The video begins like the usual films from the president’s visits to the provinces. He is seen riding down a street standing in a white car and waving from the sunroof.
The first point notable in this video is that the street crowd is very thin. There is no way of knowing if this was just a short part of the ride and that crowds were elsewhere, or if these provincial visits are no longer the great draw they were in earlier years. The president is now on his third round of provincial visits, so many of these cities have seen him twice before.
An elderly man then appears at the right front fender of the car and begins shouting, “Mr. Ahmadi-nejad, I am hungry.” He shouts that loudly over and over again like a broken record.
Some of the crowd members that surround the president begin to chant regime slogans, seemingly embarrassed by the man and trying to drown him out.
In the midst of this, a girl who appears to be in her mid-teens steps in front of the car, which has now stopped. She climbs on the hood. A guard reaches over and grabs her by the leg, but she somehow gets out of his grasp.
She is wearing jeans and a headscarf and does not appear to be working class like the hungry man.
She then climbs onto the roof of the car and sits there almost nose-to-nose with the president. What she is saying cannot be heard, but the president listens and nods. She is gesticulating, but appears persistent, not angry.
The president then turns to the three guards sitting behind him on the sunroof, says something and turns back to the girl. She stands up and steps into the car through the sunroof. The car then drives off while the old man is still shouting “I am hungry” and pounding on the hood of the car.
The president did not appear upset by any of this.
His visits have become a draw for the poor who are seeking relief. At his speeches, people frequently shout out personal requests. They have been told to write letters to the president and, at these speeches, men are sent through the crowds with bags in which to collect the letters. The president often interrupts his speeches to explain to shouting audience members to give their letters to the men with bags.
The president’s aide who is in charge of dealing with all these letters said a few years ago that the bulk of them ask for money or implore the president to give them a job.