[Marxism] Ayatollah Khamenei says no to nuke weapons, and nuke weapons program -- pretty good speech misrep'd by US media

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From Juan Cole's Informed Comment website: introductory comments by Juan
Cole

Khamenei: No Nuclear Weapon Program, No First Strike Goal is Energy
Independence Abu Ghrayb, Haditha Weaken US Human Rights Claims

The US media presented only a snippet from the speech of Supreme
Jurisprudent Ali Khamenei of Iran on Sunday, in which he threatened to
damage oil supplies to the West if the US militarily attacked Iran. He
did say that, but he also announced that Iran had no intention of
striking first, had not attacked and would not attack another country,
and that it has no nuclear weapons program and does not want a nuclear
bomb. I didn't hear any of those statements reported on television.

For some strange reason, a relatively full text of important speeches
given by world leaders is almost never provided to the public by any US
media in English. I doubt there are even a handful of speeches easily
accessible in English by Spanish President Zapatero, e.g. I cannot
entirely explain this strange phenomenon, of the coccooned and almost
deliberately ignorant approach to the world of the US corporate media
and their audience.

The odd thing is that the American public pays tax dollars so that the
Open Source Center of the USG can translate such primary texts. They
are, however, not made freely available, though you can get them via
university and maybe other good libraries.

Below I present the OSC translation of some important passages of the
speech. I should think it is obvious that I loathe Khamenei and his
regime, but I suppose I have to say so yet again in today's wretched
intellectual environment. I find Khamenei's claims that Iran does not
abuse human rights to be particularly offensive.

Still, I do think that if the public is going to hear part of Khamenei's
speech, it should hear some of the other parts, too.

PS, see Tom O'Donnell's paper on petroleum, not nukes, as the driving
issue in the crisis between Washington and Tehran.



' Iranian TV: Ayatollah Khamene'i Speaks on Khomeyni's Death Anniversary
(2) Islamic Republic of Iran News Network Television (IRINN)

Sunday, June 4, 2006 T20:31:17Z

Tehran Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 1 in Persian at
0645 GMT on 4 June carries a live broadcast of a speech by Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Kahmene'i on the occasion of the 17th anniversary of
Ayatollah Khomeyni's death. The speech is given at Ayatollah Khomeyni's
mausoleum.

TV shows a large gathering of people at the mausoleum supporting the
supreme leader by their slogans.

The following is the part of Khamene'i's speech relating to
international relations and the nuclear issue.

(Khamene'i) "Science cannot be begged from others. Science should be
inspired from within. A nation should use its talent to become truly
knowledgeable. At the same time, it would only be through national unity
and nationwide peace that faith, justice and science could flourish. At
the absence of peace and calm, the country cannot benefit from science
or faith, and it will not be possible to establish justice for the
people. The enemy is therefore willing to grant its biggest prize to
those who can shake the pillars of peace in Iran and to fight against
the people's faith in God, themselves, the (revolution's) path and
success . . .

"Those who want to distance universities and research centres from
science and research are working for the enemy, and the enemy is ready
to give them its biggest prize. . .

"The person who pursues this nation's honour and this nation's
scientific progress is an insider. The strangers (Persian: gharibeh) are
those who are enthusiastic for America's hegemony. They are the ones who
work at home for the enemy that's lying in wait and act in its favour.
These are the strangers . . .

"Let me say a few sentences about enemies' propaganda. The propaganda
commotions against the Iranian nation and the system of the Islamic
republic are mainly set in train in the world by the Americans, Zionist
media and the news empire affiliated to Zionism. . .

(They make) Several points about Iran:

First, that there is an international consensus against Iran.

Second, that Iran is a threat to the world.

Third, that Iran is trying to make a nuclear bomb and nuclear weapons.

Fourth, that Iran is a violator of human rights.

These are the few sentences which the enemy's entire propaganda
activities harp on. And they keep repeating these in different ways in
the world, using a variety of ploys. Of course, the truth is clear to
our nation. It is also clear to many intelligent people in the world.
But I'll briefly say something (in this respect).

