Barak is Arabic for Grace of God, and Hussein conjures the most important Imam of Shi‘ism, the dominant branch of Islam in Iran, and its ultimate martyr. Obama’s multi-racial, multi-cultural roots also defy the regime’s stereotypical description of the United States as an incorrigible land of racism and inequity. Long before the November election, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated with his customary certitude that ‘‘they’’ will not allow a black man like Obama to become the president of the United States
