Friday, July 17, 2009

Rafsanjani Comes Out With Pro-Protest Sermon

It seems that Rafsanjani has now picked his side and has come out forcefully behind the protesters by taking their grievances to the Friday sermon airwaves.

The cleric got tears in his eyes as he spoke of how Islam's Prophet Muhammad "respected the rights" of his people. He said the founder of Iran's Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, "would always say that if the system is not backed by the people, nothing would stand."

For Iranians listening across the country, the weekly Friday sermon in Tehran is the voice of the leadership and a symbol of its backing by God.

This part is especially telling and should be pushed forward by anyone who is opposed to Iranian nukes.

Inside the prayers, worshippers traded competing chants with some hard-liners in the congregation. When the hard-liners chanted "death to America," Mousavi supporters countered with "death to Russia" and "death to China," a reference to Ahmadinejad's alliance with both countries.

A truly democratic Iran allied with the West will prevent a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. It is just that simple. I think it might be time for Obama to throw his weight behind a reformer like Rafsanjani rather then Khomeini and Almadinijoke.

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