"There is no consensus against Iran. This is a lie by the Americans and
a few people who are America's allies in the world. (Crowd chants in
support)

"Some 116 non-aligned countries supported Iran in its bold move to
acquire nuclear technology. The Organization of the Islamic Conference
has voiced support for Iran. Independent governments all support Iran.
All those people who have acted as middlemen to repeat America's words
to us, under the American pressure and out of courtesy, have told us in
secrete that they have been asked by the Americans to say so and that
they do not think the same way.

"The world and the countries that want to secure their future are all
against the monopoly of nuclear technology by a few countries. To say
that no country has the right to have access to nuclear technology means
that in 20 years' time, all of the countries of the world will have to
beg certain Western or European countries to meet their energy demands.
They will have to beg for energy in order to run their lives. Which
country, nation, or honest official is ready to take that? Today, our
nation has taken a step forward in this road. It has become the pioneer
and stands courageously by this end. Other nations have no problem with
this (move), let alone having a consensus against it. The consensus is
among a number of political monopolist countries. This consensus is
worthless . . .

"The American and Zionist propagandists say Iran is a threat to the
world. This is the second issue. Iran is not a threat to any country and
everyone knows this fact about Iran. We have not threatened neighbouring
countries. We have friendly and brotherly ties with all the countries of
the region. Our government has healthy and good relations with European
countries. These relations with Europe will be even better in the
future, when gas plays a more important role as a source of energy. They
need our gas. We have friendly and good ties with the Arab world. The
most important issue in Arab society is the Palestinian cause. On this
issue, we speak openly about whatever they (Arabs) have in their hearts.
We have a very clear and transparent position on the Palestinian cause
and Arab nations like this position whole-heartedly. They feel proud
when we voice that position. The Arab officials too want the same in
their hearts, although they cannot speak about it as openly as we do due
to certain issues.

"We have friendly ties with different countries in the region, in Asia
and other parts of the world. They all recognize and appreciate Iran's
rights, its role and its influence. We also have good ties with Russia.
The Russians know very well what would happen to them if a pro-American
government was in power in Tehran. We (Iran and Russia) have common
interests in central Asia, the Middle East and this region.

"We have no problem with the world. We are not a threat whatsoever to
the world and the world knows it. The Americans, with their shameless
propagandas, want to influence world public opinion. However, they
haven't yet managed to do so and will not be able to do so in the future
either.

"Their other issue is [their assertion] that Iran seeks [a] nuclear
bomb. It is an irrelevant and wrong statement, it is a sheer lie. We do
not need a nuclear bomb. We do not have any objectives or aspirations
for which we will need to use a nuclear bomb. We consider using nuclear
weapons against Islamic rules. We have announced this openly. We think
imposing the costs of building and maintaining nuclear weapons on our
nation is unnecessary. Building such weapons and their maintenance are
costly. By no means we deem it right to impose these costs on the
people. We do not need those weapons. Unlike the Americans who want to
rule the world with force, we do not claim to control the world and
therefore do not need a nuclear bomb. Our nuclear bomb and our explosive
powers are our faith, our youth and our people who have been present on
the most difficult scenes with utmost power and faith and will continue
to do so. (Chants of slogan, God is great).

"The American political institutions and propaganda machines are behind
all these false ballyhoos. The Zionists also help, along with them and
side-by-side them. They are the cause of everything.

"I would like to address a few sentences to the American officials and
the team which is running America today and claims to lead the world
too. I hope they listen to it, think about it and understand it. I want
to ask them to compare themselves with our government. Compare your
(American) president with ours. Your government is the most hated
government in history of the United States today. They (Americans)
announced it to the world in their own opinion polls. The government
currently in power in America is the most hated government in history of
the United States according to its people. Compare this with our own
government. Our government is one of the most favourite governments
since the Constitutional Revolution (1906). (Chants of slogan, God is
Great, Khamene'i is our leader, death to America, death to Britain).

