Khatami: Revolutionary Guards have roots in the faith and hopes of Iranian Nation

Mohammad Khatami has urged US thinkers and academicians to prevent hardliners from attacking Iran and adding to the regional crisis.

Citing reports that the Bush administration intends to take military measures against Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), the former Iranian president noted the dangers of such an initiative were incalculable for the world and the American people too. He made the remarks in an exclusive interview with ISNA.

"In contrast to the warmongers, wise and just figures in the US know that the Revolutionary Guards have roots in the faith and hopes of a nation to establish sovereignty, security.

"No nation can tolerate any insult or aggression against a force that protects its dignity , independence, rights and values", added Khatami.

The former chief executive who now heads the International Center for Dialogue of Civilizations warned that any action against the IRGC would deepen Iran's present great mistrust of the US.

He noted that the the region is already in deeply critical circumstances and with Iran and the US now discussing Iraq, negative and irresponsible messages regarding the IRGC would benefit no one.

Iran's Radical Right Renews Attacks on Khatami and Moderate Clerics

RFE - The reformist Iranian newspaper "Etemad" has described a renewed "round of attacks" on senior clerics regarded as moderately conservative or reformist. The allegations coincide with verbal salvoes and a threatened lawsuit against moderate former President Mohammad Khatami, and they suggest increasingly bitter partisanship in the run-up to parliamentary elections in March 2008.

But they might also signal right-wing elements' bold use of public criticism to discredit opponents whom they no longer wish to see in the public sphere.

Government critics suggest that right-wing displeasure is behind some of the hostility targeting President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's political opponents. The reformist daily "Etemad" reported on August 19 that two prominent clerics are among its recent victims. They are Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani and judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmud Hashemi-Shahrudi.

The recent attacks on Hashemi-Rafsanjani appear to have been triggered by political memoirs he is publishing in installments. The radical right believes recent chapters distorted or falsified developments touching on essential aspects of Iran's postrevolutionary image and character. "Etemad" cited an excerpt in which Hashemi-Rafsanjani claimed that officials -- with the approval of the late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini -- were planning in 1984 to end the practice of crowds shouting "Death to America" at Tehran's Friday congregational prayers, which are attended by politicians and broadcast on television.

 
"Etemad" reported that the disclosure has prompted unspecified right-wingers to challenge Hashemi-Rafsanjani to withdraw his claim and avoid falsely attributing statements to the late Ayatollah Khomeini. The daily asserted that "from [the right-wing] point of view, [Khomeini] never wanted to end the slogan of 'Death to America.'"

"Etemad" also cited verbal assaults against the judiciary chief, Ayatollah Hashemi-Shahrudi. Hashemi-Shahrudi criticized the recent removal of the ministers of industry and of oil, and he suggested it would be better to make good use of public officials than to keep reshuffling them.

Hashemi-Shahrudi has sought in the past to end abuse and inefficiency within the judiciary, and is a mildly conservative figure in Iranian politics. His latest remarks prompted "Iran," a daily close to the executive branch, to report the opening of "a new gateway" of antigovernment criticisms on August 18. "Iran" quoted politicians who defended the president's power to change cabinet members and stressed the separation of powers. The paper quoted a presidential adviser on press affairs, Ali Akbar Javanfekr, as saying that Hashemi-Shahrudi made a "mistake" in meddling in executive-branch business and should avoid repeating the mistake. It quoted legislator Javad Arianmanesh as asking whether the judiciary has completed all the tasks set out for it in the current five-year development plan. Arianmanesh asked why Hashemi-Shahrudi did not criticize the reformist government in a similar fashion.

"Etemad" noted on August 19 that Hashemi-Shahrudi was criticized more vigorously by a deputy energy minister, Ali Yusefpur, writing in the daily "Siasat-i ruz." Yusefpur said the judiciary is in such an appalling state that it is only natural that the judiciary chief would try and shift attention elsewhere -- and "not [for the] first time."

Yusefpur also ridiculed some of Hashemi-Shahrudi's most widely quoted remarks. Hashemi-Shahrudi has implicitly criticized the government's anticorruption drive by saying harsh punitive measures that scare investors are themselves an "economic vice" akin to corruption. Yusefpur countered that "extra talk" like Hashemi-Shahrudi's is triggering capital flight. He used Hashemi-Shahrudi's famous description of the judiciary as a "wreck" when he took it over six years ago. Yusefpur accused Hashemi-Shahrudi of "comment[ing] on the change of ministers...instead of reorganizing the state of what can barely be called a wreck today."

The tone of the criticism is notable -- it is unlikely that any politician today or in the former Khatami government would use a similar tone with regard to senior right-wing clerics, like Ayatollahs Ahmad Jannati or Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi. And if they did, it is not difficult to imagine that a lawsuit would ensue. "Etemad" observed that "many are inclined to call Hashemi-Shahrudi a new member of the [government] critics' club."

Another cleric facing sharp attacks from the right is former reformist President Khatami. A presidential adviser on clerical affairs, Hojatoleslam Naser Saqa-i Biria, recently claimed that Khatami has little credibility left and accused him of spreading untruths designed to depict him as a respected figure among the most senior Shi'ite clerics in Qom. Saqa-i Biria urged Qom's special clerical court to process a complaint reportedly lodged by some seminarians over Khatami's handshakes with women on trips abroad. Under a strict interpretation of Islamic law, men are not allowed to shake hands with women other than close family members -- as doing so is considered indecent or sexually provocative.

