Friday Sermon: Iran Won't Yield To Oppression, Double Standard On Nuclear Rights; We Muslims Have Never Relied On Aggressive Moves Or Brutality

In his Friday sermon, interim Tehran Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said that Iran would not yield to any type of oppression or double standard regarding its absolute nuclear rights.

Addressing thousands of worshipers at Tehran University's central campus, Rafsanjani, who is also Expediency Council chairman, said, "They [the West] are not going to abandon taking advantage of the remote probability of Iran's access to nuclear weapons in order to deprive us of our natural and absolute right to master the nuclear sciences."

He said that Iran would never yield to such a double standard and oppression, and added, "This is typically the oppression they observe in dealing with scientific works conducted in Third World countries. But who gave them the right to monopolize most advanced technologies, such as nuclear technology?... Is it merely because they enjoy the veto right at the UN Security Council?
He added, "We are Muslims, and therefore, we do not rely on aggressive moves, or brutality, as we have not done so in the past, and will not do so in the future."

Rafsanjani said, "It is easy to prove that the majority of the problems in the world today are due to the West's resorting to the logic of military power."

Noting the 60th anniversary of the end of the World War II, he said that the war "should have been a good lesson for the mankind... but with the passage of 60 years the reigning spirit over the superpowers in today's world leads us to draw conclusion that they have not taken appropriate lessons from that war, since they trespass the barriers of humanity and civilized social life at times."

He also said that "proper care should therefore be taken not to let the mankind face more international catastrophes due to such inappropriate conduct of certain world powers."

(See also the MEMRI TV page for clips of Friday sermons.)

Sources: IRNA, IRIBnews, Iran, May 9, 2008

If you would like to donate by mail, please send check or money order to:
	MEMRI P.O. Box 27837 Washington DC 20038
Telephone: 202.955.9070 Email: donate@memri.org

Add The MEMRI Blog to your personalized Google homepage.

Would you like to get in touch with us? Send an email to Blog@memri.org

 The MEMRI Feed

Egyptian blogger Abdelkareem Nabil Suleiman was arrested for allegedly "defaming the President of Egypt" and "highlighting inappropriate aspects the harm the reputation of Egypt" on his blog.

A petition calling for his release has been posted online by the HAMSA organization ("Hands Across the Mideast Support Alliance"), an American Muslim association for promoting civil rights in the Middle East.

No to Violence	Terrorism Has No Religion

Visit www.noterror.info for more information.

As a reader of MEMRI, you are familiar with our continuing efforts to expand our work to monitor more media outlets in more countries, research more subjects, and translate into more languages.

At this crucial time, as the war on terror continues, with the escalation of conflicts in the Middle East, and with reformists in the region needing help to make their voices heard, we are introducing The MEMRI Blog.

The MEMRI Blog is a new service, provided by The Middle East Media Research Institute, which will operate in conjunction with MEMRI.org, MEMRITV.org, and MEMRIFilms.org.

While MEMRI regularly provides translations from editorials and sermons, as well as expert analysis, The MEMRI Blog will specifically highlight brief NEWS ITEMS from Arabic, Persian, and Turkish language media sources.

Summaries are posted on the front page, but be sure to read the FULL ENTRY.