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Ahmadinejad: Egyptian Protests Herald New Mideast
Ali Akbar Dareini
Iran has sought to portray the popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt as a replay of its 1979 Islamic Revolution -- whose anniversary was marked Friday by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech and state-organized rallies that included chants of support for Egypt's anti-government protests.
"Despite all the (West's) complicated and satanic designs ... a new Middle East is emerging without the Zionist regime and U.S. interference, a place where the arrogant powers will have no place," Ahmadinejad told a crowd filling Tehran's Azadi, or Freedom, Square.
Iran's state TV broadcast simultaneous live footage of the gathering with shots from Cairo's downtown Tahrir Square, the center of Egypt's protests since late January.
In Iran's calculation, the revolt against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak equals a blow to U.S. influence in the region and carries echoes of Iran's Islamic Revolution, which deposed the Western-allied monarchy and brought hard-line clerics to power.
AP
Feb. 11, 2011: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, gestures, as he delivers his speech in a rally marking the 32nd anniversary of 1979 Islamic Revolution, at the Azadi (Freedom) Square in Tehran, Iran.
Feb. 11, 2011
Feb. 11, 2011