PURSUING a nuclear programme is one thing; flaunting it the wrong way, especially when Iran’s uranium processing is being viewed with suspicion in the West, quite another. Addressing a public rally to mark the 33rd anniversary of his country’s Islamic revolution on Saturday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he would soon announce the advances made by Iran in its nuclear programme. The rally chanted anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans and waved flags as the president spoke of Iran’s “major nuclear achievements”. Among the guests was Ismail Haniye, the Hamas leader, who heads the Gaza administration independent of the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas. One reason for the president’s nuclear rhetoric could be to woo voters for the parliamentary elections next month. They will be a crucial test for his popularity, because the March election is the first voting exercise after the 2009 presidential contest in which Mr Ahmadinejad defeated Mir-Hossein Mousavi, triggering months of protests by the reformists, who alleged that the polls were rigged. The anniversary and the speech also came in the midst of rising tensions with the West.

Recently, America and the European Union put Iran under a fresh layer of sanctions. While the sanctions do bite, Iran has managed to keep the economy going. Israel, meanwhile, has not helped matters by threatening armed action “this spring”. Given the Iranian regime’s ideological commitment, it has vowed to retaliate. While an attack on Iran by Israel and/or America will be a mistake of monstrous proportions, the clergy-led Ahmadinejad regime should also realise that a high-profile confrontation with the West is not in Iran’s interest, its right to nuclear energy notwithstanding. Mr Haniye’s presence at the rally could be misunderstood and lend credence to western apprehensions about the use Iran’s nuclear power could be put to.