BBC: Iran hardliners condemn Khatami - ( dispute over "exporting the revolution")

BBC ^ | Tuesday, 6 May 2008 17:49 UK 16:49 GMT, | BBC Staff

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Iran hardliners condemn Khatami

Mr Khatami has said his remarks were not directed at Iranian policy

Members of Iran's parliament have made a formal complaint to the intelligence minister over remarks made by former President Mohammad Khatami.

On Friday Mr Khatami said the Islamic republic's founder, Ayatollah Khomeini, had not wanted to export the revolution by armed force.

The MPs accuse him of jeopardising national security and want to know if he had clearance to make the remarks.

They say his comments implicate Iran in events it has had no role in.

'Sabotage?'

Mr Khatami's remarks have been interpreted as suggesting that Iran supports insurgents in other countries.

"What did the Imam [Khomenei] mean by exporting the revolution?" he asked in a speech on Friday to university students.

"Did he mean that we take up arms, that we blow up places in other nations and we create groups to carry out sabotage in other countries? The Imam was vehemently against this and was confronting it," he said.

Ayatollah Khomeini founded the Islamic republic in 1979

His remarks have been condemned in Iran's conservative media as an attack on the country's Islamist system of government.

Mr Khatami has said his words were not directed at Iranian policy.

The United States accuses Iran of training, arming and supporting Shia militias in Iraq, and of destabilising Lebanon through the militant group Hezbollah.

Tehran denies the charges, saying it is interference from other countries that is causing trouble in Iraq and Lebanon.

Hezbollah was formed with financial backing from Iran in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

Mohammad Khatami was president of Iran from 1997-2005 and was succeeded by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a conservative.

Mr Ahmadinejad is expected to run for a second term next year.

Hardliners strengthened their hold on Iran's parliament in elections in March and April.

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So what is the complaint about?

Did he expose something?

[SolidWood]

Iran's conservative media

Haha. There is a joke somewhere in it. But then it's from the BBC.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I think in Iran, conservative has a whole different meaning.

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Guess AFP has a similar story:

Iran ex-president rebuked over insurgent remarks

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2 days ago

TEHRAN (AFP) — Former Iranian president Mohamad Khatami was under fire from hardliners on Monday after comments interpreted as accusing the country's clerical leaders of supporting insurgents in the Middle East.

The hardline Kayhan newspaper accused the reformist Khatami of tarnishing the Islamic republic's reputation by implying it was carrying out "sabotage" work in other countries through insurgent groups.

In his speech, Khatami referred to the ambition of Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to export the 1979 Islamic revolution around the world, but expressed fear this wish was being distorted.

"What did the imam (Khomeini) mean by exporting the revolution?" he asked in the speech Friday to university students in the northern province of Gilan, according to the Kargozaran newspaper.

"Did he mean that we take up arms, that we blow up places in other nations and we create groups to carry out sabotage in other countries? The imam was vehemently against this and was confronting it," he added.

His speech has been seen by some observers as accusing the Iranian authorities of encouraging militants to destabilize the Middle East, in particular Iraq and Lebanon.

The controversy comes at a particularly sensitive moment.

The United States has stepped up accusations that Shiite-majority Iran is arming and training Shiite militias in Iraq and is working to destabilise Lebanon through the Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

A high-ranking Iraqi parliamentary delegation visited Iran last week in an apparent bid to end clashes between the security forces and Shiite militiamen loyal to anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Sadr is believed to be studying in the Iranian clerical centre of Qom but Tehran has always refused to confirm his presence.

"It is obvious that Mr Khatami must answer for his anti-patriotic comments and explain why he has taken such a stance," said Kayhan, whose editor-in-chief is appointed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"Its only consequence has been to tarnish the shining reputation of the Islamic republic and its system, and confirm the baseless accusations of the arrogant powers," Kayhan said.

The government daily Iran also expressed concern about the speech. "US media used Khatami's comments as a pretext for bringing up the US claims against Iran," it said.

