Arabs may be losing faith in Ahmedinejad, but Russians are naming their babies after him

Is Mahmoud Ahmedinejad losing his global popularity as a result of the crackdown on opposition protesters? The Christian Science Monitor says ‘maybe‘:

Under Mr. Ahmadinejad, Iran’s “resistance” brand has gone global, challenging Western hegemony in the name of defending the globally downtrodden and winning allies from Lebanon to Venezuela while drawing harsh criticism from the United States.

But analysts say Iran’s resistance image has been challenged by Ahmadinejad’s controversial June 12 reelection, after which hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the street to protest what they say is a fradulent vote.

…

For Arabs, Mr. Abdel Fattah says Ahmadinejad’s words may not carry the punch they used to because the public reaction to Iran’s crackdown has “generally not been positive.”

“People can see now that Iran has the same authoritarian political systems as the Arab world,” he says. “Ahmadinejad is not a hero.”

Still, another analyst says Ahmedinejad remains popular among the middle class, poor and pious of the Arab world: “Most of the elite here are against him, but the middle and lower classes – especially the pious – they of course support him,” he says. “No one knows the impact of his visit, and that is what is worrying.”

And in Russia, Ahmedinejad’s star still appears to be on the rise. RIA Novosti reports:

A Muslim couple from Russia’s second largest city of St. Petersburg has named their child Mahmoudahmadinejad after the Iranian president, the Tatar community website in St. Petersburg reported.

Mahmoudahmadinejad is the couple’s sixth child. The father is a Bangladeshi Muslim and his wife is Russian.

“I like Iranian President Ahmadinejad, I like his policies, his wit and amiability. The child is named after this person,” Mahmoudahmadinejad’s mother explained.

She added that she would like to live in Iran, which “enjoys stability” and where the president “is not afraid of anyone, except Allah.”

The child, whose second name has not been disclosed, has already been issued with a birth certificate.

So, based on my understanding of how Russian names work, this child’s future sons will be named “Vladimir (or whatever) Mahmoudahmedinejadovich.”

via St. Petersburg couple names child after Iranian president | Top Russian news and analysis online | ‘RIA Novosti’ newswire.