Tehran rejects its useful idiots too

Washington Times Editorial:

There will be no Oliver Stone biopic "Ahmadinejad," no "Natural Born Mullahs." This week, Iran denied a request by the counterculturalist-in-chief to direct a biographical film about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It seems that even Mr. Stone of the 2003 wet kiss to Fidel Castro "Comandante" is too much the "Great Satan" for this regime.

"It is right that this person is considered part of the opposition in the U.S., but opposition in the U.S. is still a part of the Great Satan," a government spokesman told the Iranian Fars news agency.

If there's a lesson here, it's that a Westerner's correct politics do not buy indulgence from this awful regime. That would be the same lesson which the more tragic case of Haleh Esfandiari demonstrates. The 67-year-old Mrs. Esfandiari, director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and one of Washington's leading advocates of engagement with Iran, currently languishes in the notorious Evin Prison on phony espionage charges. She was arrested two months ago while visiting her 93-year-old mother in Iran. Several other Westerners in the country on legitimate business were also arrested, proving that this regime swallows even those likeliest to be its friends. It is all the more tragic given that Mrs. Esfandiari is a person with a longstanding record of friendship with the Iranian people and a record of advocacy on their behalf.

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Hugo Chavez is an exception to the rejection of useful idiots. They will kill him last. As Jimmy Carter learned the extremely hard way, there is no finding of common ground with the religious bigots in charge of Iran. They are the ultimate true believers who do not even have time for useful idiots.