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Old policy, new
fears
Ahmadinejad's comments about Israel are nothing new.
But the international outrage reflects concerns about
where Iran's nucler program may be heading.
November 1, 2005
iranian.com
Ahmadinejad's bellicose speech [1] on October 26 has
spawned strong reactions and numerous commentaries. Most
observers have asserted that Ahmadinejad's words are the
result of his inexperience and that they do not reflect
the views of the fundamentalist regime or his faction.
One of the more extreme examples of the dominant view is
expressed by Columbia University Professor Gary Sick,
who said: "Ahmadinejad's role has been very
substantially reduced... He's been in office for a
hundred days. He's done nothing. I think people are
looking around and saying 'This guy is a disaster'. I
think they [the regime] are going to isolate him and
quarantine him." [See]
In this article, I present evidence which proves that
the dominant explanation is false. I show that
Ahmadinejad's words are the expression of the actual
consensus of the ruling faction of the regime. In other
words, Ahmadinejad's words are not the mere utterance of
one inexperienced person. Rather, Ahmadinejad expressed
the views of the Young Conservative sub-faction and the
consensus of the hard-line faction which control
virtually all the main levers of power in Iran.[2] This
is not mere academic exercise. If the dominant
explanation is correct, one may not be too concerned
about the off-the-cuff remarks of one man. However, if
my analysis is correct, we should expect a more
confrontational foreign policy by the regime.
The next question is: why are the hardliners pursuing
a more confrontational policy at this juncture? In my
next article I will argue that there is a rationale
behind the position of Ahmadinejad and the hard-liners.
The "new" aggressive policy is intended to
serve both their domestic and foreign policy goals. The
unusually strong reaction by EU, UN Security Council,
Russia, and even Venezuela, were not expected. However,
these reactions may or may not undermine the main
intended goals of the regime or their pursuit of the
more aggressive policy. But first, we need to establish
whether Ahmadinejad's bellicose words reflected his own
views or those of the ruling faction in Iran.
If Ahmadinejad's words were out of line with the
policy of the regime, other members of the oligarchy
would have immediately made clear that Ahmadinejad did
not speak for the regime. Ahmadinejad, himself, might
have been compelled to retract his remarks by the
Supreme Leader and/or other members of the oligarchy.
If other members of his sub-faction (Young
Conservatives) and his faction (hard-liners) publically
state that what Ahmadinejad said is what their
"Imam Khomeini" had said and that in fact the
destruction of Israel is the policy of the
fundamentalist regime, that would show that Ahmadinejad
correctly reflected the policy consensus of the ruling
faction in the oligarchy. In addition, if we observe
other official statements repeat the same words and
demands, then one can conclude that Ahmadinejad's words
reflect the official policy of the regime.
AHMADINEJAD REITERATING HIS POSITION AND REFUSING TO
RETRACT
On Friday the 28th, two days after his initial
remarks, Ahmadinejad said: "My words are the
Iranian nation's words... Westerners are free to
comment, but their reaction is invalid. These people
have a lot of nerve and they think that the whole world
has to submit to them." {last sentence is my
translation}[See]
On Sunday 30th, Ahmadinejad added: "We only
repeated the words of the last 27 years which were the
stances of the Imam, and the supreme leader [Ali
Khamanehi] and Islamic nation. It was very clear."
He went on and repeated his earlier words such as:
"Today under the pretext of Gaza pullout, they want
to force a few countries to recognize this country. The
ones who do that must know that they are standing in
front of Islamic nations and that is an unforgivable
crime." [AFP, "Iran won't return to nuclear
freeze: Ahmadinejad," October 30, 2005.]
The official news agency, IRNA, writes that the
slogans at the official rally organized by the regime
were: "Our President, Thanks Thanks,"
"Good Job Hezbollah, Ahmadinejad Hezbollah,
President Hezbollah." {my translation} [See]
SUPPORT BY MEMBER OF THE YOUNG CONSERVATIVES
Gen. Rahim Safavi, the Supreme Commander of the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said: "The words
of the president were the words of our nation...
