Kayhan

[Gesar]

Kayhan (in Persian, meaning Universe in English) is one of the most influential newspapers in Iran, published by the Kayhan Institute. It is managed by the representative of the Supreme Leader at the Institute. Originally established during the Pahlavi era, in 1942, it became the most famous and respected newspaper of its time. After the Islamic Revolution, Kayhan fell under the control of the new government of the Islamic Republic. As it is directly under the supervision of the Office of the Supreme Leader, it is regarded as the most conservative Iranian newspaper.

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LEBANON: ZIONIST PUPPETS ON THE RETREAT, RESISTANCE THRIVES


Supporters of Hezbollah demonstrate their willingness to bring the Lebanese jihad directly to the Yankee neo-colonial empire

BEIRUT: Six months after the alliance known as Jammoul, as well as Palestinian fedayeen and the nascent popular movement Hezbollah, forced soldiers of the Israeli occupation to a “security zone” on the Zionist border, Lebanese resistance forces continue to report major gains over the sectarian Hitlerite puppets funded by Tel Aviv. Aided by the Syrian Arab Army, lynchpin of the Arab resistance movement, reports have begun to stream in of attacks against the aggressors, putschists, and partisan shills to international Zionism, prompting demonstrations across the country daring the United States to resume the aggressive campaign that has turned so many Lebanese against them.

Some, particularly elements of Hezbollah, have taken it upon themselves to capture American spies and philandering tourists, a move applauded by the vanguard of the Islamic Revolution within Iran as just and within the boundaries of Islamic warfare. While no word on the response of the United States government has yet to reach this news article, one can only infer the outcry of the American public, long fed excess and degeneracy like livestock before the slaughter, has fallen on deaf ears by the ruthless military-industrial complex of the Great Satan.

This comes as no surprise to military analysts and correspondents with Kayhan. Lebanon, like Syria and Iran, has a rich history of combating imperialism and rejecting the imposed values of the West and atheistic Soviet Union alike. From Damascus to Beirut and al-Quds, the Islamic tradition of martyrdom -demonstrated even by the loyal Christians of the Ba'ath government and the Druze of Lebanon- has steeled the resolve of the Arab fedayeen to fight until every force of reaction has been driven to the sea.

Said Imam: “Of particular interest is the Lebanese Hezbollah, who have rejected the fruits of the sinful Earth offered to them by the non-believers,” referring to the group's declaration in last year's manifesto stating that only an Islamic government would expel “the Americans, French, and their allies” from the Levant. It stands to reason, therefore, that the United States would rather sacrifice its own than concede to the rightful forces aligned against them. Imam went on the state, “With them [Hezbollah], the Muslims of Lebanon have found the truth, that the Guardianship of the Jurist alone will bring peace to the faiths of as-Sham. I call upon every servant of the Prophet's word to restore what was stolen from them, and salute the valiant fighters of Syria and Palestine in their heroic struggle.

Take the eye of any aggressor who looks upon your rightful land. Cut off the hand of those who dare to grasp for it, and trade your own mortal life for the chance to meet your comrades in Paradise. Death to international Zionism, death to America!”

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OPINION: LARGE STATES, SMALL STATES, AND THE GUARDIANSHIP

ALLURING unto man is the enjoyment of worldly desires through women, and children, and heaped-up treasures of gold and silver, and horses of high mark, and cattle, and lands. All this may be enjoyed in the life of this world - but the most beauteous of all goals is with God.

Miners in the United Kingdom have put down their tools and taken up protest signs against the closure of their workplaces, while British Prime Minister labels her program that of a moral society. The mad dog Reagan takes checks from the Zionist lobby in Wall Street while promising his impoverished -largely non-white and disenfranchised politically- that wealth will miraculously “trickle down”. On the other side of the globe, China embraces a system designed for their country and theirs alone, while the Soviet Union grapples with the realities of atheistic Marxism and a belief that class, not humanity, drives history. The internationalist media has begun the debate on a small government vs. that of Western socialism.

Unsurprisingly, they have missed the point entirely.

I cannot believe that the purpose of all these sacrifices was to have less expensive melon.

The argument rages in Iran as well, of course. Under much pressure, the Majilis has authorized negotiations with Turkey, Pakistan, China, and the Unit for South–South Cooperation on the creation of export-processing zones along the borders and coast, but likewise has mandated the cooperative construction industry to expand its operations and make housing more accessible for all Iranians. The Leader has endorsed these, but labels the economists who make the debate into a matter of privatization or socialism “irrelevant” and “sick with gharbzadegi”, claiming that “Westoxification is an idolatry that worships the dollar and ruble”. It is a moral issue, the Grand Ayatollah claims, and a narrative of two sides is agreeable only in the context of the believers and the House of War.

Shi'ites do not accept the path chosen by history...Shi'ites turn their backs on the opulent mosques and magnificent palaces of the Caliphs of Islam and turn to the lonely, mud house of Fatima. Shi'ites, who represent the oppressed, justice-seeking class in the Caliphate system, find in this house whatever and whoever they have been seeking.

