In his Friday sermon, Tehran interim Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani said that the recent victories of Hizbullah in Lebanon against the Zionist regime belonged to the whole Islamic world, not just the Shi'ite community, and that all Muslims should be proud of Hizbullah.
He said Hizbullah owes its victory today to unity among all Muslims, and that Muslims in turn must take that into consideration."To Iran, there is no difference between Shi'ites and Sunnis."
Likewise, he noted, when an Islamic country achieves some scientific, political, economic or military gain, others must consider it an honor for the whole Islamic world, and that Iran's nuclear accomplishments were a source of honor for the whole world of Islam. He added, "Any time a warrior in any corner of the Islamic world takes a step against Israel, other Islamic countries are expected to honor it."
He added that Iran's proposed nuclear package is aimed at restoring peace and security worldwide.
Touching on recent claims by U.S. President George W. Bush that Iran endangers the region, Kashani said, "Bush's goal in raising these claims is to portray Iran as an enemy of the regional states and making the Arabs less sensitive to the Zionist regime." He said that it was precisely Iran's sincerity and engagement with the countries of the world, especially the Muslim countries and the countries of the region that had led Bush to make such statements.
He said that gestures by some political officials in the Islamic world were serving the interests of the U.S. and Israel, and that "Muslim states are expected to think of their own nations."
Sources: IRNA, IRIBnews, Iran, May 16, 2008
(For the MEMRI TV page on Ayatollah Mohammad Emami-Kashani, click here. )
