Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad delivered his most fiery and stinging speech at the United Nations General Assembly last Thursday. His purpose was partly to secure his legacy on the world stage (he is due to step down in 2013) and partly to brandish his hardline reputation at a time of increasing pressure on the domestic front.
Largely owing to his divisive and controversial persona, there is a dearth of balanced appraisal of Ahmadinejad's views and positions. A balanced appraisal of the Iranian president's positions, especially on foreign policy, requires a clear understanding of the conceptual framework guiding the same.
On the domestic front Ahmadinejad has been accused of accommodating a "deviant current" within his government and generally violating the ideological boundaries of the Islamic Revolution. There have even been murmurings that the president may be impeached before his second term expires in June 2013.
The president has ratcheted up the rhetoric on the world stage, partly to brandish his hardline reputation to the Islamic Republic and its supporters across the region, but more importantly perhaps to mobilize principalist opinion behind him with a view to deterring the establishment from undertaking further measures against his inner circle.