International capitalism, which owes much of its origins to proto-Zionist perversions, is the belief of Empire and the Great Satan. This is the modern Yazid, the corrupting influence that equates wealth with freedom and freedom with destructive hedonism. True Muslims accept the gift of private property as promised by God to the Prophet (pbuh), and know it to be limited by use, need, and a lack of harm done to others; capital as viewed by the West nearly mandates harm even in the states where zakat is ostensibly upheld, denying the state its natural, promised role as arbiter and protector of the common trust. We need only look to the palaces of the House of Saud, the modern-day Ummayads, for an example: how long before the faithful Muslims and foreign Muslims tear the stones down and build with them a path to the Hereafter? How long before that womanizing gambler, Fahd, goes the way of the Shah?

Abu Darda reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The scholars are the successors of the prophets. Verily, the prophets do not pass on gold and silver coins, but rather they only impart knowledge.”

Perhaps then we might look to the “dialectical materialism” of Marx and Engels? The word 'materialist' has your answer! All things were placed on this Earth by God, and all things shall return to Him: His creation is known therefore to drive itself -ourselves- and from there the revolutionary character of Islam becomes obvious. We reject oppression as commanded, and we alleviate the ills as needed, thus making the secular basis of Islamic government the promotion of national interests against the wicked forces arrayed in opposition. The role of the vila-ye faqih makes as its folcrum as this line, upholding the Qur'anic revelation that government outside sharia does not so much propagate oppression as it causes it, rendering any faith in socialism and state investment without Islam a sham in the face of its support for social justice.

It is not for Iranians, therefore, to debate the size of the state on grounds of personal belief, for the Messenger of God (pbuh) has already declaimed the law of God. Only the victory of Islam can cleanse this Earth of corruption and oppression, and only the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist is legal under Islam. Whether alive or martyred, in the board room or battlefield, all must rally around this state and its policies. Be they populist or pragmatic, it matters only if the Islamic Republic's defenders are righteous.

[Gesar]

Seven Years: A Retrospective on The Key and Revolution



1979: Popular forces mobilize against the American-backed Shah and the murderous SAVAK

This February, the Islamic Republic celebrated its seventh Decade of Fajr, commemorating the forces across the nation who, steeled by the words of Holy Qur'an and the memories of the righteous lives lost over the past twelve centuries, stood up to the corrupt American pawns and slave-brokers of the Shah's government. Even the Provisional Military Government left to maintain whatever influence the Tel Aviv-Washington clique could claim fell to the fida'iyin of God, creating a government (in the words of Imam) based on God's will and the popular vote. Now, Iranians take to the streets to celebrate the success of our holy jihad against oppression and imperialism, but we must also remember that revolution is a process, not an event. Ours was merely the beginning, the opening, the fatihah; while it would be an affront to God and His Prophet (pbuh) to claim an equivalency between the Holy Qur'an's first surah -also the Opening, and the Key as well- and the Islamic Revolution, the principles of irfan -particularly the allegorical nature of mutashabeh- allow us to draw parallels and learn from their example.

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

The words given to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) start with the basmala, the phrase most commonly known to Muslims and non-believers alike, used commonly throughout the Qur'an. And while it is often overlooked -and seemingly irrelevant to the practices of revolutionary Islam- it should be remembered by all the faithful that each and every act on this earth for Muslims should be done in God's name. Hadith tells us that the Name of God banishes evil, and what are the ongoing revolutions against the Satanic Empire and the Soviet hegemony if not battles against evil? There is a reason the partisans of Hezbollah and the popular movement of Bahrain begin and end their rallies with the first verse of the Qur'an: God commands us to resist injustice and oppression, just as the Wali and his family martyred themselves against the false Caliphs.

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds,

And here we approach another seemingly-vague verse. Surely, the Muslim reader must be saying, we need no reminder to praise God. We are commanded to do so in our prayers, after all – that must be sufficient! But remember, just as this world belongs to Him, all others do as well. Paradise is His, and so is Hell. Accordingly, ours is to worship Him for the bounty surrounding us, and to do so properly, the Islamic Republic must implement vilayet-e faqih on a global scale: a regency for the world before the arrival of Imam Zaman. Ours is the custodianship of Dar al-Islam, whose presence even today graces the noble fighters in Lebanon who bravely resist the imposition of Zionist theft and foreign customs from cosmopolitan, Eurocentric interlopers. The world is full of mercy, all praise be to God, but it is up to the believers to ensure that mercy is equitable and present!

The Beneficent, The Merciful.

What seems here to be mere repetition is in fact emphasis on the greatest -if such a measurement can truly be made- qualities of God. His beneficence is repeated thirty times a day during prayer, His mercy twice that amount. This teaches us that those are the qualities we must emulate the most, qualities that we witnessed when the true Muslims of the Shah's army gave way to the Leader, and when Imam himself chose to take the lead of the revolution rather than allow the opportunity for liberalism and idolatry to seep into Iran's new government. These are the qualities the enemies of Islam lack, as well: where is mercy for the children of Palestine? What beneficence has descended from the thrones of Al Khalifah and Al Saud? We may label them takfiri with all correctness, but in truth they are munafiqun, hypocrites who insult the holy name of Islam by submitting not to God, but to Satan's American residence.

Master of the Day of Judgement.

Here we come to the truth of the matter. We are living in the Occultation, and while the Mahdi has manifested himself among the armies of the believers from Kashmir to the cities of America's European proxies, God as the beginning and end of all worlds has not yet proclaimed our time to come to an end. We speak of ownership in terms of possessing material property, but His Ownership is that of time and matter – all comes and leaves through God. Why then, the forces of the Islamic Revolution are asked, do we resist? Surely God will notice our righteousness!