A hardline MP also hit out at the former president "whose comments have been exploited by the enemy," the hardline website Rajanews reported.

"Mr Khatami has not differentiated between the criminal acts of the Taliban and the martyr operations of Lebanon's Hezbollah or Muslim fighters in Palestine," Mehdi Kouchakzadeh was quoted as saying.

"Mr Khatami has to make it clear whether using fervent martyrdom-seeking young men to combat occupiers is an ugly and violent act or a fully human and admirable one?" demanded the MP.

Conservative website Tabnak also accused Saudi-funded news channel Al-Arabiya of distorting the speech by representing it as an accusation that Iran "exports violence and crisis to other nations".

Iran vehemently denies the charges it is destabilising Lebanon and Iraq saying that foreign intervention in both nations are the root cause of their crises.

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Senior Iraqi Official: Terrorism in Middle East Can Be Eradicated Only With Regional Cooperation – But Syria, Iran Are Assisting the Terrorists

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In an interview with the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Iraqi National Security Advisor Dr.Muwaffaq Al-Rubai'i stated that terrorism in the Middle East could only be eradicated through regional cooperation, but that this goal could not be attained as long as Iran and Syria continued to support the terrorists. He added that despite Syria's claims to the contrary, Iraq had definite information that 'Izzat Al-Douri, former deputy to Saddam Hussein, was living in Syria and funding terrorist activities. Al-Rubai'i also said that the Mahdi Army was being run by Iran and is serving Iran's interests.

The following are excerpts from the interview: [1]

We Call for a Regional Agreement, Alliance or Memorandum of Understanding on Combating Terrorism

"The main threat to Iraq's national security is posed by Al-Qaeda and its proxies, [namely] the misguided groups that accuse other [Muslims] of heresy and want to take us back to the Stone Age - those who call themselves 'the resistance'... There is [such a thing as] legitimate resistance... but what kind of resistance [movement] kills Iraqi policemen and soldiers, or carries out bombings in markets and mosques, killing innocent people?...

"In the past, the militias [in Iraq] received large quantities of weapons from Iran, as well as training, gear and expertise. Today, Iran provides fewer weapons [to the militias], but I [nevertheless] say that it is capable of doing more to preserve the stability of Iraq [in terms of] security, and to stem the flow of weapons from Iran to Iraq... [However,] its ultimate goal is to have Iraq ruled by a sectarian pro-Iranian Shi'ite government. This will never come to be, [because] the Iraqi Shi'ites - who constitute the majority in Iraq and will continue to rule it - are proud Arab Shi'ites: proud to belong to the Arab Muslim nation, proud of their Arab identity and proud of their ties with the [Gulf] Cooperation Council countries. Iraq is an important part of the Arab nation, and will never sever itself [from this nation]. I, [as a Shi'ite], feel like part of this nation, and I will never feel different.

"Iran's policy towards Al-Qaeda is complicated... For example, Iran has detained nearly 100 senior Al-Qaeda operatives who [entered the country] from Afghanistan - Saudis, Moroccans, Yemenis, and Algerians. Some are under house arrest. We offered the Iranians our participation in obtaining information from these senior operatives... which would help us track down Al-Qaeda members [in Iraq], but they refused...

"We in Iraq call for a regional agreement, alliance or memorandum of understanding on combating terrorism... We believe that the only way to eradicate terrorism in the area is to form a regional alliance [committed to] seriously combating terrorism, which would include Iraq and all the neighboring countries, [namely] Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Iran and Turkey. This alliance would declare war on terror just as the U.S. has declared global war on terror. The Sunni and Shi'ite terrorists can only be eradicated through a joint regional effort. If [even] one country in the region tries to shirk this war, allowing some terrorist organization to operate, the efforts of all the other countries will be in vain...

