These are not excerpts from a report issued by the president’s own office, nor from a show that could have been aired on state television a while ago when Ahmadinejad was still the golden boy of the Islamic republic. (The president has become isolated in recent months as the result of a power struggle with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.)
The flattering report, described as the “first-ever behind-the-scenes access” into the Iranian president’s daily schedule, was aired on the U.S. television network NBC. The “exclusive” report, which reveals unimportant details about Ahmadinejad’s life (including the fact that he works with his shoes off but his reading glasses on) is a great piece of propaganda for Ahmadinejad, who heads to New York next week to attend the UN General Assembly.
The positive report has been also noticed in Tehran, including by Ayandehnews, which referred to it as NBC’s “propaganda piece” about Ahmadinejad.
The report portrays Ahmadinejad as a hard-working, compassionate, and religious president who leads a very simple life and cares deeply about his people. Ahmadinejad’s PR team couldn’t have done it better.
(Watch the NBC report and then read this blog by one of Ahmadinejad’s supporters, posted on Persian Letters earlier this year as an example of online propaganda for the Iranian president.)
It’s precisely the image Ahmadinejad is trying to convey while covering up the facts that, under his presiden…
