Iran commander: West behind plot against mullahs
|
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, July 19, 2001
NICOSIA Ñ Iran's military commander is warning of a coup backed by
Israel and the United States.
Gen. Rahim Safavi, commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, said
Iranians educated in the West are working to destroy the Islamic regime. The
general said the goal of the dissidents is to separate religion from state, Middle East Newsline.
Iran has often warned of foreign plots against the Islamic republic. But
Safavi told the Basij state-backed militia that current plans for a coup
differ from previous plots because they are meant to destroy the regime from
within.
The Washington, D.C.-based Azadeghan Foundation, headed by former Iranian diplomat Dr. Assad Homayoun, recently published an advertisement in U.S. newspapers with the headline: "Iran's People Have Been Struggling
for Democratic Change,
But Khatami and the Mullahs Represent
the Continuity of Clerical Tyranny."
"The Western media has called the group of Iranian officials around President Mohammad Khatami ''reformers,' and those around Supreme Leader Khamenei 'hardliners,' but they all share the common belief that Iran should remain a rigid ideological state built around a 'revolutionary Islam,' Homayound told World Tribune.com. "They are opposed to the West and bent on the destruction of Israel," he said.
Homayoun said most Iranians prefers to keep religion out of politics and favor genuine democratic reform.
Safavi charged that "in this plot, the enemy is trying to topple the system through using
the idea of separation of state and religion as a weapon. A
group who have studied in foreign countries and are a bit familiar with
Western ideas are trying to speak the minds of Westerners. They have
forgotten the Koran and are promoting the Western philosophy."
Safavi said the plot to overthrow the Islamic clergy is being conducted
by those who are encouraging a resumption of ties between Iran and the
United States. He called on the Basij and devout young Muslims to fight this
trend.
The call by the Revolutionary Guard chief was the most specific by a
member of the ruling circle to oppose the effort by Iranian President
Mohammed Khatami to restore diplomatic relations with Israel.
|