Perhaps, for it is known that He will see all their deeds and even their thoughts without there being anything less than the original or anything forgotten, and have even the customs they learned be accounted for. What will those who claim to be Muslims but perform only the most modest zakat from their ornate yachts tell the Master? Will the false monarchs of Bahrain and the Hejaz prostrate before Paradise, or in their pride join the ranks of Shaitan? It matters not!

The goal of the Islamic Revolution is the liberation of all from spiritual warfare, and that includes the infidels, traitors, and hypocrites, whose souls might be saved as His mercy is infinite.

Thee alone do we worship and of Thee only do we seek help.

Here the text invokes the believers directly; little explanation ought to be required to affirm the monotheism of Muslims. But in the context of the Islamic Revolution, we must also consider the other “gods” of this Earth, what we may call the World-before-Paradise. We Muslims acknowledge the Unity of Acts, that fire, electricity, and indeed all interactions of matter come from His rule; acknowledgment of the Unity of Worship follows accordingly. But look to the West, the actor in the Black House and the ice queen of Whitehall who worship the dollar and deface the beauty of their women with scandalous acts. Could they ever hope to seek the help of God, when they spit on His very name? Or look to the Communist states, who disavow all faith in search of some nebulous 'materialism' theorized by pompous Germans? That is why the people of Poland flock to the streets, and why enemies of the Saddamist regime resist despite their horrendous use of illegal chemical weapons.

The Message of God as delivered by the Prophet (pbuh) and his Wali will persevere, God willing, for it is only Muslims who know Paradise comes from submission. As the prayer goes, peace be upon us all. But true peace will only come when the Takbir is shouted from every corner of this world, when Arabs and Persians, Americans and Chinese, join together on the hajj.

Guide us O'Lord on the Straight Path.

"Did I not enjoin on you, O' ye children of Adam, that ye should not worship Satan; for that he is to you an enemy avowed?" "And that ye should worship Me, for that this is the Straight Way?"

And to achieve the goal of a truly global Islam, the Revolution must have guidance from above. Imam Ali was to be the regent of God, and from Paradise, it is assumed that he still is. But hadith leads us to the conclusion that on Earth we must also have guidance, a guardianship of those who have studied fiqh and sharia in equal measure. As per the sixty-second verse of the twenty-fourth Surah, the Guardianship and the Leadership of the Ummah devolves to those jurists deemed wise, charitable, and knowledgeable. This is the major accomplishment of the Islamic Revolution: the resolute hand of Imam Khomeini has gained respect from Beijing to Havana, inspired the martyrs who have forced the Iraqi Yazidists into retreat, and struck fear into the very heart of Tel Aviv's pawn, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In seven years, we have proven that Islamic law is the only law worth following, and now Kabul cries “Ya Hossein, Ya Khomeini!” while Fahd heaves his weight from his throne in a Riyadh palace to fervently fund vicious tyrants, lest the Israeli-American funding that pampers the House of Saud suddenly run dry. Revolution is upon the world, not of the old republican or communist ideology, but of true faith. To ensure its course runs correctly, the Straight Path of God must be maintained by the Leader and the Guardianship, as chosen by Iran's people.

The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed Thy bounties, not the path of those inflicted with Thy wrath, nor of those gone astray.

And so we reach the seventh verse, just as we have reached the seventh year of the Islamic Revolution. Herein, the path to Paradise is ordained as the ultimate goal of the faith, to return to God in exchange for the favor He has bestowed upon us. But the text does not say we are granted such: this is a path that must be earned, like finding an oasis in a desert, for the forces of wickedness surround us. And while we have already spoken of those led astray -and it is the fire of their burning palaces that will guide us to al-Quds, God willing- we must look to those inflicted with His wrath. These deviations from Islam do not go unpunished, and justly – even a well-intentioned thief still violates the law. So too it goes with God, for while he entrusts he Prophets, the Sincere, the Witnesses, and the Righteous to follow His commands, jihad would be meaningless without the obstruction caused by evil forces, ones we meet with either victory or martyrdom.

But who are these evil forces, the inflicted and astray? The astray are simply misguided – consider your average Russian only now finding some measure of freedom in the reforms of the Communists, or the beer-swilling American who has never given a single thought to religion. The inflicted, however, are the willing, the hypocrites, and the selfish. They are the imperialists of this world, and the cause of global revolution. In Lebanon, the glorious Syrian Arab Army fights side by side by those Palestinians who refuse to compromise with the Zionist entity, the Lebanese resistance and their guides in the Party of Allah. All these continue to fight, despite the presence of foreigners in some of Islam's holiest lands -an affront worthy of retribution!- and the bombardment of their homes. In Latin America, the gains of the Cuban Revolution, while not Islamic in words, practice the faith in nature: injustice is as abhorrent to the devastated continent as poison is to a man, and indeed, the puppets of the Great Satan are a toxin beyond belief.