"For example, when the Iraqi [security forces] apprehend terrorists who come from North Africa or Saudi Arabia, and... obtain information from them, our information remains incomplete, because it comes from [only] one [source]. We do not know who trained them, who funded them, who sent them, who provided logistic assistance and supplied them with information, and who issued the fatwa [permitting them] to blow themselves up. This is no simple problem. Imagine, there was a group of 40 terrorists who all came from one small village called Darnah in Libya. Who was behind them? How is it that they were all from the same village? Obviously, someone was behind them. Someone issued the fatwa, [and then] recruited and funded them so they could come to Iraq. We believe that there must be regional or other cooperation in order to obtain the information [needed] to combat terrorism..."

"Death Comes [to Iraq] from Syria"

"Our cooperation with Saudi Arabia on these matters is exemplary... when it comes to the movement of individuals or funds; we have a hotline [for sharing information]. We exchange prisoners and analyses of data, and in the future there will be [Iraqi] liaison officers in Saudi Arabia and Saudi liaison officers in Iraq...

"As for Syria - in the past, about 110 terrorists entered Iraq from Syria every month, but now this [figure] has dropped. We believe that if the Syrian security apparatuses made serious efforts, they could have stopped the stream of suicide bombers infiltrating Iraq. The suicide bombers who now enter Iraq... - whether they come from the Maghreb, Sudan, Yemen or the Gulf - all enter the country through Syria... The Syrians know everything; this could not be happening without their knowledge... Stability in Iraq is regarded as a triumph for democracy and freedom, [but the Syrians] see it as a triumph for the Americans in the region... and that frightens them..."

Interviewer: "Where do you assume [Saddam Hussein's former deputy] 'Izzat Al-Douri is [today]?'"

Al-Rubai'i: "It is not an assumption, we have confirmed and accurate information. We know that 'Izzat Al-Douri is in Syria, that he is funding numerous terrorist elements, and that he heads a group of Ba'th [supporters] who wish to restore the false glory of Saddam Hussein's era [by restoring the Ba'th regime in Iraq]. We approached senior figures in the Syrian [regime] several times, [but] they denied that Al-Douri was in Syria, even though we had proof...

"We believe that political dialogue is the way to resolve [the differences] with our [Arab] brothers, [because] the Arab peoples have [joint] interests... However, the situation today is that death comes to us from Syria..."

Iran is Behind the Mahdi Army

Regarding the threats made by Muqtada Al-Sadr, the leader of the Sadrist movement, to launch an open war against the Iraqi government, Al-Rubai'i said: "If he does this by turning weapons on the legitimate government... this government will perform its duty: [it will] enforce law and order, [grant] security to the people, and eliminate the terrorism to which they are subjected in every place, region or institution where [this terrorism] exists... [2] [The Mahdi Army] is a small group whose interests are linked to external [forces] and which is operated by external [forces]... Yes, I mean Iran."

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[1] Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (London), April 23, 2008.

[2] On April 17, 2008, the liberal Arab e-journal Elaph posted an interview with Qassem Ata, spokesman for the Baghdad Law Enforcement campaign, in which he described the achievements of this campaign: "The Law Enforcement campaign was launched in February 14, 2007... In the year since, the security apparatuses have managed to attain numerous tangible achievements... Areas that used to be hotbeds [of violence] are now quiet, or at least relatively so... Before the beginning of the campaign, the number of [terror] victims in Baghdad alone reached an average of 180 per day, and now the figure has dropped to eight per day at most... The eviction of families has stopped, and residents are returning to their homes; the fear of civil war has been completely allayed; services have been renewed; life at the universities, educational facilities, and government offices has returned to normal. We have opened police stations in areas where [previously] there was no security...

