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View Full Version : Clerics Defy Ayatollah



Kathianne
07-05-2009, 09:14 AM
This seems really big:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/05/world/middleeast/05iran.html?_r=1&hp


July 5, 2009
Leading Clerics Defy Ayatollah on Disputed Iran Election

By MICHAEL SLACKMAN and NAZILA FATHI
CAIRO — The most important group of religious leaders in Iran called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate on Saturday, an act of defiance against the country’s supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country’s clerical establishment.

A statement by the group, the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum, represents a significant, if so far symbolic, setback for the government and especially the authority of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose word is supposed to be final. The government has tried to paint the opposition and its top presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, as criminals and traitors, a strategy that now becomes more difficult — if not impossible.

“This crack in the clerical establishment, and the fact they are siding with the people and Moussavi, in my view is the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic,” said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. “Remember, they are going against an election verified and sanctified by Khamenei.”

The announcement came on a day when Mr. Moussavi released documents detailing a campaign of fraud by the current president’s supporters, and as a close associate of the supreme leader called Mr. Moussavi and former President Mohammad Khatami “foreign agents,” saying they should be treated as criminals....

Gaffer
07-05-2009, 10:07 AM
Now I have to go check out antimullah and the other sites that post on iran and see what's happening. Thanks for the tip.

hjmick
07-05-2009, 10:46 AM
Just a blip. They'll change their statements shortly after they're arrested and put to death.

Mr. P
07-05-2009, 11:06 AM
This seems really big:


Big? It's gigantic!


Just a blip. They'll change their statements shortly after they're arrested and put to death.

If they are arrested they'll defiantly have a major revolution on their hands..IMO.

PostmodernProphet
07-05-2009, 12:04 PM
Just a blip. They'll change their statements shortly after they're arrested and put to death.
???...I suspect it may be a bit late AFTER they've been put to death....

hjmick
07-05-2009, 05:22 PM
???...I suspect it may be a bit late AFTER they've been put to death....

Yeah, you know... The old "Just prior to their execution for crimes against the Nation and Allah, they recanted their earlier statements..." trick. They release it to the press just after the executions.

emmett
07-06-2009, 07:41 PM
Next few weeks the News from Iran should be very interesting.