Here is a run-down of just some of the comments appearing in the Iranian media this past week.
Friday prayers leader Kazem Sadeqi said the latest spate of bombings that have struck Baghdad was orchestrated by the United States. “To take revenge on Iraqis for their joy over the withdrawal of the occupying forces, the US commissioned bombings and killings in Iraq in order to convey that the Americans are the source of peace in the country and that their withdrawal created instability,” he told worshippers.
Brig. Gen. Masud Jazayeri, the Pasdar officer in charge of “culture,” told the American public they should overthrow the ruling regime in Washington to free themselves from the disaster they are facing. He didn’t mean they should vote for the Republican candidate this fall.
First Vice President Mo-hammad-Reza Rahimi proclaimed that the era of the supremacy of the bullying powers has come to an end and the time has arrived for independent nations to flourish.
Mohammad-Ali Al-e-Hashem, a cleric assigned to the military, said the “Islamic Awakening” across the Arab world has “severely weakened the Zionist regime and the United States. “This is why they always make military threats and conduct war operations against independent countries like Iran.” He said the American and Israelis are now trying to distract the world’s attention from their own isolation.
Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani said the main American tactic in the region is to sow discord among the faithful by portraying Sunnis and Shias as different. By creating fantasy enemies and hypothetical targets, Washington is trying to divert its public opinion from its domestic economic crisis as well as the disgraceful pullout of US troops from Iraq and the continuing fall of its puppet regimes in the region, Larijani told deputies in his speech opening the Majlis session Sunday.
Saeed Jalili, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said the Islamic Awakening spreading across the Arab countries has changed the balance of power in the world in favor of Muslims. He cited the successful revolutions in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia and ongoing uprisings in Yemen, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. He made no mention of Syria.
Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said the West is trying to spread Iranophobia throughout the region for the sole purpose of selling more arms to Arab countries. US arms exports throughout the world in 2010 totaled $8.6 billion and amounted to 0.67 percent of total US exports.
Economy Minister Shams-eddin Hossaini said the new sanctions imposed on Iran would be defeated by the unity of the Iranian people. “Each and every Iranian will stand against the sanctions like a soldier,” he said. “The great Iranian people should know that we will definitely overcome the arrogant powers’ sanctions.”
Deputy Hossain Ebrahimi, a cleric and vice chair of the Majlis National Security Committee, said the United States seeks to topple the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and bring the Taliban back to power. He also said, “The US pursues its goals in the area of foreign policy with a profit-seeking outlook,” but did not explain where the United States was finding profits in Afghanistan.
Maj. Gen. Hassan Firuz-abadi, the chief of the Joint Staff and highest ranking officer in the military, said the world’s bullies are “bewildered” by Iran’s stupendous progress in defense and unable to comprehend the breadth and depth of Iran’s scientific and technological achievements. He said the West is unhappy that Iran is using its military might not only to defend itself but also to support all Muslim peoples.