I guess they are balking on our "free delivery" option for nukes.
Posted on 11/06/2007 3:26:49 PM PST by freedom44
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's government should hold direct talks with the United States to avoid possible military action against the Islamic Republic, the country's top dissident cleric said in a speech.
Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, an architect of the Islamic revolution, was among Iranian leaders who endorsed the 444-day occupation of the U.S. embassy shortly after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, when 52 Americans were taken hostage.
The event led Washington to break diplomatic ties, which Montazeri said should now be restored.
"The nuclear row should be resolved through direct talks with America to avoid a war. Talks about a possible military action should be taken seriously," Montazeri told pro-reform students on Friday in remarks faxed to Reuters on Tuesday.
Criticising the handling of Iran's nuclear policy is unusual and sensitive because it is seen as a matter of national security.
Increasingly angry rhetoric between Washington and Tehran has sparked speculation about a possible U.S. military attack against Iran over its refusal to halt sensitive atomic work, which the West says is a cover to build atomic bombs.
Tehran insists its atomic work is peaceful.
Iranian officials have dismissed the threat of U.S. military action and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called it a U.S. "dream". Iran says it is fully prepared to defend itself, warning Washington of a "quagmire deeper than Iraq."
Montazeri said Iranian authorities were mistaken if they believed "an attack would rally Iranians to the leadership as they did during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war".
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has the last say on all state matters, including the nuclear issue.
"People have changed. They are not willing to sacrifice their lives like they did during the Iraq war," said Montazeri, who was kept under house arrest in Shi'ite Iran's holy city of Qom from 1998 until 2003.
Iran's biggest reformist party last month also warned of an escalating crisis with the international community, calling for a review of Tehran's nuclear policy.
"ILLEGAL AND UNISLAMIC"
Montazeri was hailed as "the fruit of my life" by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, late founder of the revolution, who designated him as his successor. Montazeri fell from grace in 1988 after criticising Iran's rulers.
Montazeri criticised the clerical establishment for "repression", saying the harsh sentences given to political prisoners by the judiciary were "illegal and unIslamic".
"It is against the constitution," said Montazeri, who was one of the writers of Iran's constitution.
Pro-reform students and academics have criticised Ahmadinejad, who came to power in 2005, for clamping down on dissidents but the president and his government insist they support free speech and welcome constructive opposition.
Students and activists say some of those who have spoken out against Ahmadinejad and his government have been detained or blacklisted from university courses.
“The nuclear row should be resolved through direct talks with America to avoid a war. Talks about a possible military action should be taken seriously,” Montazeri told pro-reform students on Friday in remarks faxed to Reuters on Tuesday.
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Too late, PUNK!
Payback is a b*tch.
Translation: We’re scared shiite-less and don’t want to die...
You have to remember he was under house arrest for over a decade and he is not affiliated with the government. The only reason why they have not killed him is because they are afraid of retribution.
I guess they are balking on our "free delivery" option for nukes.
That’s all fine and good, my comment stands.
His chance at a ‘come to Jesus moment’ passed along time ago... but that’s just my opinion.
I consider it to be a good sign that an opposition has surfaced. How long lived this will be, is anyone’s guess.
he was under house arrest for over a decade and he is not affiliated with the government.
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He was part of the movement that created the vacuum that the Middle East has now been sucked into. Maybe if he martyred himself by taking Imanutjob out, I’d feel differently.
As to the regime fearing reprisals were he eliminated, then why are We treating them with such tender hands?
I doubt he is ‘coming to Jesus’, but alliances come and go. Iran is our best chance in bridging Christianity and Islam in the middle east
He’s only proposing this to fool the international community into thinking Iran will cooperate in diplomacy, which will sway public opinion against bombing them. It’s all an act to try and avoid being bombed. And then after they go through the motions and have the talks, which aren’t sincere, they’ll go back to their nuke-building and Jew-hating and everything else. Nice try, Ayatollah al-whatever his name was, but we can see right through you. Bring on the MOABs!
P.S. Who is this Ali Montazeri guy? I thought Khamenei was the supreme leader.
And a little off topic, but the word “ayatollah” sounds like an Italian trying to say “I toll.”
Iran is our best chance in bridging Christianity and Islam in the middle east
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You are much more of an optimist or maybe just more gullible that they can co-exist, at least the form of Islam practicvced and currently in evidence around the globe today.
If we don’t have smart bullets yet, we’ll have to use smart bombs or cruise missiles. It would be so much easier if we had smart bullets to eliminate every self imposed dictator murderer in the world.
I respect your opinion. But I have visited Iran and conversed with a wide spectrum of society who are Muslim. I have also lived in Italy and conversed with a wide spectrum of society who are Christian. Iranians are more pro-American. They value our freedom, values and culture much more than Italians and probably most European Christian countries.
I may have been abit abrupt in my inital comments.
I have no doubt that a vast majority of Iranians at home and abroad are reasonable and respectful people.
It is not their fault that a tyrannical clique of sub-humans, masquerading as being religious in nature, has seized and retains power today, altho those who seek freedom, must be prepared to fight to keep or regain it.
At the same time, I do not see evidence that this let’s talk comment is anything more than another balloon which, while welcome in the sky, will likely deliver anything more than more hot air.
I hope I am wrong, for everyone’s sake.
When the Supreme Guide comes forward and publically states to the world that they will immediately cease their nuclear programme and wish a sit down with our Dept. of State then I will feel like we may get somewhere with diplomacy. That won’t happen so they will get bombs.
This guy seems to have some genuine disagreement with the regime on making Iran better but he carries no real weight of power beside being a symbolic figurehead. Perhaps he is pining for power in the ‘life beyond the mullahs’ but we cannot trust such a guy considering his involvement in the 1979 hostage crisis. No more political rewards for Islamists whom have American blood on their hands!!!
Run out the clock...
They’re nervous, figuring Bush will wrap them up with the end of his administration...not a bad thing,
Iran actually does have a lot of non-Muslim communities, and some of them are hidden away in the countryside. They can’t rebel or else they get killed. Unfortunately for them, they have no oil so we don’t give a shiite.
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