Khatami recently felt obliged to defend foreign trips he has undertaken since the end of his presidency, many of which are intended to promote interfaith dialogue. He said in Tehran on August 18 that he was defending Islam -- "the Islam that defends the rights of humans" and "respects freedom" -- in the face of a growing, irrational Western fear of Islam, "Etemad-i Melli" reported on August 19. Khatami said those who "love power a lot" in Iran should rest assured that he is not interested in power. He added that "we and those who think like us do not wish to restrict the arena for anyone, but we...declare we do not want our space to be restricted." Khatami said, in a mild-mannered response that is seemingly typical of the reformist camp, that it is the people "who determine the places."

The new round of verbal sparring -- lying somewhere between criticism and insults -- could indicate a sense of security among the radical right and presidential allies in pushing the boundaries of inquisitorial discourse. They do what the other side cannot -- criticize senior clerics, and in no uncertain terms.

This boldness might eventually yield power -- if the other side is shown to be diffident and unsure, and if it is cowed into political irrelevance. It is presumably easier to remove people from power once they are discredited -- just as it may prove easier, reformists fear, to disqualify reformist parliamentary aspirants once they and their figureheads have faced months of verbal attacks questioning anything from their records in government, to their close relations to the late Ayatollah Khomeini, to their loyalty to Khomeini's heritage, to religion or the political system.

Khatami calls on UN to protect Iraq’s holy sites

(Mehr News Agency) In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami has asked the UN to do everything in its power to protect Iraq’s holy sites against terrorist acts.

The call came after high-ranking Shia clerics from the Qom and Najaf seminaries gave Khatami the mission to hold talks with international officials on their behalf in order to start efforts to prevent terrorist attacks against holy sites in Iraq.

“By announcing the deep and considerable concern of the leading religious maraj’e (Shia clerics regarded as sources of emulation) and ulema, now I want you, the United Nations, and affiliated organizations, and especially UNESCO, to use all your potential and capabilities to defend the sanctity of religion, the things the people regard as holy, and sacred places so that threats of sectarian violence will be halted in Iraq and every other place in the world,” part of the letter reads.

Khatami added that international organizations should remind the occupiers that they are responsible for preventing crime and establishing security.

In separate letters to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, and OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the former Iranian president has called for the use of all the means of Iraq and the Arab and Islamic world to establish security in Iraq, protect the sacred places, and safeguard the lives of the people.

In his letter to Maliki, Khatami said: “Today, everyone should feel responsible for Iraq’s territorial integrity and national unity and for the elimination of elements that are a source of insecurity in Iraq, and should make serious efforts to strengthen the legitimate and popular government.”

The terrorists have bombed the Al-Askari Shrine in northern Iraq twice since U.S. troops occupied Iraq. The Al-Askari Shrine, part of the Imam Ali al-Hadi (AS) mausoleum, is one of Shia Islam’s holiest sites and attracts pilgrims from around the world.

Similar bombings have been carried out near the shrines of Imam Ali (AS) and Imam Hussein (AS) in the Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala.

Former Iran president in handshake storm

Robert Tait, Guardian Unlimited - Iran's reformist former president, Mohammad Khatami, has suffered a blow to his political standing by being pictured apparently shaking hands with women, in breach of Islamic convention.

The image, taken during a visit to the Italian city of Udine in May, triggered outrage among fundamentalists after being posted on conservative websites and YouTube.

It showed Mr Khatami being greeted by a small group of women - none of whom wore Islamic head-covering - and appearing to shake the hand of one.

Mr Khatami, a mid-ranking cleric, dismissed the photo as a fake and insisted he had not shaken hands with any of the women who had approached him after he made a speech.

However, allies say he has been deeply wounded by the criticism, which they say has been calculated to damage his image as the reformist standard-bearer.

His sensitivity has prompted some commentators to question his appetite to head the reformists' attempt to make an electoral comeback in next year's parliamentary election.

The former president has attempted to deflect the attacks by announcing that he will not stand in the 2009 presidential election, despite his popularity among liberal-minded voters.

"That was a message to the right wing, the government and the regime saying, please don't try to destroy me - I don't want to disturb you any more," said Saeed Leylaz, a pro-reformist analyst.

However, that has failed to pacify his critics. Last month, radical clerics in the holy city of Qom started a petition calling for Mr Khatami to be defrocked.

The petition was launched to coincide with the eighth anniversary of the brutal suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations by students at Tehran University in 1999, an event seen as one of Mr Khatami's biggest setbacks.

In a letter to the Qom seminarians' society, the clerics described another picture from Mr Khatami's Udine visit, where he sat next to "the uncovered body of a female reporter in a very obscene way".

Flyers condemning Mr Khatami have been circulated in the shrine city of Mashhad, while posters of him were defaced in Kashan before he spoke there.

Although Islam generally forbids handshakes between men and women who are not close family relatives, some Shia clerics say it is permitted in certain cases to avoid embarrassment. In Iran, handshakes between men and women have become more common in recent years despite the country's Islamic laws.