Americans and Israelis have made a psychological war
against our nation to overcome their defeats in the Gaza
Strip and Iraq. Zionists and Americans want to overthrow
the Islamic Republic and they have said this, therefore
repeating the words of Imam Khomeini and the nation by
the president is unbearable for them... Our nation
confirms the words of their president and this means
that all the Islamic nations should in unity in an
economic and cultural struggle for the Palestinian
nation work together. This does not mean that they
should use military methods, and we hope that 1.5
billion Muslims in a wise process expel a few hundred
thousand Zionists from Palestine." {my
translation}[See]
Hossein Shariatmadari, the ideologue of the Young
Conservatives and the feared torturer at Evin, who has
been the appointed by Supreme Leader to be
editor-in-chief of the Kayhan daily wrote:
"Our respected president has not said anything new
or unprecedented about Israel to justify such a huge
political tumult. Iran's nuclear case... could be a
reason for the recent clamor." [Christian Oliver,
"Iranians say Israel spat used to up atomic
pressure," Reuters, October 30, 2005.]
SUPPORT BY MEMBERS OF THE HARD-LINE FACTION
Supreme Leader Ali Khamanehi attacked the negative
reaction against Ahmadinejad's remarks and said:
"... leaders of the west and Europe should be
ashamed of being so much under the influence of
Zionists." [See]
Ayatollah Seyed Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroodi, the
Chairman of the Judicial branch, said: "The words
of the president were reiterating the positions of the
system." Shahroodi went further than Ahmadinejad
and condemned the negative world reaction to the
position of IRI as stated by Ahmadinejad and blamed it
on the influence of Zionists on international
organizations. {my translation} [See (1)
(2)]
Ali Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National
Security Council, said: "Awakening in society with
the help of this global movement can be important and
highlight the role of Iran in the world of Islam.... The
huffing and puffing around world is to reach another
goal. The Zionist regime and the criminal America in the
past years many times said words to insult the president
of the Islamic Republic. {my translation}[See]
Hojatolislam v al-Moslemin Ibrahimi, who is a member
of the Central Committee of the Society of Combatant
Clergy (the main hard-line party) told ISNA: "What
he [Ahmadinejad] said is exactly the same as what the
late Imam [Khomeini] had said and the esteemed Supreme
Leader [Khamanehi] had said earlier. These words are
heavy for the arrogance [United States] and they think
that time have changed these. However, the ideals of the
revolution, that are in fact the ideals of the late
Imam, do not change with time. Therefore, these words
were the just words that were spoken."{my
translation}[See]
Hojatolislam v al-Moslemin Movahedi Kermani, who is
the Representative of Supreme Leader in the Islamic
Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) defended president
Ahmadinejad in his interview with ISNA and added:
"We should speak our positions without any
fear." He further added that the reactions of the
West to Ahmadinejad's words were natural. He said:
"We should not escape after these reactions. We
should tell the truth and not fear any of these
international reactions. We should plane our
calculations based on Islamic and religious principles.
One of the Islamic principles is the defense of the
oppressed, and the world has become aware of the
oppression and corruption of the regime that has
occupied Jerusalem, therefore the stronger we hold our
ground, the better the world becomes aware of our
position." {my translation} [See]
Secretary-General of Motalefeh Party (another party
in the hard-line faction that is very different than the
Young Conservatives), Mohammad Nabi Habibi, told ISNA:
"The words of the president were not new; because
as long as the Zionists have a conflict based on
elimination of Islamic nations, they should expect the
same policy of elimination against them by Islamic
countries." He added: "Although [global] media
have begum new propaganda against the president outside
the country, but the president's words are a subject
that all the Islamic nations believe in... Jews around
the world like all adherents of religions should have a
tranquil life without usurping the rights of other
nation; but when Zionists has been formed to eliminate
Islamic countries then they should expect similar
policies will be imposed on them by the Islamic
nations." {my translation} [See]
Ali Akbar Nategh-Nouri, member of the Expediency
Council, and Gholam-Ali Hadad Adel, speaker of the
Majles provided implicit support to Ahmadinejad and made
attacks on Israel that were even harsher than those made
by Ahmadinejad while maintaining that by eliminating
Israel they mean taking the land from Zionists and
giving it to Muslim Palestinians. {my translation} [See]
SUPPORT FROM VARIOUS INSTITUTIONS AND OFFICIALS OF
THE REGIME
The "International Qods [Jerusalem] Day"
rally is the main official program of the regime, where
the regime announces its policies as the "Statement
of Marchers." The Statement of the Marchers repeats
exactly what Ahmadinejad had said on October 26th. The
statement explicitly threatens the governments of Arab
and Muslim countries that have recognized Israel
"with instability and violence" and calls them
"traitors." It adds that they do not
"accept anything less than the destruction of
Israel."
