Ahmadinejad Phenomenon

by Jahanshah Rashidian (Iran/Germany)

Among the IRI’s seniors, president Ahmadinejad is more known for his fierce rhetoric and odd behaviour. His absurd comments, lack of rationality, revolting habits and odd gestures suggest a personal immaturity or even abnormality.

In his speeches, he usually sinks himself into a hectic and incoherent stance in which his words go so beyond the limits of decorum that even some of his companions feel embarrassed about him.–even the most inexperienced and insecure politicians rarely engage in spontaneous outbursts like he does.

Ahamadinejad displays a skilful ability to deceive, manipulate, and con the unwary, while seeming perfectly sincere. The self-proclaimed “street cleaner of the people,” can raise a bogus enthusiasm among his followers. However, his words echo hatred, threats and terror against others. His words have made the entire world to raise its eyebrows. Even his supporters in the regime are shaking their heads in embarrassment. And yet, as loony as he may seem, it would be a grave mistake not to take him dangerously.

Ahamadinejad’s speech gaffes are well known. Some of his verbal blunders or odd phrases are more than just simple mistakes. At Columbia University of New York, last September, he claimed that there are no homosexuals living in Iran. For the word “homosexual”, he spewed a vulgar word, “hamjensbaz”, in Persian that brought his Iranian audience to a mocking laughter.

Then, in front of people who did not speak Arabic, Ahamadinejad began reciting verses from the Koran in Arabic, and continued on with a sermon of cheap sentiments, still in Arabic, for 20 embarrassing minutes that could make even an Arabic speaking audience question this man’s sanity. While boasting his perspective as “an academic”, he proclaimed that the role of science is to serve Islam, and that any science not in the service of Islamic goals is corrupt. As he described it, “Science is the light, and scientists are to be pure and pious. Even if humanity achieves the highest level of physical and spiritual knowledge, as long as its scholars and scientists are not pure, then this knowledge cannot serve the interests of humanity.” Elaborating on this notion, he argued that a great majority of scientists are corrupt because they are serving corrupt governments that reject the pure and pious path of Islam.

He went so far as to claim, “The world powers’ rejection of Islam is a cause for the world’s woes”. As he put it, the second and more important factor is the disregard the world’s powers have towards morals, divine values, the teachings of prophets and the instructions of the Almighty God… Unfortunately, they have put themselves in the level and position of that very same God!”

Since the hard-line president cannot accept criticism, he mocks and proudly feels that everything is owed to him, and that he is entitled to publicly call his own internal critics “goats or traitors”, including those within his own conservative party in the government. In a speech on November 12, 2007 at Tehran’s Science and Technology University, he denounced those critics as “traitors” to Iran’s nuclear programme. He went so far as to even threaten to name and to shame these internal critics unless they end their pressures for a change in IRI’s] nuclear policy.

Prior to a “Holocaust denial conference” in December 2007, Ahamadinejad had initially denied in October 2005 that the Holocaust ever happened. His repeated comments suggesting that Israel be “wiped off the map” is stirring international ire, and they even caused some Iranian officials to play down his remarks, saying that Ahmadinejad did not mean to speak in such sharp terms.

Ahmadinejad’s bellicose remarks, at a moment when Iran is under increasing world scrutiny for its nuclear programme, suggest that the man does not care about war and catastrophe for his people. His threatening words mirror the similar methods of the unpopular IRI by creating the shadow of an external threat in order to keep control over its own people. Ahmadinejad serves the survival of the regime, no matter how weird he is, and no matter how he has failed to rally the majority of people. In the absence of democracy, he gains more blind adherents, more Islamist followers in the world, and more apologists for the regime.

Ahmadinejad is putting forward IRI’s vision for global Islamic domination. The vision of Islamic domination cannot coexist in any manner with peaceful rhetoric. Ahmadinejad’s words are the direct consequences of the regime’s world view, and as such, he is supported by the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenaei, the Hojattyeh-sect and some international Islamists, despite his weird attitudes and uncontrolled speeches.

The IRI cannot satisfy its people; therefore, it applies the policy of carrot and stick. The regime is reaching deep into a dusty bag of tricks to rally a part of people while frightening the rest. Ahmadinejad’s crying “wolf” simply threatens and terrorizes the frustrated people of Iran, not the armies of foreign powers. The IRI, which cannot offer the possibility of a decent and democratic life for the majority of its angry people, despite record high oil prices and almost 29 years of promises, needs to keep this hazardous man, at least, until the end of his first term in office.

Ahamdinejad not only serves the IRI‘s goals, he also speaks dangerous words that could be served as an excuse for the Bush administration to militarise the region, and for the Israeli government to play down its aggressive policy in the region. Ahmadinejad’s provocations serve one or both of them to stoke the argument and prepare the context for military conflict with Iran.

Mr. Ahmadinejad’s language is a symptom of his personality disorder, suggesting how deep he is preoccupied with his own fantasies. Normal politicians may correct their words, but an abnormal politician like Ahmadinejad would give an explanation that is devoid of intellectual or moral justification because it is enough for them that their words help them do what they want to do.

Ahmadinejad needs to seek refuge in his unreal world. He views himself the direct vassal of the Twelfth Imam, the Mahdi, of Shiites, for whom he prepares the reappearance after more than a thousand years of occultation. He propagates the idea that he is in permanent contact with him and receives advice from him.

Whatever one may think of Ahmadinejad, any perceived insanity or instability can be best explained by his unshakeable belief in the ethos of the Shiite sect– with a messianic idea of world catastrophe leading to the coming of the twelfth Imam and Islamic rule over the world. If one analyses this religious belief, his words make perfect sense but only within the strict context of this belief system. When he believes the Mahdi protects him with a “halo of light”, then his words must mirror this belief.

The belief in the imminent return of the Mahdi has not only influenced Ahmadinejad’s words and attitudes, but also driven his foreign policy brinksmanship. According to him, “a historic war between the oppressor, non-Muslims, and the world of Islam” is under way, and the IRI is on the front lines. Thus, as Ahmadinejad told a closed-door session of the “Majles”(Iranian parliament) foreign policy and national security committee in January 2006, Iran must abandon its decade-and-a-haft-old policy of “détente” with the West in favour of confrontation.

Ahmadiniejad’s constantly deteriorating behaviour can be threatening even for his colleagues who can witness more signs of abnormality in his attitudes, language lapses, and ridiculous gestures. It is said that the way he behaves his colleagues leads to the repeated change of his ministers and staff.

Psychopaths are social predators who may charm, manipulate, and ruthlessly plough their way through life. They have traits such as glibness, grandiosity, lack of guilt, and shallow emotions, as well as social deviance traits such as impulsiveness, lack of responsibility, and antisocial behaviour. Completely lacking in conscience and in feelings for others, Psychopaths are found in every segment of society, including in fields of religion and politics. Throughout history there have been many psychopaths, even with the norms of generally accepted behaviour, who brought obscurantism, wars and catastrophes for their people.

Institutional psychopaths, Stalin, Pal Pot, and Hitler imposed restraints on progress and evolution of their societies. Each considerably set back democracy, civil right, and free thoughts in their totalitarian states. And of course, they killed millions of people. As an Islamist, Ahmadinejad seems to be in the same psychopathological stance to bring the same degree of harm for his people if he were politically in their position.

It is believe that Mr. Ahamsdinejad follows a psychiatric treatment, but he acts as if he were not aware of his personality disorder.