Fancy worldwide recognition? Do something drastic and controversial.

Precisely what President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran did in New York recently.

When he won a landslide victory in the presidential elections three months back, journalists around the globe could hardly spell his name.

He did not receive the due attention until a few weeks later, when suspicion of his close involvement in the 1979 hostage crisis in Tehran surfaced, an allegation that has been strenuously denied by both his allies and foes within and without Iran.