Iranian bloggers' nuclear gloom

Iranian bloggers have been watching developments in the nuclear dispute with the West over the past few weeks with much foreboding, but also a fair measure of irreverence.

Fearful or otherwise, many of their comments revolve around the various statements made by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with some suggesting he is playing an aggravating role.

West.blogfa.com, 28 February: "Ahmadinejad's brakeless train!"

I wish Ahmadinejad had consulted the transport minister before saying that they'd thrown away the brake!! The technical term for a train without a brake is a 'runaway train'. If there's a runaway train on the tracks, first they re-direct it to side tracks and then they direct it to a track that goes nowhere. At the end of the track that goes nowhere, the train hits a big obstacle...

Ex-MP Ahmad Shirzad, 24 February: "I invite Ahmadinejad to a debate".

Maybe for the first time, Mr Ahmadinejad has said something that can be discussed in a costs-benefits framework. He's said: 'If we stop whatever else we're doing for 10 years and concentrate entirely on nuclear energy, we can advance by 50 years'... I'm really happy that, at last, an official at his level has at least once left the narrow perspective of politics on the Iranian nuclear issue and explicitly spoken about the value or lack of value of this technology for the Iranian people... I Ahmad Shirzad... invite the president to a televised debate on this basis.

Alpr.ir, 4 February: "Accept the resolution!"

Our dear Iran (I'm talking about Iran, not the Islamic Republic) is on the threshold of one of its most bitter crises in contemporary history... with an aimless political system, an ineffective government, a shaky economy, a dissipated society, so many wasted resources, disparate neighbours, a siege-like regional position and a global consensus against Iran... I wish we had a network or group which, instead of collecting one million signatures for changing laws on women, would collect one million signatures for accepting the resolution and suspending enrichment.

Dutch-based journalist Ebrahim Nabavi, 1 February: "Halt enrichment!"

I suggest that students should organise a series of protest gatherings in universities and in the city, with the premise that, since enrichment increases the danger of an attack and war, the government should halt enrichment for six months for now... Students can launch a quiet protest movement. They can organise anti-war marches, both against the government's nuclear activities and against a US military presence. I'm sure that, if this is done, it will play a very important role in preventing war. The government and the state are only insisting on the continuation of enrichment on one pretext: they're saying - we don't want to forego the people's right. The people must say that they have a right to life and peace. They should say that they're prepared to forego their right to nuclear energy temporarily for the sake of peace.

Commentator "Maryam" on Nabavi's post

I agreed with your earlier proposal that people should gather peacefully in front of the Majlis to demand Ahmadinejad's dismissal. But I don't accept your proposal to students today... Why do you think that Arab countries should have this technology, but we shouldn't?.. Why must this state, which we hope to reform, not have security?.. I'm not saying that nuclear energy is our self-evident right; I'm saying that even a nuclear bomb is our self-evident right.

Javadkashi.blogspot.com, 6 March: "Cold winter of politics"

The thing that amazes me is the cool public atmosphere in this respect... It seems as if the bulk of the people don't consider themselves involved and mainly imagine that the political system is facing a problem in the international arena that doesn't concern them very much. Analysts and intellectuals, if not afraid, prefer to wait for fear that their stances won't match the subsequent course of events. To sum up, people are watching two trains moving towards each other on the same track, some with indifference, some with amazement, some with excitement and some with terror. Each train refuses to change track or stop in the hope that the other one will do so.

Siamakold.blogspot.com, 3 March: "The big man will come from Washington, not Jamkaran"

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks are given even more coverage by Western media than the US president's remarks. And, on board his runaway train, he's headed for where his beliefs take him... Ahmadinejad's continued muscle-flexing in the political arena will undoubtedly only lead to the country being weakened. Until he's removed from the country's political scene and enrichment suspended, the international community will never come to terms with the Islamic Republic. If he continues his presidency, as he supposedly works to pave the way for the return of the big man [reference to the 12th Shi'i Imam], the big man will no doubt appear, but not from Jamkaran; from Washington.

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