The Khamenei text

Huge kudos, once again, to Juan Cole for having made available to the public a key publicly funded product of the US government’s “Open Source Center”– namely, the OSC’s English translation of substantial excerpts from the speech that Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei gave yesterday at Ayatollah Khomeini’s mausoleum.
The speech contained significant and very well-argued responses to the principle accusations the US government has been making against the Iranian government. Khamenei lists these accusations thus:

First, that there is an international consensus against Iran.
Second, that Iran is a threat to the world.
Third, that Iran is trying to make a nuclear bomb and nuclear weapons.
Fourth, that Iran is a violator of human rights…

And then, as I say, he responds to those…
The whole of the text that Juan publishes there is incredibly important, especially in these days when the Bushites’ fear- and hate-mongering campaign against Iran has assumed a front-and-center position in their’ engagement (such as it is) with the rest of the world.
Juan makes two excellent points about the limitations on the availability of the Khamenei text:

(1) The US media presented only a snippet from the speech of Supreme Jurisprudent Ali Khamenei of Iran on Sunday, in which he threatened to damage oil supplies to the West if the US militarily attacked Iran. He did say that, but he also announced that Iran had no intention of striking first, had not attacked and would not attack another country, and that it has no nuclear weapons program and does not want a nuclear bomb. I didn’t hear any of those statements reported on television.
For some strange reason, a relatively full text of important speeches given by world leaders is almost never provided to the public by any US media in English. I doubt there are even a handful of speeches easily accessible in English by Spanish President Zapatero, e.g. I cannot entirely explain this strange phenomenon, of the coccooned and almost deliberately ignorant approach to the world of the US corporate media and their audience.

And,

(2) the American public pays tax dollars so that the Open Source Center of the USG can translate such primary texts. They are, however, not made freely available, though you can get them via university and maybe other good libraries.

Well, yes, Juan, you can get them easily via university libraries if you have a nice tenured professorship at such a university. As for the rest of us taxpayers here…
Which is why it is great that Juan, who is one of the privileged few in this regard, takes the trouble to publish an important text such as this on his freely accessible blog.
I have a suggestion. Either the US government should make the products of the publicly funded OSC freely available via the (also publicly funded) world-wide-web. Or it should change the institution’s name to the Closed Source Center.
There is just one thing that Juan writes in his post there that I disagree with. That is this: “I should think it is obvious that I loathe Khamenei and his regime, but I suppose I have to say so yet again in today’s wretched intellectual environment.”
For my part, I am deeply concerned by some (but not all) of what I know about the human-rights record and other practices of the Iranian regime. But that doesn’t lead me to “loathe” anyone. Moreover, I don’t see that the sentiments of any one private individual like Juan Cole toward someone else (even a public figure like Khamenei) have any particular broader relevance; and more importantly, I don’t see that bringing his own private feelings into his discussion of the Khamenei text adds anything of value to the discussion. Far from it, it detracts from the value of the discussion, for two reasons: (1) It indicates there may be an emotional and not totally rational dimension to his analysis, and (2) By saying, “I suppose I have to say so yet again in today’s wretched intellectual environment” Juan seems to me to be giving the authors of that wretched intellectual environment a quite unnecessary victory…
Far better, surely, if he had written something like, “Think what you may of the track-record of the mullahs’ regime, Khamenei’s speech at least deserves wide dissemination and a fair hearing.”
(At another level, too, I strive to not to let my strong disapproval of the acts of some individuals or groups of individuals become generalized into any “hatred” or “loathing” for those individuals. This is a Gandhian– and also, a Christian– thing to do. Loving the sinner while hating the sin… I think it is really important.)
So anyway, at this point, let me join Juan in disseminating the Khamenei text. Here (without Juan’s marking-up in “bold”) it is:

