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Joo Rip Gwa Rhhee
Joined: 25 May 2003
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 Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 3:12 am Post subject: Ayatollah's grandson calls for US overthrow of Iran |
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Ayatollah's grandson calls for US overthrow of Iran
By PHILIP SHERWELL
(Filed: 18/06/2006)
The grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini, the inspiration of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, has broken a three-year silence to back the United States military to overthrow the country's clerical regime.
Hossein Khomeini's call is all the more startling as he made it from Qom, the spiritual home of Iran's Shia strand of Islam, during an interview to mark the 17th anniversary of the ayatollah's death.
Ayatollah Khomeini's influence is still felt in Iran
"My grandfather's revolution has devoured its children and has strayed from its course," he told Al-Arabiya, an Arabic-language television station. "I lived through the revolution and it called for freedom and democracy - but it has persecuted its leaders."
He also made clear his opposition to Teheran's alleged development of a secret nuclear weapons programme. "Iran will gain real power if freedom and democracy develop there," he said. "Strength will not be obtained through weapons and the bomb."
Mr Khomeini, 47, is a Shia cleric, but he believes that the holy men who have run the country since 1979 - to whom he dismissively refers as "wearers of the turban" - abused their power following the overthrow of the Shah.
The Dubai-based satellite channel's website spelt out his backing for armed intervention by America, a country excoriated as the Great Satan by his grandfather and Iran's current rulers.
It stated: "As for his call to President Bush to come and occupy Iran, Hossein Khomeini explained that 'freedom must come to Iran in any possible way, whether through internal or external developments.
If you were a prisoner, what would you do? I want someone to break the prison [doors open]'."
His approach is even more hardline than that of fiercely anti-regime Iranian exiles, who oppose military action while urging the US to back a domestic uprising.
It is the first time he has voiced his bitter opposition to the regime since Teheran engaged on its nuclear confrontation with the international community under Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, its virulently anti-US president.
At home, the regime has recently faced violent protests by ethnic Azeris and demonstrations by students' and women's groups.
Mr Khomeini briefly emerged as an unlikely critic of the Islamic Republic in 2003, when he called for armed invasion during a visit to Washington and New York.
The cleric returned to Iran at his family's insistence and was protected from retribution by his grandfather's widow, Batol Saqafi Khomeini.
It is not clear why he has chosen now to speak out again or whether the regime was aware that he would be talking to Al-Arabiya after banning other media organisations from interviewing him. A translation of his comments, made on May 31, was first released last week by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
He said that if he came to power in Iran, one of his first acts would be to make wearing the hijab (veil) an optional choice for women.
Mr Khomeini's mentor is believed to be the regime's best-known religious critic, Grand Ayatollah Ali Montazeri, who was released from house arrest in Qom in 2003 after six years for criticising the rule of Ayatollah Ali Khameini.
Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see Copyright |
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/06/18/wiran18.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/06/18/ixnews.html |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 9:11 am Post subject: |
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We have exiles from many countries asking us to overthrow the govts in power so they can "restore democracy," or otherwise right wrongs, etc. from whereever they may come.
His grandfather was the Shah. But that should not qualify him for special credibility or attention. And his grandfather was a terrible ruler anyway.
I'm tired of these exiles. I almost believe we should start turning these people away and telling them to go somewhere else, perhaps Canada. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 9:15 am Post subject: |
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| His grandfather was the Shah. |
Ayatollah, actually.
Interstingly enough, though, I do recall that when the Ayatollah came to power, many people referred to him as the Shah, probably because they both burst onto the North American consiousness at about the same time. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 9:18 am Post subject: |
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I agree with you about the exiles, Gopher. But...
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| I almost believe we should start turning these people away and telling them to go somewhere else, perhaps Canada. |
Uh, any particular reason you felt obliged to drag Canada into the discussion? I mean, if I didn't know better, I'd speculate that you were actually trying to start one of those Canada/US flame wars that you claim to find so distasteful. |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 11:34 am Post subject: |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
I agree with you about the exiles, Gopher. But...