"Wherever your president, Mr Bush, visits he is faced with the people's
protest demonstrations and abhorrence. This is the case in Europe, Asia
and Africa. In Latin America, governments come to power by using anti-US
slogans. Today in Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and many other Latin America
countries as soon as presidential candidates use anti-US slogans the
people vote for them. Can someone be hated more than this?

"The American government doesn't allow its people to hold a normal
telephone conversation safely. This means that they can't trust their
people and can't allow them to hold a telephone conversation freely.
They have passed a law allowing them to control the telephones. This is
your situation.

"Well, compare this with the situation in our country. Compare it to
visits by our country's officials.

"See what enthusiasm the people showed towards Iranian presidents during
the (Iranian) president's visit to Indonesia and our former presidents'
visits to Lebanon, Sudan, Pakistan and other places. Why don't you
understand this? Why don't you confess such things?

"You have confessed to spending 300b dollars in Iraq so that you could
bring to power a government which was your puppet and took orders from
you. But you failed. They have confessed to spending 300b dollars, but
they've probably spent more than this so that they could bring a
government to power which took orders from America. But they failed
because the Iraqi nation was obstinate.

"In Palestine you did your utmost to stop the Hamas government from
coming to power. But you failed. And contrary to your wish, the
Palestinian nation voted for the Hamas government. You exerted pressure
from various sides on the Palestinian government. However, this
strengthened the Palestinian people's solidarity with this government.
In Lebanon, senior agents from the American State Department went to
Beirut and stayed there for a few months to see whether they could hold
Lebanon in their clutches, undermine the resistance in that country and
create a Lebanon which follows Israel. But you failed because the
Lebanese people held a grudge against you. It's the same everywhere
else.

"Why doesn't Mr Bush confess that, by his conduct, he's made America,
the American nation and America as a country, despised in the world? Why
don't you confess that you've been weakened? Why don't you confess that
your blade has gone blunt in the world? (But) You still make threats.

"Compare our president's message to the American president to the
Americans' impolite and feeble message, which was disseminated in the
world a few days ago. Out of keeping with diplomatic convention.
Brimming with dim-witted arrogance. Full of threats. Hollow words. If
you were capable of harming the Islamic republic, you wouldn't have
wasted a minute during these 27 years.

"The former American secretary of state openly said: I have to tear out
the Iranian nation by its roots. He (or she; Persian is gender neutral)
is finished and gone; the Iranian nation has grown daily. (Crowd chants
in support)

"You speak about human rights. You speak about being against terrorism.
How the hell can an administration that has Guantanamo Prison and
Abu-Ghurayb Prison and crimes like the Haditha crime and the recent
crime in Kabul and dozens and hundreds of other such things on its
record dare to speak about human rights? (Crowd chants in support)

"In order to threaten Iran, you (America) say that you can secure energy
flow in the region. You are wrong. Beware that if you make the slightest
mistake about Iran, the energy flow through this region will be
seriously in danger. (Chants of slogan, God is great, Khamene'i is our
leader, death to America).

"You will never be capable of providing energy security in this region.
You are not capable and you should know this. We will never start a war.
We have no intention of going to war with any government. We have a high
aspiration and we will use all our energy to reach it. That aspiration
is to build an Iran which provides this nation with moral and material
prosperity. We want an Iran that can be a role-model for all other
nations. Other nations know (it) well and endeavour (to reach this end)
themselves.

"We want to properly use this big country and its huge natural and human
resources - the resources which have been given to this nation and its
officials. We want to relieve this nation of the burden of hundreds of
years of humiliation. This nation feels proud and powerful and it has
every right to feel so. This nation is proud and powerful, but it has
been kept behind. Both corrupt dictator systems and their foreign
ill-willed supporters (have kept Iran behind). . .

"Peace and blessings of God be upon you." . . .

(Description of Source: Tehran Islamic Republic of Iran News Network
Television (IRINN) in Persian -- State-run 24-hour news channel in
Persian, Arabic and English; presenting up to the minute domestic and
international news. It offers exclusive interviews on a variety of
topics, as well as information on universities, labor, and economic
developments from the capital and the provinces '

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