‘ Iranian TV: Ayatollah Khamene’i Speaks on Khomeyni’s Death Anniversary (2)
Islamic Republic of Iran News Network Television (IRINN)
Sunday, June 4, 2006 T20:31:17Z
Tehran Vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran Network 1 in Persian at 0645 GMT on 4 June carries a live broadcast of a speech by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Kahmene’i on the occasion of the 17th anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeyni’s death. The speech is given at Ayatollah Khomeyni’s mausoleum.
TV shows a large gathering of people at the mausoleum supporting the supreme leader by their slogans.
The following is the part of Khamene’i’s speech relating to international relations and the nuclear issue.
(Khamene’i) “Science cannot be begged from others. Science should be inspired from within. A nation should use its talent to become truly knowledgeable. At the same time, it would only be through national unity and nationwide peace that faith, justice and science could flourish. At the absence of peace and calm, the country cannot benefit from science or faith, and it will not be possible to establish justice for the people. The enemy is therefore willing to grant its biggest prize to those who can shake the pillars of peace in Iran and to fight against the people’s faith in God, themselves, the (revolution’s) path and success . . .
“Those who want to distance universities and research centres from science and research are working for the enemy, and the enemy is ready to give them its biggest prize. . .
“The person who pursues this nation’s honour and this nation’s scientific progress is an insider. The strangers (Persian: gharibeh) are those who are enthusiastic for America’s hegemony. They are the ones who work at home for the enemy that’s lying in wait and act in its favour. These are the strangers . . .
“Let me say a few sentences about enemies’ propaganda. The propaganda commotions against the Iranian nation and the system of the Islamic republic are mainly set in train in the world by the Americans, Zionist media and the news empire affiliated to Zionism. . .
(They make) Several points about Iran:
First, that there is an international consensus against Iran.
Second, that Iran is a threat to the world.
Third, that Iran is trying to make a nuclear bomb and nuclear weapons.
Fourth, that Iran is a violator of human rights.
These are the few sentences which the enemy’s entire propaganda activities harp on. And they keep repeating these in different ways in the world, using a variety of ploys. Of course, the truth is clear to our nation. It is also clear to many intelligent people in the world. But I’ll briefly say something (in this respect).
“There is no consensus against Iran. This is a lie by the Americans and a few people who are America’s allies in the world. (Crowd chants in support)
“Some 116 non-aligned countries supported Iran in its bold move to acquire nuclear technology. The Organization of the Islamic Conference has voiced support for Iran. Independent governments all support Iran. All those people who have acted as middlemen to repeat America’s words to us, under the American pressure and out of courtesy, have told us in secrete that they have been asked by the Americans to say so and that they do not think the same way.
“The world and the countries that want to secure their future are all against the monopoly of nuclear technology by a few countries. To say that no country has the right to have access to nuclear technology means that in 20 years’ time, all of the countries of the world will have to beg certain Western or European countries to meet their energy demands. They will have to beg for energy in order to run their lives. Which country, nation, or honest official is ready to take that? Today, our nation has taken a step forward in this road. It has become the pioneer and stands courageously by this end. Other nations have no problem with this (move), let alone having a consensus against it. The consensus is among a number of political monopolist countries. This consensus is worthless . . .
“The American and Zionist propagandists say Iran is a threat to the world. This is the second issue. Iran is not a threat to any country and everyone knows this fact about Iran. We have not threatened neighbouring countries. We have friendly and brotherly ties with all the countries of the region. Our government has healthy and good relations with European countries. These relations with Europe will be even better in the future, when gas plays a more important role as a source of energy. They need our gas. We have friendly and good ties with the Arab world. The most important issue in Arab society is the Palestinian cause. On this issue, we speak openly about whatever they (Arabs) have in their hearts. We have a very clear and transparent position on the Palestinian cause and Arab nations like this position whole-heartedly. They feel proud when we voice that position. The Arab officials too want the same in their hearts, although they cannot speak about it as openly as we do due to certain issues.
“We have friendly ties with different countries in the region, in Asia and other parts of the world. They all recognize and appreciate Iran’s rights, its role and its influence. We also have good ties with Russia. The Russians know very well what would happen to them if a pro-American government was in power in Tehran. We (Iran and Russia) have common interests in central Asia, the Middle East and this region.
“We have no problem with the world. We are not a threat whatsoever to the world and the world knows it. The Americans, with their shameless propagandas, want to influence world public opinion. However, they haven’t yet managed to do so and will not be able to do so in the future either.
“Their other issue is [their assertion] that Iran seeks [a] nuclear bomb. It is an irrelevant and wrong statement, it is a sheer lie. We do not need a nuclear bomb. We do not have any objectives or aspirations for which we will need to use a nuclear bomb. We consider using nuclear weapons against Islamic rules. We have announced this openly. We think imposing the costs of building and maintaining nuclear weapons on our nation is unnecessary. Building such weapons and their maintenance are costly. By no means we deem it right to impose these costs on the people. We do not need those weapons. Unlike the Americans who want to rule the world with force, we do not claim to control the world and therefore do not need a nuclear bomb. Our nuclear bomb and our explosive powers are our faith, our youth and our people who have been present on the most difficult scenes with utmost power and faith and will continue to do so. (Chants of slogan, God is great).