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| I almost believe we should start turning these people away and telling them to go somewhere else, perhaps Canada. |
Uh, any particular reason you felt obliged to drag Canada into the discussion? I mean, if I didn't know better, I'd speculate that you were actually trying to start one of those Canada/US flame wars that you claim to find so distasteful. |
If they want to come to North America, Canada takes exiles, too. Canada being a smaller state cannot back them in their revolutionary intrigues, etc. And Mexico harasses at least some of its exiles. The Canada ref was just a random comment that did not mean what you took it to mean...
Good catch on his not being the Shah's grandson, by the way. As far as I am concerned, whether they are children of former royalty or children of former revolutionaries, I am equally fed up with their incessant plots and their inevitable involvement of the U.S. govt in them. If these exiles need refuge, fine. They should be on their own for political activity, though, and it should be illegal for them to conspire or operate within U.S. borders.
Last edited by Gopher on Thu Aug 17, 2006 3:48 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 3:59 pm Post subject: |
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The Canada ref was just a random comment that did not mean what you took it to mean...
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Then I withdraw my interpretation. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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What I don't understand is why this guy is given any sort of a platform at all. Okay so he's Khomeini's grandson. How does this make him an authority on what the US should or should not do in Iran?
And then there's this...
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"My grandfather's revolution has devoured its children and has strayed from its course," he told Al-Arabiya, an Arabic-language television station. "I lived through the revolution and it called for freedom and democracy - but it has persecuted its leaders."
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Is he trying to suggest that his grandfather was a champion of freedom and democracy, but the revolution got perverted by others? I seem to recall Khomeini being alive and well when leftists and other dissidents were being rounded up and shot by the regime. |
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dogbert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: Killbox 90210
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| Posted: Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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| He's not an exile. The article clearly stated that he was speaking from inside Iran. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 1:29 am Post subject: |
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| What I don't understand is why this guy is given any sort of a platform at all. |
I'm happy to see this kind of public opposition. The more of it the better. Before Ahmedwhat'shisname's election there was a lot of talk of a moderate government in Iran. The more publicity there is for the various opponents of the regime (particularly inside the country), the more difficult it will be for Bush to pull an air strike. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 1:40 am Post subject: |
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The more publicity there is for the various opponents of the regime (particularly inside the country), the more difficult it will be for Bush to pull an air strike.
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I'm not sure I follow your reasoning here, though I suspect it's more a case of my synapses not firing at full potential in the summer heat. Would you care to expand on your idea? |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 5:13 am Post subject: |
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My logic went something like this...
Iran has elections and is something of a democracy. Open voices of opposition indicate the chance exists for a change in administration under the normal workings of an election. The more voices of opposition, the more likely a new administration with new policies will come to power in a short time. Neither the Taliban nor Saddam looked like they were going to lose power any time soon. Therefore, force seemed defensible. The more likely Ahmadinejad is to be voted out, the more difficult it would be for the pro-preemptive surgical strike faction to get their way. |
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bigverne
Joined: 12 May 2004
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| Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 5:45 am Post subject: |
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| Iran has elections and is something of a democracy |
No, it has the facade of a democracy. Presidential candidates must be vetted by the Ayatollahs and the same clerics can veto any decision made by the President. It is a theocracy, not a democracy. |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 3:47 pm Post subject: |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
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The Canada ref was just a random comment that did not mean what you took it to mean...
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Then I withdraw my interpretation. |
Perhaps we are all, especially myself, too sensitized to possible slight on this issue...
In any case, Khomeini's grandson -- whether he is in Iran and talking with exiles in the U.S., or whether he is traveling and meeting with them here, or whether they are taking what he might say and presenting it to U.S. policymakers to bolster whatever arguments they may be making for Washington to support their cause -- should have no voice whatsoever and should not be permitted to influence U.S. policy in any way.
I think the U.S. record on regime change should generally advise extreme caution here. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Gopher wrote: |
I think the U.S. record on regime change should generally advise extreme caution here. |
Don't think you have to single out the US for that one.  If any nation has a good record when it comes to regime change, I'd be VERY impressed. |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 7:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Agreed. |
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