Middle East Focus: Sticks and Stones: New Iranian Tourette Syndrome?

Arabia Deserta

Sticks and Stones: New Iranian Tourette Syndrome?

"Sticks and stones can break my bones
But words will never hurt me......." Untrue phrase taught to American kids.

“Within the space of a few weeks, Mohammad Reza Rahimi, an Iranian vice president, opined that the British were “inhuman” idiots saddled with a dunce of a prime minister, and the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, scoffed that the Americans should “pour water where it burns”, a vulgar Iranian expression that refers to people who are so angry that their buttocks catch fire. A hardline Iranian newspaper joined the fray by branding Carla Bruni, France’s first lady, a “prostitute”. It is nothing new for the Iranian regime to lambast the West in robust terms. But these various diatribes raised eyebrows at home and abroad because crudity rarely features in Iran’s political discourse. Analysts say that while Mr Ahmadinejad’s earthy rhetoric against the West upsets educated Iranians and reformists, it is a populist attempt to appeal to his working-class supporters as a man of the people possessing a common touch.……..”
Cheers
mhg

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