Posted on 06/16/2005 6:36:35 PM PDT by nuconvert
Testimony
Ayatollah Dr. Mehdi Haeri Khorshidi
Iranian National Conference
Committee on International Relations
U.S. House of Representatives
Iran Sanctions Act - One Year Later
July 23, 1997
(excerpt)
I speak here today on behalf of all the Iranian people who yearn for freedom, not for any single group or organization.
It is not without considerable personal risk that I have come here today for we all are only too well aware of the Tehran regime's penchant for assassinating its opponents and critics, but the work you and we are doing is of greater importance than one man and must not be stopped by threats and intimidation.
I appear here before you, an Iranian, a son of a deeply religious family, who spent most of his life in religious studies in the holy cities, particularly Qom and Najaf, where I was a disciple of Ayatollah Khamenehi and a classmate of President- Elect Khatami. I willingly relinquished my high position in the Court of Ayatollah Khamenehi, who we thought would become a new Ghandi but turned out to be a Nero, and went to prison because I dared to write a book about the absolute necessity to separate religion from the state if we Iranians wish to protect and preserve the dignity of Islam, the true teachings of the Holy Koran, the integrity of our homeland and our ancient civilization. I spent four years in prison before I managed to escape to Germany, where, mercifully, I was given sanctuary. "
""The 20 million voters who represent 69.5 percent of the Iranian electorate did not vote for Mr. Khatami but against Ayatollah Khamenehi, the so-called Divine Guide who, according to the present Constitution, still wields absolute authority in Iran, and will continue to do so until the people of Iran will tell him "No more" --
*No more spending billions of dollars to obtain weapons of mass destruction,
*No more use of state terror, no more torture and assassination of dissidents,
*No more spending enormous funds to propagate terrorist movements all over the globe,
*No more of subverting the regimes in Algeria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf states, and
*No more financial military support for Hizbullah in Lebanon and Palestinian extremists of Jihad, and Hammas who, at the behest of the present rulers of Tehran, do their utmost to subvert the Peace Process in the Middle East. The vast majority of the people in Iran do not want these dangerous policies, they do not subscribe to them and they abhor those who have devised them and try to spread the madness.
While the rulers in Iran today may believe that what they are preaching and practicing is an obligation ordained by God, I am here to tell you that by pursuing those policies of hatred and destruction which they believe in, they are sinning against God, they are committing sacrilege, they defame Islam and cause millions of people to run away from it. From my intimate personal knowledge of the present rulers of Iran, I can assure you that these are certainly not people one can hope to conduct a rational dialogue with." "What we seek is to do away with this madness and return to our deserted mosques, pray and let the people of Iran freely elect their representatives and leaders in a truly democratic way so that they may lead Iran out of the darkness of the Middle Ages and back into the family of nations, to once again become a respected and honorable member of the world community in which an Iranian passport is not considered a document issued by a rogue state."
(snip)
pong
Bump bookmark
I believe he teaches at Harvard University on Islamic history
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