"We are dismantling and destroying the terror networks by deploying security forces throughout Baghdad. We have arrested hundreds of Al-Qaeda commanders and killed many [Al-Qaeda operatives]; others have been forced to flee the country... Pockets of Al-Qaeda [fighters] in Baghdad are looking for a chance to regroup... and to start [carrying out] terrorist operations in various parts of the capital - but [thanks to] the deployment of the military units, the cooperation of the citizenry and the Awakening forces, and the role played by the clerics, Al-Qaeda is being eliminated... Security has not yet been fully restored in Baghdad... since not all stages of the Law Enforcement campaign have been completed."

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More from the LWJ Sidebar:

Iraq readies arms case against Iran

************************************EXCERPT**********************

By Sara A. Carter
May 7, 2008

Samir Sumaida'ie, Iraq's ambassador to the U.S., meets with editors and reporters of The Washington Times.

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Iraq's ambassador to the U.S. said yesterday that a high-level committee will investigate Iran's role in arms trafficking across his country's borders, after the discovery of large caches of weapons and explosive devices recently manufactured in Iran.

"It's a bit disingenuous to believe such quantities of up-to-date weapons manufactured this year, last year, can flow into the country without the knowledge of the Iranian government," Ambassador Samir Sumaida'ie told editors and reporters at The Washington Times.

"However, I understand that the prime minister ordered the formation of the committee only in the last 48 hours to put facts together, to establish where the connection is between these weapons and evidence of training so that we can basically confront our Iranian neighbors," he said.

TWT Video: Iraqi ambassador on Iran, oil and U.S. politics

Mr. Sumaida'ie said the Iraqi investigative committee, appointed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, will include the ministers of interior and defense and will gauge the full facts of the situation.

The committee was established on the heels of a parliamentary delegation that traveled to Tehran last week claiming to have evidence that Iran was providing mortars, rockets, small arms and armor-piercing roadside bombs known as explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs, that troops have discovered in recent months.

Iranian officials have denied accusations that they are supplying weapons to militias in Iraq.

[SolidWood]

This is like calling the Nazis “conservative”. They are extremists. They are stone-age radicals who came to power through revolution, violently broke with Iran’s 2500 year old past, and replaced it with a mix of socialism and islamism with a third-worldist bent. There is nothing conservative about it, even for Iranian standards, except one argues that keeping “status quo” per se is conservative. One might argue that it is moot, since even many Iranians call this “conservative” and given the changed political atmosphere post-1979. However if there is any element among Iranians that would be justly considered conservative it ought to be the Monarchists. Well, I don’t want to get carried away with that argument, but IMO the media’s use of conservative to describe the regime in Iran should raise eyebrow nonetheless.

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Foxnews brief:

Report: Al Qaeda in Iraq Leader Identified With Photo

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CAIRO, Egypt — Al-Arabiya television reports it has identified the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq and the network broadcast his photograph

.

an Iraqi police official, said the real name of al-Baghdadi is Hamid Dawoud al-Zawi.

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Another item ...this from Foxnews:

Report: Al Qaeda-Linked Militant Says Iran Supports Sunni Fighters in Iraq

******************************EXCERPT**********************

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

KUWAIT CITY — A Sunni fundamentalist from Kuwait who has been linked by the United Nations and the United States to Al Qaeda, said in an interview published Wednesday that Iran is supporting Sunni Arab insurgents fighting American troops in Iraq.

The comments by Mubarak al-Bathali came just days after reports surfaced here that three Kuwaitis recently carried out suicide bombings in Iraq, including a Kuwaiti who was a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner. Kuwaiti authorities have not confirmed those reports.

The U.S. has accused Iran — which is predominantly Shiite like Iraq — of supporting Shiite militias in Iraq. Iran denies this and blames the U.S. troops presence for the violence in Iraq.

The accusations by al-Bathali were a rare occasion that a Sunni fundamentalist claimed Tehran also backs Sunni extremists, linked to Al Qaeda. In the battlefields of Iraq, Sunnis and Shiites are archenemies.

In the interview in Kuwaiti Al-Qabas daily, al-Bathali said that Tehran is supplying Al Qaeda fighters and other Jihad movements in Iraq with "weapons and money" and claimed he has personally sent fighters to Iraq by way of Syria.

