[lit-ideas] What the Iranians Think
- From: Omar Kusturica <omarkusto@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 20:06:56 -0800 (PST)
Tehran's Westernized upper middle classes may not be
die-hard fans of Iran's theocratic nationalism, but
virtually everyone agrees with Foreign Minister
Manuchehr Mottaki about the "unjustified propaganda"
of the West regarding Iran's nuclear program. As to a
specific Mottaki warning that "we have readied
ourselves to meet any threat", many are not so sure.
Before Friday's prayers - when top clerics inevitably
lash out against "US imperialism" - Tehran had just
responded to the UN via ambassadors and foreign
ministry officials. The single most important
authority in the Islamic Republic - Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei - had not yet issued his
verdict. But the consensus remains virtually iron
clad, cutting across all social and intellectual
barriers, that Iran has the right to a civilian
nuclear program and is now the victim of double
standards by both the US and the European Union.
From bazaaris and taxi drivers to clerics and economic
analysts, Iranians also openly charge that the nuclear
row is just an excuse by the US to undermine the
Islamic Republic. Few would disagree with Iran's UN
ambassador, Jafed Zarif, who said in New York, after
the statement was approved, that "the single most
active instigator of the concern about Iran is Israel,
which is not a member of the NPT [nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty], is a known possessor of
nuclear weapons, has a history of aggression against
its neighbors, is in non-compliance with I don't know
how many Security Council resolutions".
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/HD01Ak03.html
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