Landslide Ahmadinejad an unwelcome visitor

Amir Taheri:

FOR 30 years, the tradition has been for each newly elected president of the Is lamic Republic to travel at once to Mashad, Iran's main "holy" city, to thank Ali bin Mussa, the only one of Shiism's 12 imams buried in Iranian soil.

When he was first elected president four years ago, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made much of the Mashad trip by spreading rumors about his "secret" connections with the imams. This year, the state-owned media were presented his new pilgrimage as a "working visit" during which the imam would review and approve the president-elect's program.

But Ahmadinejad was forced at the last minute to scrub the trip. Angry Mashadis, many of whom believe Ahmadinejad stole the election, were determined to give him a rough reception. Despite the presence of some 15,000 Basij security men in the city, the authorities couldn't guarantee the president's safety -- let alone deliver the enthusiastic, welcoming crowds that he requires for propaganda purposes.

The canceled pilgrimage is the latest sign of trouble in the wake of Ahmadinejad's controversial re-election.

Last Friday, his visit to Shiraz, Iran's cultural capital, was called off on "security grounds." On Monday, the Foreign Ministry canceled what was to be the first-ever visit by an Iranian leader to Libya.

Planned a year in advance, that trip was to feature Ahmadinejad signing a "treaty of friendship and cooperation" with the African Union and addressing a summit of African leaders. (Yesterday, it was announced that the visit would happen, somewhat shortened -- but then it was called off again.)

On Tuesday, it was announced that yet another of Ahmadinejad's "historic visits" was off -- he will not travel to Sharm-el-Sheik in Egypt to address the summit of the nonaligned movement after all.

Since 2007, Ahmadinejad has campaigned to lead the "nonaligned" group and to host its next summit in Tehran in 2012. His "brother," Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, has visited a dozen capitals to win support for the Iranian bid -- efforts now clearly all in vain. Wounded politically at home, perhaps mortally, Ahmadinejad is in no position to claim an international leadership position.

Another long-planned trip, visits with six leftist leaders in their Latin American capitals, already postponed once because of the election imbroglio, was definitively back-burnered yesterday.

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Ahmadinejad's "landslide" has not earned him a mandate. He survives because the religious bigots in charge want him to and they have used the coercion of the state to keep him in place and prevent millions from protesting his phony election. Now he fears even traveling to meet with his foreign toadies.