Religious Views

Ahmadinejad's personal religious views reflected that of Hojjatieh Shi’ism, a radical interpretation of Shi’ism with messianic and apocalyptic overtones that predict a period of universal chaos before the return of the Mahdi, the 12th Imam, who went into occultation or hiding. The Hojjatieh was created in the 1950s to eliminate the Bahai faith from Iran. In 1983, Hojjatieh Shi'ism was banned by Ayatollah Khomeini but was subsequently revived. Analysts put forth the interpretation that Ahmadinejad preceived his personal role to be the divine harbinger of the Mahdi's coming, to pave "the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi." Ahmadinejad denied reports that his cabinet members were ordered to write a pact of loyalty with the 12th Imam and cast the pact into the well of Qom where the Imam is believed to reside. Reaffirming his religious views, Ahmadinejad said:

"The ultimate promise of all Divine religions will be fulfilled with the emergence of a perfect human being [the 12th Imam], who is heir to all prophets. He will lead the world to justice and absolute peace. Oh mighty Lord, I pray to you to hasten the emergence of your last repository, the promised one."

Ahmadinejad and Atomics

In September 2005, in a speech at the UN General Assembly, Ahmadinejad asserted his good faith in supporting the non-proliferation regime and Iran's pursuit of peaceful nuclear technology. At the same time, Ahmadinejad accused the United States of not only proliferating weapons of mass destruction but also a "climate of intimidation and injustice." Despite his peaceful intentions, declared the Iranian president, "if some try to impose their will on the Iranian people... we will reconsider our entire approach to the nuclear issue." In September 2005, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that Iran was in non-compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and recommended sanctions. Ahmadinejad threatened to continue the enrichment of uranium if the IAEA continued to pursue sanctions against Iran.

During His Speech

Following his 2005 speech before the United Nations, baztab.com reported that in a conversation with Iranian cleric Ayatollah Javadi Amoli, Ahmadinejad stated that he felt he was surrounded by a ring of light. Reports suggested that a CD containing video of this conversation circulated Iran. In the video, Ahmadinejad reportedly said that an audience member informed him about the light, he felt the light himself, and that for 27-28 minutes, the audience did not blink. FardaNews.com, a convervative website, and other sources accused Ahmadinejad's opponents of distributing the video to discredit him.

In May 2006, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution that required Iran to terminate all uranium enrichment programs by August 2006. Ahmadinejad continued to resist. In his 20 September 2006 speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Ahmadinejad provided a list of indictments against the United States and accused the Security Council of lacking both legitimacy and effectiveness.

Iran's non-compliance prompted the Security Council pass Resolution 1737 in December 2006 to impose sanctions on nuclear material and technology entering Iran. The sanctions also froze the assets and restricted travel for personnel involved in Iran's nuclear proliferation activities. Iran was given 60 days to come to the negotiating table. Continued Iranian non-compliance brought about a unanimous vote for Security Council Resolution 1747 in March 2007 that added to previous sanctions including an import/export ban on arms and a restriction on all international funds to Iran except development and humanitarian aid.

In response the United Nations sanctions, Ahmadinejad announced to the West, "I want you to know that the Iranian nation has humiliated you many times, and it will humiliate you in the future."

As of June 2007, attempts at negotiations with Iran remained at an impasse.

Letters to America

On 29 November 2006, Ahmadinejad released to UN reporters an open letter to the American people addressed to "Noble Americans" and attacked the US administration's foreign policy against Iraq and Palestine as "illegal and immoral" towards the global community and American citizens alike. Further, Ahmadinejad urged the winners of the 2006 US midterm elections to act with truth and justice rather than coercion and force to "remedy some of the past afflictions and alleviate some of the global resentment and hatred of America." This letter echoed an 18-page letter sent to Mr. Bush in May 2006 to which Bush did not reply.

Reactions from the United States State Department dismissed the letter as a public relations gesture, and emphasized the importance of the Iranian leader's actions rather than his words. Other commentators applauded Ahmadinejad's condemnation of US Foreign Policy as the words of a fair and reasonable man, and that perhaps US rhetoric of his extremism slandered Ahmadinejad unjustly.

A third view, voiced by less mainstream commentators, was that Ahmadinejad's letter served as a da'awah, which means 'summons' or an invitation to non-Muslims to submit to Islam. The da'awah is a Muslim obligation that should be fulfilled before war could be waged justly. Ahmadinejad's letters could have been a fulfillment of this obligation.

Commentators such as Amir Taheri of the Jerusalem Post noted that the tradition of writing letters reached back to the Prophet Muhammad who wrote to regional heads of state to invite them to submit to Islam. Recipients of the Prophet Muhammad's invitations included Khosrow Parviz (Chosroes II) of Persian, Emperor Heraclius of Byzantium, Muqawqis of Egypt, al-Mundhir bin Sawa, and Negus of Ethiopia. According to Islamic tradition, the letter to the Persian king was received and angrily torn up by Khosrow's son who had deposed his father, and the subsequent fall of Persian Empire was attributed to this rejection. It was recorded that all the letters resembled each other (Sahih Bukhari's, Volume 1, Book 1-6):

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. This letter is from Muhammad the slave of Allah and his Apostle to ----.Peace be upon him who follows the right path. Furthermore, I invite you to Islam and if you become a Muslim you will be safe, and Allah will double your reward, and if you reject this invitation of Islam you will be committing a sin by misguiding your subjects. And I recite to you Allah's statement:

"O People of the Scriptures! Come to a word common to you and us that we worship none but Allah and that we associate nothing in worship with Him, and that none of us shall take others as Lords beside Allah. Then if they turn away, say: Bear witness that we are Muslims (those who have surrendered to Allah). (Qur’an: Surah 3, Ayah 64)."

Ali Ibn Abi-Talib, the fourth Caliph, used letters to fulfill to Islamic duties: tahzir (warning) addressed to Muslims and da'awah (invitation) addressed to non-Muslims. Ali holds a prominent place in Shi'ism as the son-in-law and true heir of the Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad Ibn Hassan, the 12th Imam or 'Hidden Imam' whose return from occultation is prophesized, also used letters to communicate to his followers.

In 1987, Ayatollah Khomeini wrote a letter to Mikhail Gorbachev in response to a letter from Gorbachev to Khomeini seeking a partnership to defeat the Muhjahedin in Afghanistan. Modelled on Muhammad's letters, Khomeini informed Gorbachev that "your main problem is the lack of true belief in God" and invited Gorbachev to submit to Islam. Gorbachev declined. Mr. Taheri and others drew parallels between Ahmadinejad's letters and those of Prophet Muhammad and Ayatollah Khomeini, and maintained that these letters reflected the ideological dichotomy that pervades Ahmadinejad's political mission, a mission that seeks to overturn the international system.

A difference, however, between the Ahmadinejad's letters and those of his predecessors is that rather than a letter inviting America to submit to Islam, Ahmadinejad addressed the political soul of America and asked of Americans, "Is there not a better approach to governance?"