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Iran's leaders tacitly admit that demonstrations are not football riots

Oct 30, 2001

http://www.iran-daneshjoo.org/

Iranian students are planning more demonstrations using the venue of gathering at football games to foil attempts to gather for demos. This is today's press release, something to keep in mind if the media once again reports on 'football holligans'. As well, today IRNA reported the arrest of 80 more 'football hooligans' but in a separate story the leading cleric of Iran spoke of 'the inexperience of the students' being exploited by 'foreign elements' a tacit acknowledgement that these are not football riots but rather demos, which it seems the leadership is trying to tie together with 'the CIA threat' when in fact it seems that the demos are an internal matter for Iran...

http://www.iran-daneshjoo.org/cgi-bin/smccdinews/viewnews.cgi?category=4&id=1004452024

Tuesday, October 30, 2001
SMCCDI: The Third Force Movement And Civil Disobedience in Iran Widens
The Third Force Movement And Civil Disobedience in Iran Widens
SMCCDI Political Committee
October 29, 2001
Noble People Of Iran:
In recent weeks, mass protests against Iran's clerical regime by brave Iranian women and men have been documented and reported by the international media. These events have caused great anguish and fear among the officials and mercenaries of the clerical regime. High-ranking officials of the Islamic Republic have resorted to desperate means in order to muffle the cries of the people's anger and dissatisfaction, by promising bogus referendums or likening defiant demonstrators to a bunch of football hooligans. The regime's officials, however, must know that they can no longer continue to fool Iranians. There is no way to stop the advance of the Third Force's tidal wave. The clerical regime's officials have realized that Iranians are fed up, and that their unjust rule is doomed. They have no other choice, but to yield to the rule of law.

To President Khatami, the Puppet President:
On several occasions, you have ordered the brutal suppression of the voices of Iranian freedom-fighters, and you have likened them to a bunch of hooligans or have blamed foreign intervention. You should know better that soccer is one channel through which Iranian patriots are conveying their true aspirations to the world, and the world has heard them. Iranians will continue their strife until a secular and democratic government is established in Iran.

To The Military And Police Forces:
A country's military can be likened to the sword of the people's will. Its primary goal is to defend the country against foreign threats, and to tune into the people's will and follow the rule of law. The Iranian people count on your support in their strife for freedom and democracy.

Valiant People of Iran:
. Let us unite our forces once again, behind the Third Force in a grandiose show of solidarity on the evenings of Wednesday and Thursday, 31 October and 1 November (9-10 Aban), which will coincide, respectively, with the New Football (Soccer) game and the anniversary of the Messiah's birthday. Once again, let us call for the liberation of all political prisoners, a free referendum and the establishment of a secular and democratic regime. Our slogans will be: "Down with Taleban", "Free all political prisoners" and "Referendum, Referendum, is the people's wish." The Student Movement Coordination Committee For Democracy In Iran (SMCCDI) asks all Iranians especially, students, workers, and government functionaries to join hands in this historic endeavor.

We are convinced the despotic theocracy will soon be replaced by a secular and democratic government.

We will be victorious because our cause is just.

the IRNA story that tacitly admits the demos are not football riots is here:
http://www.irna.com/en/head/011030182247.ehe.shtml

Leader: Iran will not help U.S. gain illegitimate interests in Afghanistan

Isfahan, Oct 30, IRNA -- The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not support the United States to gain illegitimate interests in Afghanistan.

The Supreme Leader said that any official in the government, parliament or the Judiciary may have personal outlook on developments in the world, but they should honor the constitutional commitment to follow the leadership on sensitive matters. Otherwise, their legitimacy within the Islamic government goes under question and sometimes religiously forbidden.

"Difference of opinion is acceptable on matters of administration and amendments to the law, but, the Constitution has put forward a clear-cut provision and has empowered the leadership to have the final say on critical matters," the Leader pointed out.

"The leadership determines the general policy of the Islamic Republic for different sectors and the direction toward which the country should be steered. According to the Constitution, the three branches of government, the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary are working according to their constitutional obligations, while having different views about the state of affairs which are constructive in specialized bodies in charge of studying the matters, but, in carrying out the general policy (recommended by the leadership), personal views should not intervene," the Supreme Leader said.

The Leader said that the United States has expectations from Iran while it has engaged in a full-scale war in Afghanistan, but, Iran has made its stance clear from the beginning so that there is no room for taking into account the U.S. expectations from Iran.

The Supreme Leader recalled the U.S. hostile policies towards Iran in the past and earmarking several billion dollars to finance subversive operations against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Ayatollah Khamenei also said that the U.S. has embarked on attempts to take advantage of the lack of experience of the youth to incite them against Iran's firm stance on the U.S. anti-Iran policies.

The Leader said that the enemy is magnifying small events in Iran irrespective of the fact that the large part of Iranian youth population are ready to stand against any possible conspiracy against the Islamic Republic.

The Supreme Leader arrived in Isfahan on Tuesday and was accorded a warm welcome by several hundred thousand people of the city who have anxiously been looking forward to hosting the Leader for three weeks.


By the way I assume that their peculiar slogan 'down with the taliban' is targetted at Iran's religious leadership, equating them with the Taliban, or it could be that this is an expression of rebellion against Iranian policy, or much more sinister it could be that the movement is infiltrated by the CIA. Like I said previously, with the constant dishonesty on the part of the religious leadership on this issue I don't believe anything they say (first they plant false stories in the media about 'football fans rioting when their team loses the game' and then they complain that the CIA is faking demos like in the fifties as pretext for a coming coup. They have no credibility because of their past falsehoods, and even now they are just barely confessing the truth. I would like to have this slogan 'down with the taliban' explained by these students (as I said, I assume that is sarcasm, but it does kind of stick with a person and makes a person wonder).

Some of you may be unfamiliar with Iranian politics. The Taliban and the leaders of Iran have been bitterly hostile enemies for years with Iran's clerics claiming that the taliban were to conservative and giving islam a bad name...and so you could understand how, in that particular culture, chanting 'down with the taliban' as a protest slogan agaisnt Iran's leaders would be the height of sarcasm, although it might sound weird to western ears...if you were a student protestor whose slogan against iran's clerics was 'down with the taliban' everyone who was going to that football game would understand the sarcasm, and I thought I would mention the point so you would understand the sarcasm embedded in such a slogan as well. If however the students are expressing their 'pro Afghan bombing, pro-Bush policy' then my position takes a dramatic 360 degree reversal and can be summed in three letters and I think we all know what those three letters are : CIA.

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