Yes, brothers and sisters, the world faces the beginning of a new chapter. Globally, change is on the horizon, demanded by Muslims and non-believers alike. For seven years we have fought our own, guided by the Holy Qur'an, hadith, and the rulings of Imam Khomeini. Now, as we look past the smoke and fire, futile attempts to blind us as they were, we can see the truth of the Prophet's message truly in action. And we as Iranians, as Muslims, must dedicate ourselves wholly to that Word. We will suffer losses, as will the Bahrainis, the Nicaraguans, and any citizen of this world. But recall that martyrdom is the way of the Shi'i, and remember the words of the Leader, if you will!

“We shall export our revolution to the whole world. Until the cry 'There is no god but Allah' resounds over the whole world, there will be struggle.”

[Gesar]

ARAFAT MURDERED: HEROISM AND FAILURE IN THE PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE




Yasser Arafat and Col. Muammar Gaddafi, two giants of the international struggle, at a private summit

Today, anti-imperialists around the world mourn the passing of one of the greatest revolutionaries of the modern era. Yasser Arafat, kunya Abu Ammar, has been brutally murdered in a highly-illegal action by the Zionist entity.

His death comes as a shock not simply because of the terroristic nature of Mossad's assassination, but because the Palestine Liberation Organization now seems leaderless. Arafat's faction of the PLO, Fatah, has steered much of the discourse of the Palestinian struggle, and the Chairman himself personally led the fida'iyin through struggles with the King of Jordan, whose collaboration with the American Empire proved the un-Islamic nature of all monarchies, and the attempted Israeli partitions of Lebanon. Under his leadership, the League of Arab States extended full recognition and the United Nations General Assembly allowed the Palestinians to issue statements at plenary sessions.

At the first such occurrence of the latter, a holster-wearing Rafiq Arafat famously declared, "Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter's gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand." In this statement, we may see both the fundamental strengths and weaknesses of Arafat's policies, as well as what must be done to secure freedom for all Palestinians.

In the wake of the Ramadan War, Egypt -under Nasser, the greatest fighter for Arab liberation before the victory of Hafez al-Assad's Corrective Revolution- began a general abandonment of the Palestine Liberation Organization, much like Jordan before them. Perhaps it was this that inspired the Ten Point Program of the National Council, which implied heavily Arafat's willingness to negotiate with the Little Satan in Tel Aviv. While perhaps pragmatic -for the early struggle was heavily dependent on the nearby Arab states- such a move began to be perceived as cowardly, spurring on the Rejectionist movement that maintains the principles on which the PLO was founded, but fracturing the liberation forces in the process.

And so the Palestinian cause is seemingly at its lowest point. Yasser Arafat was a brave man, a tireless partisan, and a righteous Muslim, but his misguided pragmatism left the PLO vulnerable to the treachery and violence of the Israeli interlopers. The Organization is rudderless, in truth a collection of warring factions, and all for the sake of concessions from the Washington-Tel Aviv complex. Arafat's olive branch may well symbolize the whole of the Palestinian cause – it may be offered again and again, but the Zionists care only for the fields it was taken from, and will set the trees alight if they cannot have it.

This notion is acknowledged by the Rejectionist Front, the Society of Muslim Brothers, and the Islamic Jihad Organization of Palestine, but whether through pragmatism or fear, was eventually ignored by Arafat and his faction, thus bringing about his regrettable murder and proving that peace with Zionism is impossible. Ayatollah Montazeri, head of the Office of Islamic Liberation Movements, upheld this position after the Leader announced ten days of mourning, commenting, “Tonight, Palestine has met its own Karbala. Its Husayn fought many battles and won many victories, but found himself wounded and surrounded by the forces of tyranny. We must stand alongside the Arab world and indeed all the revolutionaries of the world in remembering that the death of Husayn brought about further, greater rebellions.”

It is likewise reported that the Islamic Republic will be sending a delegation to Arafat's funeral, upon request of the Leader. Imam himself echoed the call of Montazeri, urging unity, “As the Chinese say, it is always darkest before it is totally black. These tragic days are black indeed, and we know now is time for the moderates and the liberals to resume their role as fida'iyin of the struggle. Let all who fight for freedom, whether Muslim, Christian, or otherwise, embrace the martyrdom of Rafiq Arafat as a rallying cry. Let the world from Wall Street to Moscow, from the streets of Gaza to the hills of South Africa remember the spirit of Khartoum.

“There can be no compromise in the revolution. There can be no negotiations with the fascistic Zionists. There will never be with the forces of Satanic evil and Empire until the Day of Judgment and the victory of our jihad.”

[Gesar]

MUSLIMS AROUND THE WORLD: ONE PARTY OF ALLAH, ONE LEADER, RUHOLLAH



Bahrainis celebrate the triumph of their own Islamic Revolution and the establishment of a Guardianship based on Imam's teachings

Inside: 'America can't do a damn thing to Iraq, either': Foreign ministry speaks amid reconciliation, Global South rejects Wall Street imperialism, Israeli-European bloodlust continues in Lebanon, Palestine...

