Iranians decry Columbia leader’s harsh speech

Radio criticizes Bollinger's speech
Iran’s state-run radio said Bollinger’s comments were “full of insult, which was mostly Zionists’ propaganda against Iran.”

Ahmadinejad’s visit comes at a time of high tensions between Iran and the U.S. The Bush administration has painted Ahmadinejad as a top enemy of the United States, accusing Tehran of providing weapons that have killed U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and of seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran denies the accusations and has stepped up warnings in recent weeks that it would retaliate against Israel and U.S. bases in the region if it comes under attack.

Some critics of Ahmadinejad in Iran warn that U.S. demonizing of the Iranian president has only strengthened his hand and boosted his falling political fortunes.

They make the point that under Iran’s complex governing system, the presidency has far less power than the post of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who holds final say in state decisions. Ahmadinejad, they say, keeps influence through his image as standing up to the world’s superpower.

A hero for the Middle East?
The harsh words at Columbia “worked in favor of Ahmadinejad, who in the eye of ordinary people was seen as wronged,” said Ahmad Bakhshayesh, a professor of politics in Tehran’s Allameh University.

“The protests by Israel supporters against Ahmadinejad outside the university also helped him to appear as a hero for people of the Middle East,” he said.

Ahmadinejad’s international allies have also taken his side. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is expecting a visit from Ahmadinejad this week, said he spoke by phone with the Iranian leader on Monday after what he called the “ambush” at Columbia.

“I congratulate him, in the name of the Venezuelan people, before a new aggression of the U.S. empire,” Chavez said.

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