The Confederate States of America was formed 150 years ago this year, and crushed after a bloody war 146 years ago.
In a speech in Chabahar Monday, Ahmadi-nejad accused the West of “tearing apart” Sudan while rejecting demands from separatists on their own soil.
A referendum in southern Sudan earlier this year overwhelmingly endorsed independence, which is to be formally proclaimed Saturday. The referendum was urged by a number of western states as a way to end four decades of bloody civil war. It was accepted by the national government in Khartoum.
Northern Sudan is overwhelmingly Muslim, while the south is largely Christian and animist.
“Enemies want to tear apart Sudan,” Ahmadi-nejad said. “Look at those who are concerned about realizing the rights of a group of Sudanese people who are seeking to declare the south as independent. Why do they not share that concern for the people of Spain’s Basque country, Northern Ireland, France’s Corsica or the southern states of America?”
He asked, “Why don’t they hold referendums there?”
“Allow the Irish who have been fighting for 100 to 300 years to hold a referendum,… also in the Basque area and Corsica where people have been fighting for decades and do not want you. Let the people vote,” Ahmadi-nejad said.
Indeed, no state in the United States has a right to secede. The Civil War determined on the battlefield the answer to the debate over whether the United States was a compact that states could enter and leave at will or a permanent union. But beyond that legal issue, the US Civil War was chiefly driven by the issue of slavery. Ahmadi-nejad did not say where he stood on that question.
As for Ireland, it won its independence in 1922 through warfare. Protestant areas of Northern Ireland stayed part of Britain and British law states that they can be amalgamated to the Free State of Ireland only as a result of a referendum. The fear of Protestants in Northern Ireland was that they would be abandoned by Britain.
Spain has barred a referendum in Basque areas, but it has granted considerable autonomy and a Basque nationalist party won all elections and ran the region from 1980 until 2009 when it was ousted by the rival socialist party.
As for Corsica, the Corsica Libera (Free Corsica) party won 18.4 percent of the votes in last year’s regional elections.
Ahmadi-nejad did not mention holding referenda in any ethnic minority areas of the Islamic Republic where Kurds or Baluchis predominate.