It goes on to add: "We, the Muslim nation,
participating in this march on the International Qods
Day, explicitly state that the Zionist occupying regime
is a cancerous tumor for the entire world and humanity
and therefore the demand of all freedom-seeking people
of the world, especially the Muslims is the destruction
and complete annihilation of this infected cancerous
tumor. The announced position of the President of the
Islamic Republic of Iran (on the wiping of Israel from
the map) is the true and religious opinion of the late
esteemed Imam and all the Muslims especially the brave
and revolutionary people of Iran, and we strongly
support his [Ahmadinejad's] words." {my
translation; the words in parentheses are in original;
the words in brackets are mine} [See]
The official news agency IRNA editorialized:
"The racist actions of the Zionists in the genocide
of the Muslim Palestinians is exactly what Mr.
Ahmadinejad pointed to and comes from the racist and
oppressive mentality of global Zionism and the struggle
against it has its roots in Islamic history and it dates
hundreds of years. For this reason the president
emphasized that the issue of Palestine is the central
issue of the world of Islam." {my translation} [See]
The Chairman of the General Inspection Organization
of the Country [the bureau responsible for inspecting
various state agencies] Hojatolislam val-Moslemin
Mohammad Niazi told ISNA that the current methods of the
president is following the policies of the system and
added: "These polices have been formulated by the
late Imam and the responsible officials of the system
have interpreted them and the president is duty-bound to
work within the system's policies and continue
them." Niazi said that: "The reactions of
other countries against Iran is natural because they are
under the influence of Zionism and these reactions were
always even evident to the words and position of the
late Imam and until the time that Zionists have
influence in the systems of the West and arrogant
powers, these reactions are natural.... Zionists want to
dominate and influence Islamic countries and the issues
of Iraq and Afghanistan are the plans of Zionists and
they are following their plans...." {my
translation} [See]
Hojatolislam Seyed Abol-Hassan Nouri, Imam Jomeh [the
most powerful cleric appointed by the Supreme Leader in
each city] of Khorramshahr told IRNA: "The precise
and polite words of the president is the exact words of
the late Imam.... The words of this revolutionary
president are the sayings of the Imam and all the devout
and freedom fighters and the huffing and puffing of the
oppressors of the world against these words are useless
and wrong.... The words of our dear president has no
place for criticism and he as a Muslim and revolutionary
person who supports the Koran has said good and just
words and know that the threats of the enemy is empty...
The believing and good people and those expecting the
12th Imam in this holy land should take this land from
the Zionists and give it to the 12th Imam... These
shouts come from the steel determination of the nation
in liberating Palestine and will bear fruit and will
utterly destroy and annihilate the remnants of the
Zionists.{my translation} [See]
Shahaboldin Sadr, the head of the Medical Association
told ISNA: "Th sentence that the president said was
also said by the late Imam that this cancerous tumor
should be eliminated from the body of the Islamic
world." {my translation} [See]
Ayatollah Zeinolabedin Ghorbani, the Representative
of the Supreme Leader in Gilan province and the Imam
Jomeh of Rasht condemned the world's reactions to
Ahmadinejad. {my translation} [See]
 "NEW"
POLICY
Although the demand for the destruction of Israel
goes back to 1979, President Khatami (1997-2005) had
toned down vitriolic attacks on Israel and the United
States. Nevertheless, slogans "Death to
Israel" and "Death to America" remained
the official slogans at the official Friday Prayers.
Moreover, during parades, the regime hung banners on the
missiles which read "Death to Israel" and
"Death to American." Before Khatami, President
Rafsanjani used different language when addressing
Iranian and Western audiences.
HamidReza Taraghi, a member of the Central Committee
of Motalefeh Party told ISNA: "The speech of the
president showed that the strategy of the new government
is not like the strategy of the previous government [Khatami's
administration] and is an aggressively offensive [tahajomi]
strategy and our nation will no longer allow Europeans
and Americans to use bombs and bullets instead of
logic." {my translation} [See]
Hojatolislam v al-Moslemin Mojtaba Zolnour, the
commander of the 83rd Imam Jafar Sadegh Brigade, said in
his sermon on Friday prayer on the 28th:
"Unfortunately, in the past eight years, the
officials of the country had lackadaisical commitments
to the ideals of the Islamic revolution... This caused
the enemies of Islam to become bolder and today they
have this reaction to the recent revolutionary position
of the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The
global arrogance that had observed the lackadaisical
commitment to the ideals of the revolution, today that
heard the words of Mr. Ahmadinejad had become angry...
