November 01-2013
While the Reformists who have taken office with the Rohani Administration are pursuing the line of “moderation” promised during Rohani’s campaign, much of the commentary that Iranians are seeing in their media is unchanged. Here are four examples of the rhetoric being pushed by four different people quoted by four different news agencies in Tehran in the past week.
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The Mehr news agency quotes Mohammad-Sadeq Kushki, identified as a political researcher and analyst, as saying:
“The presence of the US in Iran was completely negative. The occupation of our country by the US and the Allied forces, Britain and the Soviet Union, in August and September 1941, included immodest behavior. The US would act inappropriately, so much as to violate the country’s independence as well as the moral norms of our society.” Kushki also blamed the US and Allies for causing the famine in Iran during World War II. He further condemned the US support for the 1953 coup, calling the era one of infamous despotism.
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The Tasnim news agency quotes Brigadier General Esmail Qa’ani, deputy commander of the Qods Force, the branch of the Pasdaran that operates outside Iran, as saying:
“The United States was once a superpower, but it is unable to do anything against our Islamic revolution and our Islamic system,” ascribing this to the strong support base enjoyed by the revolution and the lofty values it stands for.
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The Fars news agency quotes Brigadier General Gholam-Reza Jalali, head of the Civil Defense Organization, as saying:
“We should avoid falling for baseless optimism about the West because the so-called civilized westerners have biological weapons that will be used against us if they find themselves in a situation of war [with Iran].”
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The website of the Young Journalists Club quotes Mohammad-Javad Larijani, the head of Iran’s Human Rights Council and the brother of Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani and Judiciary Chairman Sadeq Larijani, as saying:
“We strongly doubt that human rights is a pivotal issue in foreign policy for the European states because the European states have the friendliest relations with countries that have the worst records in human rights, and they show the most negative posture against a country like Iran, which is the biggest and only democracy in the Middle East and whose judicial system is utterly independent and clear…. We believe the US and some states in Europe have started from a blind enmity toward Iran.”