It isn't always easy being the president of Iran. Sometimes your best intentions can run afoul of certain religious mores that just about everyone else in the world really isn't aware of, or gives a rat's ass about.
Our old pal, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seems to have caused a bit of a scandal in Tehran. In fact in certain quarters they are calling for him to pick up a book and read about his religion. In others he is being flatly accused of un-Islamic acts.
In the west when someone claims you are guilty of un-Christian acts you might bluster and argue the point, or you might not even care. That is because, ultimately, the people running the show really can't do anything to you for simply being, un-Christian, or un-Jewish, or un-anything else. Unfortunately for Ahmadinejad the guys in charge in Iran are a tad inflexible when it comes to un-Islamic stuff. In fact one might even reasonably use the word, rabid when describing their attitudes when they determine someone has crossed the line. And unlike here, they can and will do something about it.
Ahmadinejad had gone to Venezuela last week to attend the funeral of Hugo Chavez along with a gaggle of other presidents, premiers, and socialites. NBC news' Kari Huus reports that the shit hit the fan when a photo surfaced of Ahmadinejad going cheek to cheek with Chavez's mother, Elena Frias while he clasped her hands in his. I know, the immorality of it all is nearly too much to fathom, or bear.
Huus quotes one Hojat al-Islam Hossein Ibrahami as saying "In relation of what we know is allowed, we know that no unrelated woman can be touched unless she is drowning, or needs medical treatment." Mr. Ibrahami is a member of the Society of Militant Clergy of Tehran. Another cleric described the hug as, "contrary to the dignity of the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran."
Of course Ahmadinejad didn't help himself any during his eulogy of Chavez. He went a bit flowery and over the top when he told the mourners that The Commandante was a martyr and would one day return with Jesus Christ, and Al-Imam-al Mahdi to redeem mankind. With that little remark he stepped squarely into the realm of heresy.
Ahmadinejad is term limited and can't run in the June elections, but he'd hoped to slip a protege into office. Right now he is probably lucky he isn't doing time in some re-education camp outside of Qom. Yes, there is nothing quite like that old time religion especially when it has absolute power.
The other current outrage in Iran is due to the movie "Argo." The reviews from the big boys there are not so hot for Ben Affleck's flick about the rescue of six American embassy workers during the hostage crisis that began in 1979 and lasted until the minute Ronald Reagan took the oath of office. The word coming from the hallowed halls is that the film is nothing more than CIA propaganda. Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister, Mohammad Hosseini was quoted as saying, "We don't expect anything else from the enemy."
Reports are that the Iranians aren't going to take this lying down either. According to various news sources they have begun negotiations with French lawyer, Isabelle Coutant-Peyre in the hope that she will represent them in a law suit they plan to bring against Affleck and nearly everyone else connected to the movie. The main insult is that the film portrays Iranians as "too violent." Coutant-Peyre's other high profile client was the Venezuelan terrorist for hire popularly referred to as "Carlos the Jackel." There is no word where the suit would be filed, or how the Iranians would prove themselves to be not too violent.
It isn't the first time Iran has objected to American movies. They didn't like the film, "300," which was a re-telling of the battle of Thermopylae, but one can hardly blame them for that. I mean the dialogue in it was as awful as you can get. They also objected to the film "Not Without My Daughter," which was a Sally Field vehicle. The Iranians claimed the movie unfairly portrayed them as dirty and boorish with misogynist attitudes toward women and, my personal favorite, as being obsessed with Islam.
How in the name of God could that have ever happened?
I'm sure the Society of Militant Clergy of Tehran will certainly be glad to clear up that terrible mis-conception quickly if we'll just give them a call.
Well, once they've finished their business with the soon to be ex-president that is.
One thing at a time. As always, one thing at a time.
sic vita est
3-12-13
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