TOOK LONG ENOUGH FOR THE WEST TO REALIZE HE'S THE GUARDIAN'S ENEMY:

[I]n recent months he has surprised his many critics in the West by challenging his enemies, sometimes in ways that are shockingly public.

In February, during a session of Parliament that was broadcast nationwide, he showed a secretly taped video of a meeting between one of his allies and Fazel Larijani, the youngest of five influential brothers closely associated with the traditionalists, who Mr. Ahmadinejad said was proposing fraudulent business deals.

At the funeral ofHugo Chávez, the Venezuelan leader, he was photographed embracing the former president's mother, a display that was denounced by the clerics, who forbid physical contact between unmarried men and women who are not closely related. But urban Iranians, many of whom have moved far beyond the social restrictions set by the Islamic republic, viewed his action as a simple gesture of friendship.

Despite his early advocacy of Islam's role in daily affairs, the president is now positioning himself as a champion of citizens' rights. "He more and more resembles a normal person," said Hamed, a 28-year-old driver in Tehran who did not want his last name used. "He doesn't allow them to tell him what to do."

In speeches, he favors the "nation" and the "people" over the "ummah," or community of believers, a term preferred by Iran's clerics, who constantly guard against any revival of pre-Islamic nationalism. He has also said he is ready for talks with the United States, something other Iranian leaders strongly oppose under current circumstances.

Mr. Ahmadinejad regularly brings up the topic of corruption by other officials, and he hints that they have accumulated wealth and power because of their positions. "Some of the relationships, which had been formed as a result of groupings and power-mongering pursuits in the country, have come to an end, and with the help of God will be purged from the revolution and the holy Islamic republic," he asserted recently.

The president has also taken to using the slogan "long live spring" in his speeches, which some have interpreted as an allusion to the Arab Spring uprisings. "This way of thinking and talking about 'Human Awakening' is political mischief and dangerous," one newspaper wrote in an editorial.

Follow @brothersjudd