Supermullah

"In 1999, I told an audience that our failure to act				In spite of this concept, which is anathema to the
decisively at the time of the Iranian hostage				West, or perhaps because of it a few other faiths,
controversy has left us with a bitter harvest that we				such as Judaism and Christianity, are allowed a certain
will one day reap, and I have never been so sorry to				right to exist, so that their members are not required
be so right." (Prof. J. Rufus Fears, Princeton, 2003).				to convert to Islam even if they live in predominantly
Seyyed Ali Hoseini Khamenei is Iran's spiritual leader				Islamic areas, although they are never equal to
and highest authority. His voice overrides all others in				Muslims before the law. Nowhere is this principle
the hierarchy. He is widely regarded as the figurehead				carried out more to its extremes than in Iran.
of the country's conservative establishment, and has				In fact, under the blessings of Ali Khamenei religious
repeatedly denounced the idea of talks with the				coercion is perpetrated not only against non-Muslims,
United States. Particularly during and after the US-led				but also against Muslims alike. The case of Ayatollah
war on Iraq, he was sharply critical of Washington's				Seyyed Hossein Kazemeini Boroujerdi is but the latest
policies. Ali Khamenei succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah				proof. As reported by OpenDemocracy.Net, Ayatollah
Khomeini, founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as				Boroujerdi adheres to the "twelver" Ja'fari Shi'a Islam,
Supreme Leader in 1989. Before that, Khamenei was				a form of Shi'ism founded on the concept of the
President for two successive terms from 1981-1989.				twelve Imams who were the rightful spiritual and
There are indeed many similarities between				political leaders of Muslims following the death of the
Khomeini's iron-fist rule and that of Khamenei. For one				Prophet Mohammed. It is believed that the Twelfth
thing when Khomeini took power, although many				(or "hidden") imam, known as the Mahdi, lives in
hoped the Revolution would bring freedom of speech				"occultation" but will one day return and resume the
and press, this was not to be. In defending forced				leadership of the faithful. Until that moment arrives,
closures of opposition newspapers and attacks on				Bouroujerdi and fellow traditional Shi'a believe that
opposition protesters by club-wielding vigilantes,				political and religious authority should remain
Khomeini explained: "The club of the pen and the club				separated.
of the tongue are the worst of clubs, whose				In other words, in the absence of the Mahdi, a
corruption is 100 times greater than that of other				theocracy such as the one ruling Iran today is
clubs."				illegitimate both ideologically and theologically, and as
Acting in the same lines involving censorship of				such all religious laws are null and void. This belief has
freedom of speech and press, Ali Khamenei declared				met with the ire of Ali Khamenei, who has
in a letter he wrote rejecting a Majlis (Parliament) bill				persecuted and continues to persecute the dissident
reforming the country's press law: "Any				Ayatollah, his family and his followers ruthlessly and
re-interpretation of press law that is not in the				mercilessly.
interests of the country and the system is				As to the controversy surrounding Iran's nuclear
forbidden". And according to Reporters Without				programme, the position of Grand Ayatollah Ali
Borders ( "Ali Khamenei is one of the twenty most				Khamenei is less than clear. In 2005, in a speech to
dangerous predators of press freedom", well over				the Guardian Council of the Constitution, he declared:
and above the likes of Kim Jong-il of North Korea,				"They (the West) speak as if Iran is seeking nuclear
Fidel Castro of Cuba and Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia.				weapons and they oppose it [...]. I jave said it
But there are also two striking differences between				repeatedly that we are not seeking nuclear
the two Ayatollahs - whereas Khomeini was				weapons". Yet he is a strong supporter of
everywhere to be found, Khamenei rules from behind				ultra-conservative President Ahmadinejad, and in
the curtains. He is the hidden, invisible grey eminence				June, 2006 made a statement to the effect that Iran
setting both domestic and foreign policies. And the				would disrupt energy shipments from the Persian Gulf
second great dissimilarity consists in the fact that the				region should the country come under attack from
Second Supreme Leader of Iran is far more				the US, insisting that Tehran will not give up its right
extremist than the First in his censorship and factual				to produce nuclear fuel.
