Iran prez: World becoming 'Ahmadinejadized'

Iran prez: World becoming 'Ahmadinejadized'
Says global leaders have started following in his footsteps

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the high-profile president of Iran who has previously said President Bush is inspired by Satan, believes the world is rapidly becoming "Ahmadinejadized," with global leaders following in his footsteps.

"I have traveled to all the continents except for one, and I know what is going on out there. Everybody is eager to hear the Iranian people's message," the Aftab-Yazd newspaper quoted the president as saying, according to Agence France-Presse. "The world is rapidly becoming Ahmadinejadized."

The hardliner said Iran's "two big missions are constructing the country and introducing a model for humanity."

He suggests world leaders are now copying his provincial trips, during which he pledges to create jobs and fight poverty.

"When I telephone other leaders, I am told that they are on trips. Their trips are the same as the provincial tours that I have initiated," he said.

Thus far, the Iranian president has gone on 21 provincial trips to examine local problems.

Regarding his electoral victory for the presidency, he noted, "This government has risen from people's prayers.

"Someone even told me that he had vowed to say Salavats (a one-line formula to praise the Prophet Muhammad) as many times as my electoral votes count," Ahmadinejad said, referring to his June 2005 win by more than 17 million votes over pragmatist cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.