[Gesar]

INTERNATIONAL GUARDIANSHIP COUNCIL: THE GREEN TIDE PUSHING TYRANNY TO THE SEA



Artistic depiction of the Volunteers for Martyrdom, led on by the promise of 'One God, One Leader'

QOM: The epicenter for the global Islamic revolution busies itself with preparations for the leading jurists seeking the establishment of a Muslim guardianship until the arrival of the Hidden Mahdi. Here, the declaration of an alliance that is as much a move to unify the Party of God as a political as well as the disseminate among all Muslims the rulings of the leaders of the Islamic world and the revolution. While storefronts -ever popular with foreigners are the tofan candy shops- stock their goods and students gather to hear the great scholars of fiqh speak on the Islamic Revolution, most important is the clearing of areas around the shrine -the sight of which is believed by many past imams to bring the believers closer to the Hereafter- of Fatemeh Ma'sumeh, "the innocent". This location, which was declared sacred by the 8th imam, is found to be fitting among the faithful populace: Fatemeh was raised by two Imams and is known for her life of sinlessness, and her advocacy for Muslim women remains a crucial part of the velāyat-e faqīh not just within Iran, but in states such as Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, and Bahrain.

What this means for the international struggle of the partisans of Ali in attempting to awaken their Sunni brothers, as detailed later by Kayhan, is manifold. Symbolically, it speaks well that Iraqis, Bahrainis, and others will meet at a shrine that was said to be blessed by her and Imam Reza, the one who rejected the false Caliphate of the Abbasids, who declared that “visiting the shrine of Fatima Ma'sumeh is equal to visiting him.” Certainly, it is known by pilgrims as a home for miracles.

On a pragmatic level, all marja'-e taqlid of the Usuli schools who subscribe to the principles of Vilayat-e Faqih as put forth by Imam and Ayatollah al-Shirazi or those of Shariati thought will be invited to participate in discussions with what will be known as International Council of the Islamic Guardianship. These are the scholars who are widely known to be champions of the mostazafin -the dispossessed- and are said to be hand-selected for their role as the leaders of the Islamic Revolution across the world. The list is rather expansive: the Leader himself, as well as Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim and Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iran, Ayatollah al-Modarresi, Leader of the nascent Islamic Republic in Bahrain, Grand Ayatollah Asif Mohseni, leader of the movement which gave Afghanistan's Shi'a population representation and justice, and Abbas al-Musawi in Lebanon.

It is expected, but not confirmed, that leaders of other important communities of the party of Ali will also attend as guests, including representatives from the Alawite confederacy within our brother nations in Lebanon and Syria, as well as representatives from the Zaidi population in Yemen -indeed, Imam says he would welcome a true leader for the path of az-zaydiyya and the oppressed Shi'i of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Rumored to be electing a leader, elections will also be an important part in appointing officers of the International Council, as political parties following the truth of these matters will do after the creation of a Supreme Islamic Majilis, which can coordinate the affairs of the Greater Islamic Revolution. Kayhan has not yet confirmed what relations it will maintain with defenders of the above guests, but it is said that unconfirmed Palestinian organizations, the Islamic Association of China, certain factions of the Ba'ath Party, and the freedom fighters in the Maghreb have sent congratulations to the efforts of Imam and the fidaiyin of the Islamic Revolution. Western sources have derided this move as another ineffective measure against its imperial power; the same was said of the Muslim World League. This newspaper upholds the notion that as all Muslims are brothers, all political and clerical organizations that oppose Zionism, support their brothers instead of war on them and those People of the Book who still practice their religion, and despise the practices of takfiri hypocrites who claim to be amirs and sultans, as the Holy Qur'an commands.

[Gesar]

AL-NOUR PUBLISHES TRANSCRIPT OF AN INTERVIEW WITH THE LEADER ON THE INTIFADA





Muslim Palestinian women honor their family when they confront the armed thugs of the Zionist occupation

(The following is a rare interview with the Leader and a Lebanese student currently residing in Qom, done on behalf of Al-Nour, the radio station of the Party of God in Lebanon. Al-Nour has graciously provided the transcript to Kayhan, as a way of showing their gratitude to the Iranian people, who have steadfastly promoted the line of Imam Khomeini.)


Interviewer's note: I am in a simple room with Imam, with two long couches, a table, and little décor. A few books lie between our cups of tea, none that I recognize. He seems cheerful, upright for a man of his age, but then, most old men are not the Deputy to the Twelfth Imam. We greet each other in our own languages.


AL-NOUR: As-salam alaykum. Imam, in this area of turmoil and victory alike, it is an honor to be able to speak to you on the most pressing issues of the revolution. Would you agree to speak on the recent events in Palestine?

IMAM KHOMEINI: Salamon alaykom. I will speak of them in the manner that I have spoken about the revolutionary efforts led by Brother Hafez al-Assad on behalf of the Lebanese people, or of our own victory in Iraq.

AN: You mean to say that Palestine, too, is a front for the Islamic Revolution.

K: I mean to say that the subversion and occupation of Lebanon was a battlefield, one where the great Syrian Arab Army is increasingly victorious. The downfall of the Saddamist deviants within Iraq, assisted by our war against his aggression, and the establishment of an Islamic Republic in Bahrain are simply where we've established a front.

AN: As in for a global revolution. Under this premise, then, what is the analysis of what the Palestinians are calling an Intifada?

K: The first verse of the Surat al-Isra states: "Praise be unto him who transported his servant by night, from the sacred temple of Mecca to the farther temple of Jerusalem, the circuit of which we have blessed, that we might show him some of our signs; for Allah is he who heareth, and seeth." This we must establish as the premise in all discussions of the struggle against Zionism; indeed, I am told the organization called Hamas has placed that verse of the Holy Qur'an in their charter. If we are to please Allah, Muslims must be in Jerusalem, and it is must be under a government guided righteously.

