Fairfax country fire Dept in Bam in 2003, Iran
USAF joined the rescue efforts during the Bam quake, Dec 05
Posted on 08/30/2005 3:05:55 PM PDT by F14 Pilot
Iran expresses grief at deaths of American people by Hurricane Katrina disaster
Iran-US-Condolence
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi on Tuesday expressed grief at deaths of people in the United States caused by Hurricane Katrina.
He said that Iranian nation and government sympathize with American people especially the bereaved families of the natural disaster.
He hoped that situation in the flood hit states of America would return to normal soon.
At least 50 people died in Mississippi and flood waters poured into low-lying New Orleans through levees battered by powerful Hurricane Katrina.
Fairfax country fire Dept in Bam in 2003, Iran
USAF joined the rescue efforts during the Bam quake, Dec 05
Chavez did it simply because of Jackson's photo op visit, it's a joke and about as sincere as an offer of help from Kim Jong IL.
LVM
Maybe he so ronery.
I don't doubt for a minute the Iranian people have sympathy, but the Iranian government expressing sympathy rings hollow.
Gee, thanks for coming over from DU to blame Bush for the disaster!
Those friendly Iranians
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF in Tehran
Published: May 5, 2004
The New York Times
Finally, I've found a pro-American country.
Everywhere I've gone in Iran, with one exception, people have been exceptionally friendly and fulsome in their praise for the United States, and often for President Bush as well. Even when I was detained a couple of days ago in the city of Isfahan for asking a group of young people whether they thought the Islamic revolution had been a mistake (they did), the police were courteous and let me go after an apology.
They apologized; I didn't.
On my first day in Tehran, I dropped by the "Den of Spies," as the old U.S. Embassy is now called. It's covered with ferocious murals denouncing America as the "Great Satan" and the "archvillain of nations" and showing the Statue of Liberty as a skull (tour the "Den of Spies" here).
Then I stopped to chat with one of the Revolutionary Guards now based in the complex. He was a young man who quickly confessed that his favorite movie is " Titanic." "If I could manage it, I'd go to America tomorrow," he said wistfully.
He paused and added, "To hell with the mullahs."
In the 1960's and 1970's, the U.S. spent millions backing a pro-Western modernizing shah ˜ and the result was an outpouring of venom that led to our diplomats' being held hostage. Since then, Iran has been ruled by mullahs who despise everything we stand for ˜ and now people stop me in the bazaar to offer paeans to America as well as George Bush.
Partly because being pro-American is a way to take a swipe at the Iranian regime, anything American, from blue jeans to "Baywatch," is revered. At the bookshops, Hillary Clinton gazes out from three different pirated editions of her autobiography.
`It's a best seller, though it's not selling as well as Harry Potter," said Heidar Danesh, a bookseller in Tehran. "The other best-selling authors are John Grisham, Sidney Sheldon, Danielle Steel."
Young Iranians keep popping the question, "So how can I get to the U.S.?"
I ask why they want to go to a nation denounced for its "disgustingly sick promiscuous behavior," but that turns out to be a main attraction. And many people don't believe a word of the Iranian propaganda.
" We've learned to interpret just the opposite of things on TV because it's all lies," said Odan Seyyid Ashrafi, a 20-year-old university student. "So if it says America is awful, maybe that means it's a great place to live."
Indeed, many Iranians seem convinced that the U.S. military ventures in Afghanistan and Iraq are going great, and they say this with more conviction than your average White House spokesman.
One opinion poll showed that 74 percent of Iranians want a dialogue with the U.S. ˜ and the finding so irritated the authorities that they arrested the pollster. Iran is also the only Muslim country I know where citizens responded to the 9/11 attacks with a spontaneous candlelight vigil as a show of sympathy.
Iran-U.S. relations are now headed for a crisis over Tehran's nuclear program, which appears to be so advanced that Iran could produce its first bomb by the end of next year. The Bush administration is right to address this issue, but it needs to step very carefully to keep from inflaming Iranian nationalism and uniting the population behind the regime. We need to lay out the evidence on satellite television programs that are broadcast into Iran, emphasizing that the regime is squandering money on a nuclear weapons program that will further isolate Iranians and damage their economy.
Left to its own devices, the Islamic revolution is headed for collapse, and there is a better chance of a strongly pro-American democratic government in Tehran in a decade than in Baghdad. The ayatollahs' best hope is that hard-liners in Washington will continue their inept diplomacy, creating a wave of Iranian nationalism that bolsters the regime ˜ as happened to a lesser degree after President Bush put Iran in the axis of evil.
Oh, that one instance when I was treated inhospitably? That was in a teahouse near the Isfahan bazaar, where I was interviewing religious conservatives. They were warm and friendly, but a group of people two tables away went out of their way to be rude, yelling at me for being an American propagandist. So I finally encountered hostility in Iran ˜ from a table full of young Europeans.
http://www.iranian.com/RoozbehShirazi/2004/May/NYT/index2.html
Mexico is sending thousands of folks every day, the final destination is a little confused.
Thank you Iran, for noticing, and the well-wishes for our Gulf coast citizens.
Is this the first comment from a foreign nation? Its the first I've seen.
Tehran, Mohseni Square, September 18, 2001: Iranians hold candles in memory of victims of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The crowd shouted "death to terrorists".
nevermind, Chavez, oh yeah.
Weird, even if it is political posturing.
A condolence book sits in front of U.S and Swiss flags in Switzerland's embassy which is in the U.S interests section in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Sept. 16, 2001, to pay tribute to the victims of Tuesday's terrorist attacks in the U.S.
Great article, thanks for sharing it.
Germany and most of the other countries have been commenting all day about how its all America's fault because we won't sign the Kyoto treaty, etc,e tc...
heartfelt sincerity, I'm sure
Unfortunately the Pic you and I were looking for is removed from its host server.
Iranians Welcome U.S. Aid Team with Open Arms
"For Americans to come here and help us in such a situation, I really appreciate it and all Iranians appreciate it," said Shi'ite Muslim cleric Sheikh Ahmad Faiz, as a U.S. team erected a tent bearing a large U.S. flag. -Reuters - 12/31/03
I doubt there is anything the rescue effort needs that the US hasn't already got in enough supply. Also of course the resources the US has can be moved in much faster.
I would support shipping you guys some gasoline, but I wonder how useful it would be by the time it got there.
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