Look Who's Blogging Now: Iran President Hits Web

Aug. 14, 2006 — -- The Iranian government has imposed severe blogging restrictions on citizens, but apparently that doesn't apply to the country's president. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched his own Web log and announced the news on state-run television Sunday.

The blog contains what you might expect from the conservative hard line President -- a lot of anti- American rhetoric blasting the U.S. role in Iraq and also in the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict. Ahmadinefad even asks visitors to the site to weigh in on a poll which asks the question, "Do you think that the U.S. and Israeli intention and goal by attacking Lebanon is pulling the trigger for another world war?"

Readers have a chance to answer yes or no. The blog is translated into Farsi, Arabic, French, and English although the site has been tough for some to access.

But the blog also contains some information you might not expect, like a personal look at the president's poor childhood. "During the era that .. living in a city was perfection, " he writes, "I was born in a poor family in a remote village. The son of a hard bitten toiler blacksmith."

But he quickly vaults ahead of his humble beginnings pointing out his university entrance exam scores in which he came in 132nd out of 400,000. Those humble beginnings however helped him secure the country's top job.

Ahmadinejad won a surprise victory in last year's election by appealing to voters as an "everyman" and as an "outsider" to Iran's ruling elite. He promised the country's poor a larger share of Iran's great oil wealth.

The launch of his own blog follows a highly publicized interview with CBS' Mike Wallace, which aired Sunday night on "60 Minutes."

The President proved adept at dodging tough questions and filibustering, even antagonizing Wallace. When the journalist asked Ahmadinejad about Iran's support of the militant group Hezbollah in its war against Israel, the President immediately fired back, "Are you the representative of the Zionist regime? Or a journalist?" Ahmadinejad went on to ask, "Are the Lebanese inside the occupied lands right now or is it the other way around?"