AN: You speak of course of a theological guidance, one of the clerics. But what would a Muslim government -in particular what the future Palestinian state- look like, both ideally and pragmatically?

K: There is no such difference.

I remember tapping my pencil rather pensively at this. Imam still looked stern, dangerous, but I could sense some kindness, like the warmth from a fire.

K: You hear the journalists of the Great Satan make claims that we are against Jews or Judaism, or the idea that they do not deserve a home, but there are Jewish people within Islamic nations that already enjoy significant rights and privileges, and are allies in the struggle against Zionism. The Jewish population in Iran is one of the oldest in the world, and they believe that Zionism violates their sacred covenant. It is the hope one day that most Israelis speak such views to the occupational government.

AN: But in the particular instance of the Intifada, many Jewish settlers seek the protection of the Zionist military apparatus, who have dubbed their policies as “breaking Palestinians' bones.” What will allow for a reawakening of conscience in the settlers under the Zionist entity?

K: First, it is the duty of the Palestinians to defend themselves, and for all fighters against Zionism to lend their aid. The whole of the uprising, whether it is the peaceful marches and boycotts or a youth throwing a stone and a fedayeen defending him from an attack, must be a continuous one until a true state for Palestine emerges. Every prisoner, every victim of torture, every martyr, must be a step forwards. And then, God willing, the Islamic Revolution continues there and abroad.

AN: But specifically, what is the vision of the Guardianship on a Palestinian state?

K: True representation from all who live there, with land distributed fairly and justly to those who have claim to it. This is so in the Islamic Republic. It is a Western and Salafist hypocrisy to work so closely with the Zionists but forget that Islam had a long tradition of friendship with the Jewish community, only to be perverted by the deviation of the sultans and amirs of year past.

AN: So that leaves the in-between, the journey from self-defense to the establishment of just rule. What steps must be taken for the accomplishment of that?

K: The uprising is, as I have said, an ongoing process. But in terms of the material world, the Great Satan's defense of Israel must be eroded away, as the rest of the world tires of their plague-like imperialism. The front of the Revolution in Palestine is one where groups such as the Palestine Liberation Organization, who appears to have been galvanized and re-aligned correctly after the brutal murder of Chairman Arafat, must work with the local organizations, the coordinating committees on the ground, and the leaders of strikes.

AN: And what of the role of Islamic organizations be in this? Or the Islamic Republic?

K: True Muslims know they are commanded to rebel against tyranny in both the Qur'an and Sunnah. The organization I referred to earlier, Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-ʾIslāmiyyah, has taken nothing but Islam to be the source of their action. It is these that give me hope, for it is a message fundamentally similar to that of the Islamic Republic, but it is also a sign that the supposed divide between Sunni and Shi'a is another perversion of Islam, promoted by false caliphs, imperialists from the East and West, and the corrupted munafiqun. Palestinian liberation must be, to convert a Latin American axiom, Islamic and Arab or not at all. That extends for the political process and move toward statehood.

As for the the government in Iran, our role and position have always been one. The Revolution has always belonged to the chosen representatives of the mostazafin. And who is more representative of the class, which embodies the spirits of the betrayed at Karbala, than the dispossessed Arabs of Palestine. Muslim or Christian, their land is the sole outpost of true colonial plundering.

AN: And so the Islamic Republic will join the fight?

K: It has never left, as the Revolution is a global, spiritual, societal one. Whether in Bolivia, Bahrain, or Palestine, it cannot be otherwise.

[Gesar]

GRAND AYATOLLAH SHIRAZI ON SOLIDARITY VISIT: “AMERICA CAN'T DO A DAMN THING TO IRAQ, EITHER”




The false cowboy in the Black House bragging about the fruits of another grotesque imperialist adventure

BAGHDAD: Grand Ayatollah Mohammad al-Shirazi, the new Vice-President of the Islamic Republic, assured representatives of the restored Ba'athist government and the Islamic Supreme Council in Iraq of Iranian solidarity in the wake of the “Iraq-Contra” scandal, stating “America can't do a damn thing to Iraq, either.” This statement, a reference to the Leader's words during the revolutionary takeover of the spy den in the American embassy, comes as part of a general foreign policy program outlined in the wake of such bizarre, random attacks on anti-imperialist nations by the Great Satan and its lackeys.

The scandal – if it can be called such, for few within the Islamic Republic can truly claim to be surprised – seemed to be part of a greater American scheme to leash the dog Saddam to the Yankee dollar while simultaneously encouraging the suppression of movements opposed to the domination of the Wall Street-Tel Aviv clique. The information, bravely released by news outlets living under the iron regimes of the Gulf Cooperation Council, indicates that the United States acted in violation of several United Nations agreements in providing weapons for the Saddamist forces to martyr Iranians and Iraqi Kurds. These sales, facilitated by the Saudi government in yet another attempt to cannibalize the Islamic world, dual-use materials that were used by the counter-revolutionary forces in the Iraqi Army against Iranians in violation of the Geneva Convention.

