M.I.A.

Ahmadinejad Heads to Russia

Ignores Iran protests in address to summit.

Iran may be convulsing with violence, but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is proceeding as if nothing's wrong. He arrived in Russia for a summit of regional leaders on Tuesday, where Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao rushed to congratulate him on his re-election. The controversial president then spoke at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, but made no mention of mass protests—or allegations that he'd rigged the election—in his country. "America is in the grip of political and economic crisis," he said at the summit. "The United States and its allies are unable to deal with the crisis." He added: "It is absolutely obvious that the age of empires has ended and its revival will not take place."