“The American political institutions and propaganda machines are behind all these false ballyhoos. The Zionists also help, along with them and side-by-side them. They are the cause of everything.
“I would like to address a few sentences to the American officials and the team which is running America today and claims to lead the world too. I hope they listen to it, think about it and understand it. I want to ask them to compare themselves with our government. Compare your (American) president with ours. Your government is the most hated government in history of the United States today. They (Americans) announced it to the world in their own opinion polls. The government currently in power in America is the most hated government in history of the United States according to its people. Compare this with our own government. Our government is one of the most favourite governments since the Constitutional Revolution (1906). (Chants of slogan, God is Great, Khamene’i is our leader, death to America, death to Britain).
“Wherever your president, Mr Bush, visits he is faced with the people’s protest demonstrations and abhorrence. This is the case in Europe, Asia and Africa. In Latin America, governments come to power by using anti-US slogans. Today in Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela and many other Latin America countries as soon as presidential candidates use anti-US slogans the people vote for them. Can someone be hated more than this?
“The American government doesn’t allow its people to hold a normal telephone conversation safely. This means that they can’t trust their people and can’t allow them to hold a telephone conversation freely. They have passed a law allowing them to control the telephones. This is your situation.
“Well, compare this with the situation in our country. Compare it to visits by our country’s officials.
“See what enthusiasm the people showed towards Iranian presidents during the (Iranian) president’s visit to Indonesia and our former presidents’ visits to Lebanon, Sudan, Pakistan and other places. Why don’t you understand this? Why don’t you confess such things?
“You have confessed to spending 300b dollars in Iraq so that you could bring to power a government which was your puppet and took orders from you. But you failed. They have confessed to spending 300b dollars, but they’ve probably spent more than this so that they could bring a government to power which took orders from America. But they failed because the Iraqi nation was obstinate.
“In Palestine you did your utmost to stop the Hamas government from coming to power. But you failed. And contrary to your wish, the Palestinian nation voted for the Hamas government. You exerted pressure from various sides on the Palestinian government. However, this strengthened the Palestinian people’s solidarity with this government. In Lebanon, senior agents from the American State Department went to Beirut and stayed there for a few months to see whether they could hold Lebanon in their clutches, undermine the resistance in that country and create a Lebanon which follows Israel. But you failed because the Lebanese people held a grudge against you. It’s the same everywhere else.
“Why doesn’t Mr Bush confess that, by his conduct, he’s made America, the American nation and America as a country, despised in the world? Why don’t you confess that you’ve been weakened? Why don’t you confess that your blade has gone blunt in the world? (But) You still make threats.
“Compare our president’s message to the American president to the Americans’ impolite and feeble message, which was disseminated in the world a few days ago. Out of keeping with diplomatic convention. Brimming with dim-witted arrogance. Full of threats. Hollow words. If you were capable of harming the Islamic republic, you wouldn’t have wasted a minute during these 27 years.
“The former American secretary of state openly said: I have to tear out the Iranian nation by its roots. He (or she; Persian is gender neutral) is finished and gone; the Iranian nation has grown daily. (Crowd chants in support)
“You speak about human rights. You speak about being against terrorism. How the hell can an administration that has Guantanamo Prison and Abu-Ghurayb Prison and crimes like the Haditha crime and the recent crime in Kabul and dozens and hundreds of other such things on its record dare to speak about human rights? (Crowd chants in support)
“In order to threaten Iran, you (America) say that you can secure energy flow in the region. You are wrong. Beware that if you make the slightest mistake about Iran, the energy flow through this region will be seriously in danger. (Chants of slogan, God is great, Khamene’i is our leader, death to America).
“You will never be capable of providing energy security in this region. You are not capable and you should know this. We will never start a war. We have no intention of going to war with any government. We have a high aspiration and we will use all our energy to reach it. That aspiration is to build an Iran which provides this nation with moral and material prosperity. We want an Iran that can be a role-model for all other nations. Other nations know (it) well and endeavour (to reach this end) themselves.
“We want to properly use this big country and its huge natural and human resources – the resources which have been given to this nation and its officials. We want to relieve this nation of the burden of hundreds of years of humiliation. This nation feels proud and powerful and it has every right to feel so. This nation is proud and powerful, but it has been kept behind. Both corrupt dictator systems and their foreign ill-willed supporters (have kept Iran behind). . .
“Peace and blessings of God be upon you.” . . .
(Description of Source: Tehran Islamic Republic of Iran News Network Television (IRINN) in Persian — State-run 24-hour news channel in Persian, Arabic and English; presenting up to the minute domestic and international news. It offers exclusive interviews on a variety of topics, as well as information on universities, labor, and economic developments from the capital and the provinces ‘