Ahmadinejad Nearly Shot: Did Washington Call A Hit On Enemy Leader?

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was nearly shot by the United States Secret Service a short while back. A new book, "Deep State," written by Marc Ambinder and D.B. Grady, says that in 2006, Ahmadinejad and his security were loading their motorcade at the InterContinental Hotel in New York during a United Nations assembly in 2006.

Ahmadinejad was preparing to leave to drive to the United Nations complex on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. President George W. Bush's Secret Service detail was making final preparations to follow suit as well. Ambinder and Gray reported that while a Secret Service agent was adjusting a shotgun mounted to President Bush's limousine, it accidentally discharged in the direction of the Iranians.

In a surprising turn, the oft-anti-American Islamic leader seemed to brush off the near-fatal incident: "Everyone just stopped," the official cited in the book told Ambinder and Gray. "The Iranians looked at us and we looked at the Iranians. The agent began to apologize. Ahmadinejad just turned his head and got into his car."

The Secret Service was expecting a public relations nightmare upon Ahmadinejad nearly being shot. But the leader's alleged nonchalant response allowed both parties to save face.

Ahmadinejad is known for his rants against the United States. Whenever the Iranian leader rages on-stage at the United Nations, the Americans, Canadians and their allies often leave the room in silent protest. Officials were likely expecting a harsh tirade by Ahmadinejad against the so-called "Great Satan."

The lack of response from Ahmadinejad or his associates may be easily explained: The event never happened. Followingthe release of excerpts of "Deep State," Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan told the Daily Caller that the tale is "not accurate at all." Donovan claimed the event the anonymous official allegedly hyperbolized in the book happened a year later.

Donovan said that an agent assigned to protect the Iranian entourage accidentally as they arrived at the United Nations accidentally discharged a gun "into the floorboard of a Secret Service vehicle." He said the area was secure and none of the Iranian leadership was in the area when the gun fired. Does this explain why Ahmadinejad has never referenced the alleged incident? Or, is the bombastic Iranian leader more pragmatic than he appears in his public persona?