Friday, August 31, 2012






Photo EPA

 Freedom, Justice, Friendship and Global Peace

 "The revolution in Egypt is the cornerstone for the Arab Spring, which started days after Tunisia and then it was followed by Libya and Yemen and now the revolution in Syria against its oppressive regime.  Our solidarity with the struggle of Syrians against an oppressive regime that has lost its legitimacy is an ethical duty and a political and strategic necessity."  Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi

That official message from Egypt in Tehran delivered at the Non-Aligned Movement summit did not quite reflect the warmth of the loving greeting in the photograph above.  On the right is the lover, on the left the Egyptian asp.  Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei could hardly have anticipated that one of their honoured guests from a country Iran is anxious to restore relations with, would sandbag them in such a manner.

But the speech was delivered in Arabic to those assembled, representing heads of state and their emissaries of the Non-Aligned Movement nations.  It underwent quite an alteration during the translation process which managed to alter the content to the extent that the speech was completely warped in favour of Iran's position vis-a-vis Syria.  What went out over Iranian airways, television broadcasts and newspapers also bore no relation to reality.

And it can be certain that the Iranian public heard nothing of what United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said when he addressed the gathering.  "I strongly reject threats by any member state to destroy another or outrageous attempts to deny historical facts such as the Holocaust.  Claiming that Israel does not have the right to exist or describing it in racist terms is not only wrong but undermines the very principle we all have pledged to uphold."

"In the history of the Islamic Republic, nobody has challenged the supreme leader's [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's] position on Israel in front of him, and in such a manner", said Meir Javendanfar, an Iranian-Israeli expert at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel, commending both Mr. Morsi and Mr. Ban.

The Syrian delegation felt no gratitude toward President Morsi.  Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moualem, in speaking of the withdrawal of the Syrians, angered at hearing  from Morsi: "We all have to announce our full solidarity with the struggle of those seeking freedom and justice in Syria, and translate this sympathy into a clear political vision that supports a peaceful transition to a democratic system of rule that reflects the demands of the Syrian people for freedom", responded sanctimoniously that Syria was outraged and withdrew "in rejection of the incitement in the speech to continue the shedding of Syrian blood."

The fact that Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and that the Syrian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood is well represented in the opposition to the Alawite regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad cannot have been lost on anyone's awareness of the tender details.  But of course those tender details would have been withheld from promulgation in the Iranian media.

As for Iran's defiance of the International Atomic Energy Agency's inspections and suspicions and determination to continue on its national mission to become nuclear-sufficient and in possession of nuclear arms, another kind of double-speak was in order at the conclusion of the summit:  "Our motto is nuclear energy for all and nuclear weapons for none", said Ayatollah Khamenei who had managed to overlook Mr. Ban's urging to prove Iran's nuclear work is for peaceful purposes.

And, as the summit closed, despite the unexpected intrusions of reality and opposition into the process thanks to two honoured guests, it was clear that the remainder of the NAM delegates lined up their support precisely as Tehran required them to.  "The important political message by NAM to the international community is the message of friendship and peace and its readiness to tackle global challenges", said Ahmadinejad, oozing fraternity and goodwill.

The summit overwhelmingly approved the final statement.  Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority had urged Iran to aid it in forming a Palestinian state, and the final statement included support for Palestine.  The agreement included support for 'the fight against discrimination', 'rejection of unilateral sanctions', and finally, an agreement to elect Venezuela, yet another sterling citizen-nation of the civil world, to the next NAM chair for 2015.

Last, certainly not least, was the general agreement by NAM members in support of Iran's 'right to pursue a peaceful nuclear program'.  "All NAM member states approved the need for a new world management upon the basis of freedom, justice and friendship and with the final aim of achieving stable global peace", beamed Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Who, along with his colleagues is stalwartly prepared to unleash nuclear Armageddon on anyone who doesn't agree with the values and direction of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

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