On Air: Does Ahmadinejad's defiance increase the chance of war?
| 17:50 UK time, Friday, 15 October 2010
This topic was discussed on World Have Your Say on 15 October 2010.
While most of the world's attention has been on the (literally) uplifting events in Chile, Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has been in Lebanon. And now that the miners are going home, the focus is shifting to what, exactly, he is saying and doing there.
There is no doubting that Ahmadinejad was warmly received - just look at the thousands of waving flags in the video on this piece by the 91Èȱ¬'s Wyre Davis to see that.
Speaking to the crowds of thousands of Shia Lebanese in Bint Jbeil, he said he had not come to provoke, but to show solidarity with the people of southern Lebanon.
But then he threw in comments about Israel like "the Zionists will disappear," adding "the occupying Zionists today have no choice but to accept reality and go back to their countries of origin" - hardly the words of a man not seeking to provoke.
The issue is, is this all just rhetoric in front of an audience that loves his defiant attitude to the West - or is it deliberate provocation that increases the chances of war?
The main worry for the West and Israel is the fact that they simply do not know what Iran has and is capable of.
The 91Èȱ¬'s Mark Urban explains:
Today, Iran's desire to enjoy the support of what Iranian ideologues term "the oppressed" by thumbing its nose at the UN or US President Barack Obama, may be a crowd pleaser in southern Lebanon, but it could be increasing the chances of war... there are voices murmuring warnings with increasing urgency about the progress of Iran's continuing uranium enrichment programme.Those whisperers include some of the "usual suspects" one might expect such as Mossad or MI6. However, those who argue that a military option has to be prepared also include such influential figures as Robert Gates, Mr Obama's defence secretary.
He adds that one of the reasons that, for example, Saddam Hussein never co-operated fully with UN weapons inspectors - even when not doing so threatened the end of his regime - was that his defiance made him powerful in the Arab world.
And so it is with Ahmedinejad. His widespread support across the Arab world comes from his willingness to defy the international community. Doing that over weapons inspections may be one thing - but doing it over a nuclear programme increases the tension further.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said Washington rejects any efforts "to destabilise or inflame tensions" in Lebanon - tensions that exist because Ahmedinejad supports Hezbollah, the powerful Shia Islamist group whose war with Israel left 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis dead.
Former US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palinthat allowing Iran to acquire nuclear weapons would:
"lead to Armageddon. It would lead to that World War III that could decimate so much of this planet."
On the other hand, the EU has offered talks with Iran over the nuclear issue - .
And has revealed that only one in 10 Americans would support war with Iran, even if the country tested a nuclear bomb.
says:
US cant engage itself in any war, cos it wil weaken them seriously. Iran on the other hand has prepared themselves and are still preparing
If Iran refuses to co-operate on the nuclear issue, will war happen? Do you think Ahmedinejad's words are just rhetoric, or do you fear a nuclear Iran? Do you admire his defiance of the West - and should the West have any right to tell Iran whether it can or cannot have nuclear weapons anyway?
