Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami in his Friday Sermon in Iran declared that the social unrest in Egypt and elsewhere is a continuance of the 1979 Iranian revolution and is inspired by Islamists. Here is a translated summary courtesy of MEMRI:
“In his sermon today, Tehran interim Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami said that in contrast to the U.S.’s dream of a new Middle East under its domination, a new Middle East based on Islamic principles is now taking shape.
Stating that the popular uprisings in the Arab world herald the creation of “an Islamic Middle East” based on the religion and religious democracy – in contrast to claims by former U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice that a new Middle East would be developed under the leadership of the U.S. and Israel – he underlined that this ongoing unrest is the aftershock of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran.
He added that the recent uprisings in the Arab world have Islamic support, as people poured into the streets with the slogan of “Allahu Akhbar (Allah is the Greatest).”
Addressing worshipers at the Tehran University campus, Ayatollah Khatami noted the events unfolding in Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen, and pointed out that while the Western countries have, in their media, denied the roots of the Islamic Revolution and these revolutions’ religious nature, the fate of the Tunisian dictator demonstrated the divine tradition that those who oppose the sacred religion of Islam are doomed to failure.
Referring to the ongoing rallies in Yemen, he said that such developments are inspired by the Islamic Revolution in Iran. He also noted that Tunisians were holding their first Friday prayers since the departure of their dictator to demonstrate the Islamic Revolution’s influence on their protests.”
This is not good. Other Iranian leaders share this opinion. From Ynet News:
Iranian leaders expressed satisfaction with the anti-government protests in Egypt, with one leader saying he believes the protesters were inspired by the revolution in his country in 1979. “Today, as a result of the gifts of the Islamic revolution in Iran, freedom-loving Islamic peoples such as the peoples of Tunisia, Egypt and nearby Arab countries are standing up to their oppressive governments,” the New York Times quoted Ayatollah Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi as saying.
He congratulated the Egyptian people, saying their actions were “based on the principles” of the Islamic revolution.
Western officials fear Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will be replaced by a hardline cleric similar to the ayatollahs in Iran, like the Muslim Brotherhood opposition party, which also gave rise to Hamas.
Mohammad-Javad Larijani, secretary general of the Iranian High Council for Human Rights and a conservative leader, also voiced a positive opinion. “In my opinion, the Islamic Republic of Iran should see these events without exception in a positive light,” he said.
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