total abrogation of human rights as well.				Which, of course, is not tantamount to say that
Speaking at the Conference for the Unity of Islam,				Khamenei supports nuclear weapons. But he supports
Ali Khamenei declared that "Human rights are a				the incendiary statements made by President
weapon in the hands of our enemies to fight Islam."				Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, particularly the reference to
Faithful to this declaration, the regime under Ali				Israel as being "a stain of disgrace" within Islam, that
Khamenei has embarked in a literal interpretation of				must be "wiped away". And because of this, Ali
the teachings of the Al'Quran and the Hadith - that is				Khamenei lacks credibility with the West just as
the collection of Books from which traditions inferred				Ahmadinejad. Khamenei has also supported the
by the words and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad				acceleration of the nuclear programme in spite of
are derived - as they relate to the treatments of				worldwide condemnation and now of UN sanctions.
women in the matter of, among other things,				As to the economic policies, Khamenei gets mixed
prostitution and adultery: lapidation. Although				reviews. For some observers Iran's present economy
execution by stoning is a pre-Islamic practice				is inefficient, bloated and over-reliant on oil revenues
nowadays condemned by the majority of Muslim				and state subsidies that create major distortions
countries and scholars, the number of public stonings				throughout the system. For others it has the
continues to be a relatively common event in Iran,				potential to become a leading light in the Middle East.
sponsored by the regime headed by Ali Khamenei				What is certain is that Iran's undoubted strength is to
and notwithstanding the ban on lapidation officially				be found in its reserves of natural resources, most
declared by the Iranian government in 2001.				notably oil and gas. Iran holds about 10 percent of
In this type of execution, typically the condemned				the world's crude oil reserves, and is second only to
are wrapped head to foot in white shrouds with the				Russia in terms of natural gas.
hands tied behind their back and buried up to their				Most economic activity is controlled by the Republic,
waists if they are men, or all the way to the head if				and the private sector is typically made of small-scale
they are women.Then the stoning begins. The stones				workshops, farming, and services. Relatively high oil
are specifically chosen so that they are large enough				prices in recent years have enabled Iran to amass
to cause pain, but not so large as to kill the				some $40 billion in foreign exchange reserves, but
condemned immediately. This is proscribed by Article				have not eased economic hardships such as high
104 of the Iranian Penal Code, as reported by				unemployment and inflation. The proportion of the
Amnesty International, which in turn is modeled upon				economy devoted to the development of weapons
the medieval law of the Mullahs. A video showing an				of mass destruction remains a contentious issue with
execution by stoning can be viewed at although				leading Western nations.
readers are cautioned that such video is graphic in				On the other hand, being the second-largest producer
nature and some may find it very disturbing.				in oil-cartel OPEC, Iran is currently bobbing along on a
Westerner societies, moulded by the Enlightenment				wave of record crude revenues, and is planning to
and accustomed to separation of Church and State,				increase privatization of state-owned enterprises. The
have difficulties understanding that a country could				youthfulness of Iran's population of almost seventy
determine its standards for political, social life, for				million people is, paradoxically, perhaps the biggest
private and public affairs, by the standards of religion.				setback. One out of every two Iranians is under the
Yet this is typical of Islamic culture, which has never				age of 25, so that Iran must create almost one
known any sort of separation of religion and state,				million new jobs every year just for its
or of politics and religion. In the Islamic states, Islam is				unemployment rate to remain at its present 14
the state religion to which all citizens are assumed to				percent level. Additionally, the fact that the
belong, and which is considered to be the principle on				conservative Khamenei and the ultra-conservative
which the State is built. The State is bearer of a				Ahmadinejad are both squarely against
religious idea and is, therefore, itself a religious				Westernization exacerbates the problem even
institution.				further.

Human Rights

Supermullah