Turning Ahmadinejad into public enemy No. 1

Former Iranian Minister, Reza Mansouri, a top physics scholar and science policy expert puts the comments of President Ahmadinejad into context with the Iranian approach to science and rationality itself, within a Muslim state.

"That underscores a fundamental difference between the West and the Muslim world. "Science is surely subordinate to theology in any of our Muslim counties," he explained. "As a result, rationality in the Muslim world is not based on science, but on religion—you have to understand that. The culture and social values of the society are almost completely determined by religion....We could not accept the modern notion of science even though we have almost 200 years of influences from the West."<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

   source IISS.

While in no way dismissing the potential risk posed by Iran, the arguments cannot be understood, strictly from a western point of view. It is only by understanding the complexites of the country, of which Ahmadinejad is just one strand of the Iranian power system, and a falling star at that, can we estimate the true risks. Such application of judicious inquiry by our politicians may prevent our troops being put, unnecessarily, in harms way.