Ahmadinejad Meets the Press in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad smiled for the cameras.

At ease, he parried with reporters, sitting alone at a simple table yesterday inside the Iraqi presidential compound here. The visiting Iranian patiently called on raised hands without the benefit of a host, like a benevolent schoolteacher conversing with his students.

Here was a question about American accusations of Iranian meddling in Iraq.

"We discussed with the Iraqi side the issues that serve the interests of the two countries," he said. "We are not committed to answer the demands of others." Here was another about whether Shiite Muslim Iran would cultivate ties with Iraq's Sunni groups as well as with the Shiite political parties and Kurdish militias it once sheltered and nurtured to fight Saddam Hussein's regime. "Our relations with all the factions in Iraq are good," he said. "This (distinction) may be important for the foreigners. But we view things differently."

In tone and body language, Mr. Ahmadinejad's message during his two-day visit to Iraq was clear. America does not belong in Iraq; Iran does. Iran can and will help in the reconstruction of Iraq, a point underscored by the signing of seven memorandums of understanding between the two countries.

Meanwhile, he suggested, Americans should take their money and get out.

Mr. Ahmadinejad made these points without ambiguity, despite promising his hosts he would avoid making incendiary remarks about the American presence.

"Peace and stability will return to the region if the foreigners leave," he told reporters. "We believe the powers that came from overseas thousands of miles away must leave this region and leave the issues in the hands of the locals. If they claim that they want to spend their money to develop the region, I think it's better to spend this money in their own country."

For Mr. Ahmadinejad, "foreigner" presumably doesn't include Iranians.

During his visit, which ended yesterday, he spoke incessantly of Iran's long ties to Iraq, the inter-connectedness of the two countries, which fought an eight-year war in the 1980s but have much in common religiously and culturally.

Mr. Ahmadinejad followed a decidedly different diplomatic choreography from the trips of President Bush or British prime ministers. Rather than flying in secretly and unannounced, Mr. Ahmadinejad's trip was trumpeted weeks ago.

Rather than travel by Blackhawk helicopter, Mr. Ahmadinejad drove about in a motorcade. Instead of feasting on pot roast with American troops, he visited the immaculately decorated and gold domed shrine of Imam Kadhem, the Shiite saint martyred in the ninth century, where he was received by mosque's elders as well as a smattering of surprised ordinary Iraqis.

And although security concerns precluded him from hobnobbing with many ordinary people, as Iranian diplomats in Baghdad often do, he spent a lot of time mingling with Shiite and Kurdish political leaders, some of whom he addressed by their first names.

And rather than shying away from the press, as American officials often do, Ahmadinejad made four media appearances in a 36-hour visit.