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| Iranian editorial shows deepening clerical rift | |
| 2009-07-19 | |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] A hard-line editor considered to be close to Iran's top authority accused a powerful cleric on Saturday of backing "law-breakers," in comments highlighting the deepening divisions in the Islamic Republic after a disputed election. Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the Kayhan daily, also criticized former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani for saying Iran was in crisis during a sermon on Friday. Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi RafsanjaniIn apparent defiance of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Rafsanjani said many Iranians had doubts about the official result of the June 12 vote and he also took issue with the way the authorities had handled the poll and its aftermath. As he led Friday prayers at Tehran University for the first time since the election, tens of thousands of protesters outside used the event to stage the biggest show of dissent for weeks. "Most certainly Mr. Rafsanjani is familiar with the definition of a crisis...[t]he most meaningful word to describe the current conditions is a conspiracy," Shariatmadari said in an editorial. He said Rafsanjani, a moderate who backed Mousavi's election campaign, had done nothing to prevent the gathering of Mousavi supporters inside and outside Tehran University, where prayers are held each Friday and broadcast live on state radio. Clashes erupted near the university between police and followers of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who came second and still contests official results that showed President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad had been re-elected by a wide margin. The government has portrayed post-election mass protests last month as the work of local subversives, or "rioters," and Western powers seeking to topple the Islamic establishment. "Supports law-breakers"
Noting Rafsanjani had urged everybody to abide by the law, the editorial added in a clear reference to Mousavi supporters, who have continued to defy a ban on demonstrations, that Rafsanjani "not only disregarded what he had said but openly supported the law-breakers." The election stirred the most striking display of internal unrest in Iran, the world's fifth biggest oil exporter, since the 1979 revolution and exposed deep rifts in its ruling elite. It has also further strained ties between Iran and the West, already at odds over Tehran's nuclear program. Western powers criticized the crackdown. Iran accused them of meddling. Rafsanjani, who heads the Assembly of Experts -- a powerful body that can in theory dismiss the supreme leader -- in his sermon also demanded the immediate release of people detained in the unrest and called for press curbs to be relaxed. The call for the lifting of media restrictions was welcomed by the United States on Friday. "There are universal principles that we feel are very important here... as Mr. Rafsanjani himself reflected today, freedom of the press and the ability of the media to fairly report what is happening there," said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley. Rafsanjani however did not go as far as Mousavi in denouncing the conduct of the vote, but his remarks still posed a clear challenge to Khamenei, who has upheld the election result and accused foreign powers of fomenting the unrest. According to Iranian media, at least 20 people died in post-election violence but some human rights groups say the actual number could be in the hundreds. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Who has the guns---in Islam force is always the ultimate argument. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2009-07-19 06:38 |