MEMRI is the most authoritative source on news from the western Maghreb to Pakistan, concentrating on the Middle East and western Asia. It publishes a daily blog on Iran. Here is today’s:
Iran - June 18, 2010
The following is research published today from the MEMRI Iran Studies Project (www.memri.org/content/en/country.htm?country=iran), including reports from the Special Dispatch Series, the MEMRI TV Project, and the MEMRI Iran Blog.
Special Dispatch No. 3043 – Iran/Lantos Archives on Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial/U.S. and the Middle East
Ahmadinejad: The Jews Only Seem Human; We Are Advancing Step By Step Towards Implementing Our Plan to Change the World; From This Point Forward, We Will Act to Deliver the American People From Its Dictatorial Government
In a June 16, 2010 speech in the city of Shahre-Kord, in central Iran near Isfahan, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated his anti-Semitic world view, calling the Jews the worst of criminals and claiming that they only appear to be human. Ahmadinejad also hinted at his apocalyptic outlook, saying that whoever relies on God's might need fear no one. He added that his regime is consistently and successfully acting to change the world order and spelled out his government's new mission – to liberate the American nation from the "undemocratic and bullying" regime that oppresses it.
The speech, which marked a year since the first announcement of President Obama's call for support of the Green movement – which Ahmadinejad called interference in Iran's domestic affairs – reflected an apparent policy of retaliation for every Western action. This was evidenced in Iran's response to the fourth round of anti-Iran sanctions, which include searches of Iran-bound ships, in which Iranian officials announced that Iran would conduct its own searches of Western ships in the Persian Gulf. In the same vein, in response to U.S. support for Iran's Green movement, Ahmadinejad announced that Iran would act to deliver the American people from its dictatorial government by aiding opposition activities against the U.S. government.To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4386.htm.
Special Dispatch No. 3044 -- Iran
Brother of Iranian Leader Khamenei Warns Against Second Islamic Revolution by Messianic Circles Led by Ahmadinejad and Khamenei
In a May 2010 speech at the Organization for Honoring the Imam Khomeini, Hadi Khamenei, the younger brother of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, harshly criticized his brother's policy of allowing members of the messianic Hojjatieh circle to infiltrate the ranks of the regime – in clear contravention of the instructions of Islamic Revolution founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
In 1980s, the Hojjatieh circles in Iran, which held that no Islamic government should be established until the Hidden Imam (the Shi'ite messiah) appeared, clashed with Ayatollah Khomeini. In 1983, the Hojjatieh announced that they were stopping their activity due to his vehement religious opposition to their views, and thereafter they remained on the political and religious margins in Iran. After Ali Khamenei's appointment as supreme leader, and especially after the rise to power of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, they began to act in the open again, and today, their influence on the regime's centers of power is significant. Ahmadinejad is apparently affiliated with the Jamkaran group within the Hojjatieh, which is led by his mentor, Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi.
Hadi Khamenei's criticism of his brother, Supreme Leader Khamenei, focuses on the leader's legitimization of the messianic Hojjatieh circles in their penetration of regime circles, their inculcation of their messianic outlook, and their takeover of the centers of power. These messianic circles make frequent statements about the imminent appearance of the Hidden Imam; for this, they are criticized by Iran's traditional ayatollahs, who reject the legitimization and politicization of the messianic stream in the Shi'a.
In his speech last month, veteran oppositionist Hadi Khamenei warned against a messianic coup within the Islamic Revolutionary regime, by the very same figures who had in the past opposed the path of Islamic Revolution founder Ayatollah Khomeini.
It should be noted that Hadi Khamenei's daily newspaper Hayat-e No was shut down by the regime in December 2009 because of its opposition to Ahmadinejad.
To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/4387.htm.
*MEMRI TV Project – Iran Focus (www.memritv.org/content/en/country.htm?country=iran)
MEMRI TV Clip No. 2512 – Iranian Official Nasser Al-Sudani Criticizes Lebanon for Abstaining in the Iran Sanctions Vote, and States: It Is Forbidden for Iran to Produce Nuclear Weapons at Present
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2512.htm.
In Iran Friday Sermon, Ayatollah Jannati Condemns Security Council Sanctions, Criticizes Ahmadinejad For His View On Hijab Enforcement
In his sermon today, Tehran interim Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati condemned the UN Security Council's June 9 anti-Iran resolution, and said that Iran would turn the resolution threats into an opportunity.
Jannati, who is Iranian Guardian Council secretary, told the crowd at the Tehran University campus: "God willing, and under wise leadership of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ali Khamenei and through the people's backing, we will turn the threats into opportunity, thus bringing the U.S. disgrace."
To read the full report, visit http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/27910.htm.
IRGC Warns West Not To Enter 'Dangerous Game' Of Inspecting Ships
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's representative in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Hojjatoleslam Ali Saidi, has warned the West not to enter the "dangerous game" of inspecting Iranian ships.
To read the full report, visit http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/27913.htm.
New Software Increases Iranian Ability To Censor Foreign Films
An official of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) said on June 16 that that new software has increased the IRIB's capability to censor foreign films.
To read the full report, visit http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/27912.htm.
Iranian DM: Ban On Selling Weapons To Iran Has No Impact
Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi has mocked the ban on selling weapons to Iran, saying that it will not affect Iran because Iran has independent capabilities and can even export weapons to other countries.
To read the full report, visit http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/27899.htm.
France To Iran: Safeguard Protest Leaders' Lives
The French Foreign Ministry has demanded that the Iranian authorities safeguard the lives of the leaders of the protest movement, particularly that of Mehdi Karroubi.
To read the full report, visit http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/27887.htm.
Cartoon In Lebanese Paper: First Anniversary Of Ahmadinejad's Reelection
Cartoonist: Hassan Bleibel
To read the full report, visit http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/27856.htm.
Iranian Daily: Egyptian President Mubarak – Israeli Soldier In Civvies
The Iranian daily Jomhouri-e Eslami writes that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is an "out-of-uniform Israeli soldier in the army of the Zionist regime," and calls him the main obstacle to the breaking of the siege on Gaza.
To read the full report, visit http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/27855.htm.
Coca Cola, Nestle Investigated In Iran For Their Mossad Connection
The Iranian news agency Fars reports that Iran is conducting an investigation into a possible connection between the Coca Cola and Nestle companies, which market their products in Iran, to the "Zionist Mossad."
To read the full report, visit http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/27833.htm.
Ahmadinejad Mentor: Iran Must Create 'Special Weapons'
At a convention of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi, the mentor of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said that anyone who denies the "rule of the jurisprudent" is an apostate.
To read the full report, visit http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/27831.htm.
Iranian Official: Egypt Has Authorized Iranian Delegation to Enter Gaza
Majlis National Security Committee chairman Alaeddin Boroujerdi said that the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Egyptian parliament, Mustafa Al-Fiqi, has authorized the members of the Iranian flotilla, which is to arrive via the Suez Canal, to enter Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.
To read the full report, visit http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/27788.htm.
Ahmadinejad: No Need to Cool Relations with China
Speaking in China on June 11, 2010, immediately after the latter voted in favor of sanctions on Iran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the relations between the two countries were warm and that there was no obstacle to developing and strengthening them further.
To read the full report, visit http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/27785.htm