In quintessential American fashion, the conspiracy did not end with their futile attempts to destroy the Islamic Revolution, even as the prison-state of Reagan made a ploy to force Iraq further into their arms with an attempted subversion of pan-Arabist resistance to Saddam via a coup. Funds from the sale of these materials – at least those that were not used to finance yachts and summer homes for the House of Saud, Islamic Republic intelligence sources say – went directly to the front of the imperialist war in Central America. In particular, the capital raised appears to have financed the “Contras” of Nicaragua, a loose coalition of mercenaries funded by the Somoza family, business leaders, and what are known regionally as gusanos, literally meaning worms but used by brother of the Revolution Fidel Castro to mean reactionary defectors. Further evidence of these terroristic activities is proving difficult to come by, as the Great Satan has characteristically covered up their deceit by destroying relevant documentation.

As evidenced by the comments of the Vice-President, the reaction of the Islamic Republic's government has been one of dull surprise. “The involvement of those who kneel towards Washington instead of Mecca,” began one representative of the Foreign Ministry, “is to be expected. As for the Americans, the Holy Qur'an says 'And Allah does not guide the unjust people.' It is the belief of Iran that all American foreign policy can be thus explained.”

Indeed, the focus of the government seems to be on Iraq itself, with the great General Maher Abd al-Rashid returning the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party to an upright path, respectful of Islam and anti-imperialist in nature. The failure of the American government to keep Saddamism in power is yet another victory for the Islamic Revolution, explained Ayatollah Shirazi, who went on to emphasize the nature of Iran's leadership of the Islamic world as one that promotes unity, in a manner not dissimilar to the Ba'athist line of the Iraqi government. Kayhan reports that much discussion on political and conciliatory matters between the Iranian government, the followers of Imam loyal to the new Iraqi government, and representatives of General Rashid ensued after Shirazi's defiant speech, which also included a quotation from the foundation texts of Ba'athism: “Arabs belong to the nation that gave birth to a Muhammad.”

[Gesar]

MOJAHED

Official organ of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran

BAHRAIN: A HISTORY OF RED SHI'ISM



The deposed Amir of Bahrain with Charles D. Belgrave, architect of modern imperialism in the Gulf

AL-MANAMA: Despite the use of more modern loudspeakers, the call to adhan can barely be heard over the sound of receding gunfire and the cries of striking workers, protesting students, and the clerical intelligentsia that leads them. Even the Khamis Mosque -located outside the city proper, but a fitting enough symbol of the transformation about to take place- and its ancient minarets, still staffed with a muezzin who leads the call in a more traditional way, is not immune. For the one leading the Friday prayers is Hadi al-Modarresi, an Ayatollah returned from exile much like the Leader of Iran, and the wonder and terror at the former Iraqi's ascent is palpable with every cry of “God is great!”, “Tawhid, Nabuwat, Imamate!”, and of course, “One leader – Ruhollah!”

Flags, too, color the much-anticipated event. The maroon of Bahrain's present flag can be seen here in abundance, as can a green that matches those of the makeshift armbands of the hezbollahi, most of which are decorated with the name of Imam Husayn. Still present, albeit much less so, is a brighter red, the flag of the workers, of the martyrs, of a Red Shi'ism that never left the island of Bahrain.

This revolutionary current, the longing of the oppressed masses for a return to the days of the Prophet (pbuh) and Imam Ali (a.s.), is one that often goes overlooked by Westerners and Muslims alike, most of which associate all revolutionary Islamic movements with the Leader – a mojahed in his own right who has restored to Iran a new vigor after the long war against an Iraq likewise returned to sanity. But it is in Bahrain that we can see a truly Islamic and socialist revolution in the making, based on the progress of history throughout the region.

The early caliphs of the Ummayads and Abbasids behaved in a manner not dissimilar to the imperialist diffusion of power that cages in the peoples of the Gulf. From Baghdad came amirs and sheikhs, just as today amirs and kings draw upon the Saudi tributary system propagated first by Britain and then the United States. It was not until the innovators of al-Isma'illiya arose in Kufa to the north that the party of God -however unorthodox- had a voice in the region, which at the time stretched from Al-Hasa southwards. These Mubarakiyyah arose under Qarmat, perhaps the first “Muslim” socialist, who took Bahrain, enforced laws against usury, and abolished taxation for its citizens in what is reported to be a republican system.

But as class relations determine the path of God's creation, the ghulat Qaramateh could not escape the fate of imperial states, and as tribute dried up, so did the revolutionary spirit of their Islam. Rebellions by those opposed to the idolatry of the Qaramateh joined those of the slaves, until the Turkish sultanates moved in. In the centuries of foreign rule that followed -on part of the Turks, Omanis, and eventually Portugal- the religion of the masses abandoned the innovations of Ismail, a fact which did not escape the rising Safavids, the Black Shi'a, the empire of stagnancy – a House of Saud for its time.

When the Safavids rose, so too did the West and capitalism. Greed and empire make poor bedfellows with the teachings in the Qur'an and hadith, and the House of Islam as a whole became a House of Iniquity. Bahrain fell to perfidious Britain, as ultimately Iran itself did. Amirs and Shahs alike answered to London and Moscow, and Red Shi'ism - which had continued, by Shariati's word, “for seven hundred years to be the flame of the spirit of revolution, the search for freedom, and justice, always inclining towards the common people and fighting relentlessly against oppression, ignorance and poverty” - arose again. It arose in the masses of Iran, those disenfranchised by the capitalism enforced by the Pahlavis and Britain, and it arose in Bahrain, against the Al Khalifa proteges of Charles Belgrave and the Butcher of the Nation himself, the Briton mercenary Ian Henderson.

