Ahmadinejad's letter to Bush: nothing political, but a ritual appeal
More than a truly political or religious message, the letter is a ritual appeal that gives a glimpse of a fanatical bent and confirms the messianic and apocalyptic way of thinking inspiring the Iranian president and which constitutes one of the main challenges to pragmatics and reformists in Iran and to the international community.
Teheran (AsiaNews) The word "nuclear" does not appear in the letter to Bush written by Ahmadinejad, which was delivered through Swiss diplomatic channels and which, after initial reactions of sceptism, the United States made public. The letter was cast as a personal message, quite rhetorical in form, and ended with an appeal to conversion to Islam.
This document brings to mind the one that Ayatollah Khomeini wrote to Gorbachev on January 1st 1989. Shortly before his death, the founder of the Islamic Republic delighted in the fall of Communist ideology and made an appeal to Gorbachev: "I ardently insist so that, in having broken down the walls of Marxist fantasies, you do not fall into the prison of the West and the Great Satan I call upon you to study seriously and to undertake research on Islam I publicly announce to you that the Islamic Republic of Iran, being the greatest and most important foundation of the Islamic world, is easily able to help in filling the ideological void of your system."
Ahmadinejad's tone is less triumphalistic but keeps in line with the usual propaganda. Nothing new. Like Khomeini, Ahmadinejad is following the example of Mohammad who would write to the rulers of his time to call for their conversion to Islam. Recently, Ahmadinejad announced that he would send letters to various heads of state in the context of the "Year of the Prophet Mohammad" proclaimed by Supreme Guide Khamenei. Symbolically, Bush was the first on the list.
At the purely political level, Ahmadinejad's message means little, even if for tactical reasons it was sent at the right moment for delaying and disturbing Security Council negotiations. A real peace proposal would have been signed by Khamenei himself. And not even that would have been a sufficient guarantee, if one thinks of taqiya (a theologically justifiable lie for a greater purpose).
This type of an opening seems a bit unlikely in the run up to elections in Iran for the "Assembly of Experts," scheduled for the coming fall. The "Experts" are those who name the Supreme Guide. Until then, the Iranian regime finds itself in a state of feverish wait, where making proposals of openness is much more risky than an opposite stance of extremism.
But the letter to Bush is also limited in its spiritual scope. The document refers to religion, but is not of a religious nature. Ahmadinejad looks at the straw (or perhaps the beam) in the eye of the U.S. or Israel, but does not see the beam in its own. Behind mellifluous words, one can hear the fanatic, who also fails to pray for the conversion of Bush and the world. The same happens within Iranian society. Islam is a social and political matter, not one of living faith. This observation is often made by visitors to Teheran, who are surprised at not hearing the muezzin, not seeing crowds in mosques on Fridays and noticing that no one says the ritual prayers. For the regime, what counts is social control headscarves for women, censorship in the press, the prohibition of alcohol. Exteriority before interiority this is the sense in which freedom of conscience is respected The same logic appears in the "personal" message of the Muslim Ahmadinejad to the Christian Bush.
Rather than being a truly political and religious message, Ahmadinejad's letter is a warning, almost an incantation. This ritual appeal gives a glimpse of a fanatical bent and displays, yet again, a messianic and apocalyptic way of thinking, mutatis mutandis, that inspires Ahmadinejad and various leaders of the Iranian regime. A trend that is gaining strength and that likely constitutes of the main challenge to pragmatics and reformists in Iran and to the international community.
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19/03/2007
