If you’re interested in hearing what sort of things go through the minds, and come out of the mouths, of Iranian establishment hardliners, here’s a nicely illustrative piece.
Rahimian is “the head of the Martyr’s Foundation and the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee, both quasi-government organizations run by hard-liners loyal to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.”
The translation is from BBC monitoring, which is sadly not freely available on the web.
ME1-IRAN-ISRAEL-USA
Iranian cleric says Shi’is, Israel to fight over global Islamic governmentExcerpt from report by Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) website
The leader’s representative in the Martyr Foundation has said: The Jews are the most stubborn enemies of pious people and the fateful war of mankind for the establishment of a worldwide government of Islam and the appearance of the Lord of the Age [the 12th Shi’i imam] will be between Israel and Shi’is.
Addressing a conference on “Yesterday’s Palestine Eternal – Tomorrow’s Hezbollah Immortal” and talking about Imam Khomeyni and campaign against arrogant [powers], Hojjat ol-Eslam val Moslemin Rahimian stated the imam was the only person who openly and decisively talked about the annihilation of the Jewish people in the territory of Palestine, and added: The Jews and their allies consider Iran as the most stubborn enemy, and all Iranians are aware that the war between Hezbollah and Israel was the war of Israel against Iran, of course Iran in this context means Shi’ism and the pure Muhammadan Islam, and not exclusively the Iranian nation.
Pointing out that a ray of Imam [Khomeyni’s] presence in form of Hezbollah brightens the south of Lebanon, Rahimian stated: Israel, with 40,000 troops and advanced military equipment, could not withstand the 100,000-strong force of Hezbollah with its limited military resources, and in fact the 33-day war of Hezbollah was the first war against the illegitimate existence of Israel.
Stating that all cases of economic, political and military corruption in the world are linked to the Jews, the leader’s representative noted: The main players of all economic activities in America are Jews, Zionists and even Christians with proclivity towards Zionism. Hollywood, as the main centre for propagating corruption and immorality of major investors in the world economy, are run by Jews or Zionists.
Talking about the 11th September incident, the cleric said: The majority of residents in the twin towers [used to be] Zionists or Jews, but after this incident it became [clear] that none of the victims was a Jew, and this clearly showed that the Jews had a hand in the incident [as published].
[Passage omitted: About Prophet Muhammad, Shi’i imams and Khomeyni]
Finally talking about Imam Khomeyni, Rahimian said: When the imam said the Shah must leave Iran, no-one believed such a thing would happen. But after 15 years [of struggle], the 2,500-year system of imperial tyranny was disbanded. As regards Israel, the imam said that Israel must be wiped off the earth, and his words, like those about the fall of the Shah, were now being realized.
Source: ISNA website, Tehran, in Persian 1338gmt 16 Nov 06