It should come as no surprise then that the initial rebellions of the modern era in the Shi'a world have had a character of anti-capitalism. From the Tobacco Protests to opposition to the murderous State Security apparatus of Bahrain to the petroleum industry and its controllers in foreign hands and their puppets in Riyadh, we maintain that it has been Red Shi'ism - not that which belongs solely to the clerical caste - that has led to the Islamic Republics, the Syrias and Lebanons of this world. For it was the workers as much as the faithful who have emerged as the leaders of the conflict in Bahrain. Sunni and Shi'a have stood together with the Hindu and Jain migrants who work the oil rigs, the catalyst which began the Bahraini Revolution. Islam guides the latter, as well, for the religion of Fatima and Zainab is one of unconditional solidarity with the poor, and the impoverished mostafazin themselves are the ultimate victims of international capital – what else would the disinherted be, if not those deprived from the fruits of labor?

The revolution in Bahrain, therefore, is both more and less than an Islamic one, at least by the Khomeinist line: it is of the true Islam, the one that the People's Mojahedin Organization fights for within Iran. It is resistance to any sort of Islam that does not address the workers, the women, and the students who have given the Party of Ali its popular and revolutionary character. In Iran, we have seen this fight come full circle; we profess eternal gratitude to the Leader for learning from the mistakes of the early Islamic Republic. Equally so, we commit ourselves eternally to solidarity with the people of Bahrain, not simply the maraji. Let Ayatollah al-Modarresi learn from Khomeini's line, and prevent a black Shi'ism from arising in the Gulf – this will only force Muslim and non-believer alike back into the hands of the Saudis, Zionism, and the American Empire.

We hear the adhan and obey. We see the hezbollahi and smile, viewing him as a friend, raising our red flag alongside his green. We salute the new Leader of Bahrain with vows of loyalty, but know in our hearts the heavy truth, that an Islam that isn't socialist and popular is no Islam at all. Let us remember the words of Dr. Shariati, and look towards Bahrain with cautious optimism.

"Seek the leadership of Ali and flee from the leadership of cruelty. Choose Imamate, and stamp 'cancelled,' 'disbelief' and 'dispossession' upon the forehead of the Caliphate.”

Solidarity for Bahrain! Solidarity for the Islamic and people's revolution!

[Gesar]

WEST ON THE BACKFOOT AS OPEC SPEAKS


Shortages of oil during and after the Ramadan War disrupted the fragile consumerist economy of Western nations

LOUISIANA: The headquarters of the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve is notably busy as Washington hears the message of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries speaks out in favor of the Palestinian cause. Fears of a return to the days of the mid-1970s, when the international financial machine felt tremors in their Tel Aviv base, stalk the shadows of American oil barons and Eurppean bankers alike. The Western world -particularly the United States, a nation where the automobile counts more followers than those who practice religion truly- awaits the next move of OPEC's member states, fearing that a return to the days of austerity, oil rationing, and economic misery is around the corner.

And, according to Muslims not just within Iran but throughout the world, such fear is only just.

Created in the aftermath of the 1973 'oil crisis', and already reeling from the threat of an end to the existence of Jewish apartheid, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve exists to prevent these conflicts – which have been by and large the product of Western imperialism, whether at the hands of Egypt, Syria, and the Palestinian people as in 1973 or the Islamic Revolution itself six years later. Despite these crises, the price of oil has fallen significantly, although in 1985 its cost of 28.75 USD/barrel tellingly remained more expensive than eight hours of work for the average American getting paid minimum wage (3.35 USD/hour) even before taxes. That the United States is dipping into it now is even more telling; the rising of the Palestinians sends more ripples through the global order each day, and only the oil of states friendly to the American cause despite lip service to the lives of Palestinians can sate the discontent.

“It is important to note as well that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is bound by a 1975 treaty with the Zionist entity,” a source close to the Minister of Petroleum stated. “While we wish no suffering upon the American people, solidarity with Palestine means nothing without the use of every weapon at our disposal – particularly when the Reagan regime sees no issue with providing the settler state with the means to plunder Arab land further.” When asked to clarify if this meant the government would nonetheless accept the impact any action from OPEC would have on the average American, he agreed hastily, “Without a doubt. The Islamic Republic loves the Americans as they do all children of God, but the people living under the shadow of the Black House must one day realize that their standard of living must be gained from cooperation, not the trampling of the world under their atheistic boot.”

Others still were less charitable. “Death to Fahd, death to America!” Several Basijis chanted in front of the Saudi embassy. One of them even elaborated, in characteristically brusque terms, “The hypocritical Gulf States raise petrol prices on Palestine's behalf and continue fueling American tanks regardless. Their wealth, their palaces – all of this comes from America. And you expect us to believe those wicked emirs truly care for the displaced Arabs in al-Quds?”

A second man, who had moments ago procured an American flag for burning, agreed and added, “The idolatrous civil religion of the Americans and Europeans worships the automobile instead of any higher power. Only when they hear the words of the Holy Qur'an will the hearts of the American people soften, and their obsession with materialism destroyed.”

He then quite characteristically concluded, “Death to Fahd! America can't do a damn thing against us!”