chairman of the London-based Urosevic Research Foundation and Tarbiat Modares University lecturer, on this issue.
Is Ahmadinejad’s letter an exploitation of opportunities in advantage of Iran’s national interests?
I do not really know what this fuss is all about. Here we are facing something which is not new and has been done before. We have witnessed series of such letters by the president. These are just dealing with ideological discussions and are not related to Ahmadinejad’s duties of defending national interests and Iranian sovereignty at all.
If the letter is only aimed to congratulate the American nation, there is no point to make on it. But if it aims at expressing ideological notions in the framework of an open letter from an executive official to his counterpart, one can not help but object to it. This is not really going to solve any problem.
Do you see any differences between this letter and the other Ahmadinejad’s letters sent to world leaders?
I do not see a difference. As usual, Ahmadinejad has referred to ideological notions and advices. This letter is like his other letters. In this letter, there is no reference to defending national interests, national sovereignty or Iranian national identity. It is more like a lecture. It was good if it was written by religious leaders.
The point is that the main concern of the highest executive official of the country should be defending national interests and identity. So I believe that sending such open letter under the justification of congratulating the American nation is a waste of time.
Some people believe that Ahmadinejad’s letter to Obama creates expectations in domestic and international US policies, and it may interfere with George Bush’s policies. Do you think so?
This is not interference at all. Anyone has the right to criticize political actions of a government at the world stage. Criticism is different from interference.
The contents of this letter and other letters of Ahmadinejad are criticisms on the policies of US Neo-conservatives.
The US government justifies its policies in any possible way and believes that it can change the global interactions according to his interests and also the Israeli interests. Anyone especially in the Middle East has the right to object these policies. It is not interference.