The dear president, away from the compromises that some
politicians do, has presented the destruction of Israel
which was the word of the late Imam and has caused
commotion around the world.... Today, the late Imam's
spirit has come alive in the body of the society and the
youth of the country have returned to the ideals of the
revolution.... The policies of the former officials [Khatami
administration] were to give in to the demands of the
enemies such as in the nuclear arena... What was the
result of retreat from our principles? Didn't they
become bolder? The preservation and prolongation of us
is not to go in that direction and instead stand up to
their impositions." {my translation} [See]
Ayatollah Ali Meshkini, Chairman of the Experts
Council, declared in his Friday prayer sermon on the
28th: "The silence of the Islamic countries against
the crimes of the regime occupying Jerusalem in the
Palestinian lands is shameful and haram [forbidden
according to Shariah]... Unfortunately, this
shamelessness has reached such an extent that some of
the these countries have normalized their relations with
Israel... The normalization of relations between Islamic
countries and the criminal Israeli regime means support
for oppression of this regime against
Palestinians." {my translation} [See]
Gen. Ahmad Roozbehani, Deputy of the Greater Tehran
Amr be Maroof va Nahi az Monker [Official Agency to
Promote Virtue and Forbid Vice] said: "The cancer
tumor that is the occupying regime of Jerusalem should
be wiped out." {my translation} [See]
CONCLUSION
In his October 26 speech, Ahmadinejad did not say
that Iran will use nuclear weapons to destroy Israel.
Rather he said that Iran will help Palestinians and
other Muslims to destroy Israel through armed struggle
(e.g., suicide bombs, rocket attacks by Hamas,
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Lebanese Hezbollah). This
has been the official policy of the fundamentalist
regime for the past 27 years. In the past 27 years, the
fundamentalist regime has provided funds, training and
arms to Islamic fundamentalist forces that have killed
Israelis, Americans and others. Moreover, threatening or
condemning governments of Arab or Muslim-majority
countries that have recognized Israel is also not new.
What is new is the perception around the world that
the fundamentalist regime has had a covert nuclear
weapons program, and that the completion of nuclear
weapons would provide the fundamentalist regime the
capability to destroy another country.
Ahmadinejad's words on October 26 accurately reflect
the long-standing policies of the fundamentalist regime.
From Ayatollah Khomeini to Supreme Leader Ali Khamanehi,
those words have been spoken publicly. In this article,
I presented a small number of the much larger body of
support that many members of the oligarchy have provided
Ahmadinejad and his position.
A close reading of the text of Ahmadinejad's speech
shows that he had chosen his words very carefully (and
arguably purposefully). Not only Ahmadinejad did not
retract a single word of his speech, but he succeeded in
gathering the main figures in the Islamic Republic to
support him and condemn his critiques. Many
non-fundamentalists legitimately regard Ahmadinejad's
bellicose words to be reprehensible. But this does not
mean that those words were chosen without a rationale
behind them nor that they may not serve the interests of
the Young Conservatives or the hard-line faction.
For example, attacking the U.S. Embassy and taking
its diplomats hostage by Khomeini and his fundamentalist
student supporters were reprehensible acts and against
international law. Those actions, however, helped
Khomeini get rid of prime minister Bazargan, impose the
fundamentalist constitution on a reluctant nation, get
rid of president Bani Sadr, and consolidate power in his
own hands. Taking and holding the hostages were against
the national interests of Iran and the interests of the
Iranian people. By placing their own interests above the
national interests, fundamentalists were able to
consolidate their power.
Instead of dismissing fundamentalists as idiots or
their actions as amateurish, we should attempt to
analyze and understand the motives behind their actions.
This could help those who wish to replace the current
nightmarish tyranny with a secular and democratic
system.
Endnotes
[1] For an English text of Ahmadinejad's speech see here.
[2] For a brief discussion of various faction comprising
the fundamentalist oligarchy ruling Iran see my
article. Ahmadinejad's remarks on October 26
vindicate my analysis published October 11.
About
Masoud Kazemzadeh is Associate Professor in the Department
of Political Science at Sam Houston State University
in Huntsville, Texas. He is the author of Islamic
Fundamentalism, Feminism, and Gender Inequality in Iran
Under Khomeini (Lanham, MD: University Press of
America, 2002), and The Bush Doctrine and Iran:
Alternative Scenarios and Consequences
(forthcoming).
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