|
Ayatollah Khamenei might dissolve government...
Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, the autocratic leader of the Islamic Republic hinted Saturday at dissolving the regimeâs constitutional powers and establish a one-man dictatorship. "Anytime one feels that heads of the three powers have reverted to actions that leads to the deviation of the regime from its original path, the leader will stand up to them like a dam", Mr. Khameneh'i said addressing members of the Friday Preachers. This is the first time that the egocentric Ayatollah hints at dissolving the Executive and the Legislative, which is controlled by the reformers and challenges his leadership. The Legislative is still controlled directly by Mr. Khameneh'i.If you can't control 'em, dissolve 'em. That's sure to calm the country down, introduce stability, and raise the standard of living... His warning that he could shut the three powers echoed a statement issued last week by the Revolutionary Guards of the Islamic Republic that threatened the reformers, dissidents and the press not to pave the way for an American attack on Iran. Many reformers, noting that the army had no constitutional right to interfere in the nationâs political affairs, rejected the stern warning by the Guards. Critics also observed that the statement has been issued with the blessing of Ayatollah Khameneh'i. When that happen, the blow-off will be set up and it'll be just a matter of time before it comes... Iranian analysts said recent US policies to support Iranian peopleâs demand for democracy and freedom, instead of engaging the government, and by extension, the Iranian regime, has "genuinely frightened" the conservative leadership. If they had a system that worked, there wouldn't be any reason to be frightened, would there? As Mr. Khamenehâi was addressing some Friday Preachers, an Islamic revolution tribunal in Tehran announced the dissolution of the Iran Freedom Movement (IFM), one of Iranâs oldest political organisation, and delivered harsh sentences, ranging from ten years to nine month jail, against 33 of its leading members. And at exactly the same time, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the regimeâs number two personality menaced Washington that Iran could destroy oil and gas fields in the Persian Gulf if attacked by the United States. Iraq did something similar. Did 'em a lot of good... Addressing Iranian airmen, Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is the Chairman of the powerful Expediency Council, pointed to the American economic problems and said: Though the United States barks while at sleep and is not able to carry out the flag of war, yet, if it creates problems for us in the Persian Gulf, it would loose the resources it has (in the Persian Gulf). He's underestimating. He's buying the "Paper Tiger" thing, and that's a bad thing to do... Though he did not specify the "resources" and say how the US would loose them, political analysts, reading on Mr. Rafsanjaniâs lips, said he might mean attacking the oil fields that satisfy more than 40 per cent of the industrial worldâs needs of energy. Ten days ago, the former president had told the American that Iran, if attacked by America, will take the battle "right at the heart of the United States". That means Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad try to swarm the country, or I miss my guess... Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2002-07-28 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=5995 |