Al-Bathali alleged that Iran's motivation for backing both the Sunnis and Shiites opposed to Washington, was because Tehran is eager to "place hurdles in front of America" so that the U.S. would be "too busy to fight" Iran. He also said Iran facilitates the entry of fighters into Iraq and Afghanistan.

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More from LWJ Sidebar of news items:

Iraq Sunnis urge Arabs to act against 'Iranian occupation'

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Members of the Sunni Anbar Awakening and US army soldiers stand alert in al-Duwanem, south of Baghdad

1 hour ago

CAIRO (AFP) — An Iraqi Sunni delegation on a visit to Cairo on Wednesday urged Arab countries to act against what it called the "Iranian occupation" of Iraq.

"We would like a common Arab position to save Iraq and its people ...(in the face of) the Iranian occupation," Sheikh Majid Abdel Razzak al-Ali Suleiman said after a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit.

"Such an Arab position, led by Egypt, is necessary to weaken Iran's role in Iraq, because if Tehran occupies this country, it will occupy other Arab countries too," said the head of the Dulaim tribe, which is concentrated mainly in Anbar province, west of Baghdad.

Sunni tribes from Anbar, a onetime stronghold of the anti-US insurgency, have recently allied themselves with US troops against Al-Qaeda militants, while keeping their distance from the Baghdad government dominated by Shiites.

The delegation also called on Arab countries to re-open their missions in Baghdad "so that the territory is not left to Iran."

Suleiman said that all Iraqis, whether from north or south, "are ready to guarantee Arab diplomats' security."

For his part, Abul Gheit said his country was seriously considering sending a security mission to Iraq in order to assess conditions for re-opening an embassy in Iraq, according to his spokesman Hossam Zaki.

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I think I’ll post this AFP Report as a thread also....

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NY Times uses conservative also ...FR Thread:

Iran: What Does ‘Exporting the Revolution’ Mean?

[DJ Elliott]

“Report: Al Qaeda in Iraq Leader Identified With Photo”

Propaganda piece. Disinformation...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

AFP Report from yesterday....FR Thread:

Iran ex-president rebuked over insurgent remarks

***************************EXCERPT INTRO*************************

TEHRAN (AFP) — Former Iranian president Mohamad Khatami was under fire from hardliners on Monday after comments interpreted as accusing the country's clerical leaders of supporting insurgents in the Middle East.

The hardline Kayhan newspaper accused the reformist Khatami of tarnishing the Islamic republic's reputation by implying it was carrying out "sabotage" work in other countries through insurgent groups.

In his speech, Khatami referred to the ambition of Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to export the 1979 Islamic revolution around the world, but expressed fear this wish was being distorted.

"What did the imam (Khomeini) mean by exporting the revolution?" he asked in the speech Friday to university students in the northern province of Gilan, according to the Kargozaran newspaper.

"Did he mean that we take up arms, that we blow up places in other nations and we create groups to carry out sabotage in other countries? The imam was vehemently against this and was confronting it," he added.

His speech has been seen by some observers as accusing the Iranian authorities of encouraging militants to destabilize the Middle East, in particular Iraq and Lebanon.

The controversy comes at a particularly sensitive moment.

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Propaganda from whom?

[romanesq]

Iranian hardliners complaint, “Who authorized you to speak the truth?”

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From Post #15. and AFP ....we have this: The hardline Kayhan newspaper

So one of the MSM, The NY Slimes or BBC changed hardline to conservative.....very interesting.

[DJ Elliott]

AQ

They are still trying to put an Iraqi face on the leadership of AQI...

[freerepublic_or_die]

The Imam was vehemently against this and was confronting it.
Too bad Khomeini croaked before getting his Nobel Peace prize, the utter irony of which is that Alred Nobel, the inspiration for the eponymous honor, was the inventor of dynamite.

Alfred Nobel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Nobel