Posted on 01/05/2007 11:12:05 AM PST by Barte45
It is a rumor circulating in Tehran, Amir Taheri told Richard Miniter, PJM Washington editor. There is no way to know if it is true.
Taheri was responding to a Pajamas Media post yesterday of a report as yet unconfirmed that Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead.
Taheri is an Iranian-born journalist with a wide range of sources inside and outside of his former homeland. He was executive editor-in-chief of Kayhan, Irans most read newspaper, from 1972 to 1979. Later, he joined the staffs of Britains Sunday Times and Germanys Die Welt. Today, he is columnist for the New York Post. Pajamas Media tracked him down in London.
Under Islamic law, any corpse must be buried no later than the sundown after the day of death. So Irans state-run media would have to make some statement soon, if the Islamic Republics Supreme Guide were indeed dead, Taheri said.
Is it possible that Khamenei could be buried without an official announcement? That is one explanation, he said.
He added that Irans Assembly of Expertsthe elected body that would choose a new Supreme Guide if Khamenei is indeed deadwill not be sworn in for several weeks. Iran may want to project stability and calm while it selects a new leader.
On balance, Taheri was confident that Khamenei was suffering from cancer but skeptical that he had died.
Happy trails!
Is this the same guy mentioned yesterday or a different one?
If different it sounds like Ahmanutjob is knocking off his adversaries one by one...
PBUH: Piece of Bacon Upon Him.
This was up last night too.
Sure there is. Just show him!..........
I thought this was reported yesterday. Must have got my Khameini's mixed up .
With the less extreme islamists elected in the last election in Iran, this could somehow be a good thing. The next ayatollah might be less extreme and keep ahmadinewhackjob on a tighter leash
Get back with us when all is confirmed.
I searhced to check anything on this but found nothing so I just posted this off PJM. Sorry
To compare Congress to drunken sailors is an insult to drunken sailors. - Ronald W. Reagan
and i WAS one, so am deeply saddened/shocked/offended/appalled, etc.
not a congress, that is.
BFD
Fire up the furnaces in Hell. He is on his way.
United Press International - Intl. Intelligence - Iran:
Iran: Reports supreme leader dead false
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Iran's ambassador to the United Nations says there is no truth to reports his nation's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-Khamenei, has died.
Reports had surfaced on the internet Friday the 67 year-old Khamenei died. There were reports last month he was seriously ill.
But, Javad Zarif, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, told United Press International, "There is no truth to that" when asked about the reports.
Khamenei has been Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran since 1989.
The former Persia became a republic in 1979 when conservative clerical forces established a theocratic system of government. The unltimate political authority was put in the hands of a senior religious scholar, in this case, Khamenei.
http://www.upi.com/InternationalIntelligence/view.php?StoryID=20070105-122356-8351r
CART MASTER:
'Ere. He says he's not dead!
CUSTOMER:
Yes, he is.
DEAD PERSON:
I'm not!
CART MASTER:
He isn't?
CUSTOMER:
Well, he will be soon. He's very ill.
DEAD PERSON:
I'm getting better!
CUSTOMER:
No, you're not. You'll be stone dead in a moment.
CART MASTER:
Oh, I can't take him like that. It's against regulations.
DEAD PERSON:
I don't want to go on the cart!
CUSTOMER:
Oh, don't be such a baby.
From Monty Python "Bring Out Your Dead"
It would be pretty cool to see his miserable corpse fall out of the casket like what happened to Khomeini.
Huh?
Perhaps Iran is sniffing for revolutionaries -- observe who muscles for power now, and then cut off their heads when the president turns up still living.
PJ Media starting to back away from the rumors, it seems.
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