The Foundation for Democracy is concerned by the refusal of theIranian government to condemn wanton terrorist acts such as therecent bombings in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, that are clearly aimedagainst innocent civilians. Senior Iranian government officials andthe official Iranian media have extended a level of support to thegroups and individuals responsible for these terrorist attacks whichis unprecedented in civilized discourse.
Following the twin bomb blasts in Ashkelon and Jerusalem thatkilled 25 people on Feb. 26, Iran's state-run radio praised the useof violence against Israel and encouraged further attacks. "Thesharpening of the expansionist policies of the Zionist regime... havestrengthened the belief among Palestinians that boosting armedstruggle is the only way to liberate the occupied territories,"Tehran radio commented.
The official Iranian News Agency called the latest bombings inJerusalem on Sunday (18 dead) and Tel Aviv on Monday (12 dead, 105wounded) "divine retribution," and gloated that "Israel, the onlystate in the world to be created by terrorism and brutal use offorce, is now tasting its own medicine."
Similarly, when Iranian Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was slain bya Jewish extremist in Tel Aviv last November, Iranian President AliAkbar Rafsanjani called Rabin's death "divine revenge" for Israel'salleged killing in Malta of Fathi Shiqaqi, the leader of IslamicJihad, a terrorist group responsible for numerous attacks againstIsraeli civilians.
The Iranian Parliament has authorized payments up to $100 millionper year to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and other groupsopposing the Middle East peace process, since 1989. Iranian leadersobject that they view these groups as engaged in a legitimatestruggle of resistance against foreign occupation.
The Foundation for Democracy calls on Iranian PresidentHashemi-Rafsanjani, on the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament AliAkbar Nateq-Nouri, and on the Supreme Leader of the Islamic RepublicAyatollah Ali Khamene'i, to publicly denounce the use of terrorismagainst civilian targets in clear and unequivocal terms, and toprovide assurances that the Iranian Parliament and all other organsof the Iranian leadership and government have ceased fundingterrorist groups including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian IslamicJihad.
The Foundation for Democracy in Iran is a private,non-profit corporation registered in the State of Maryland.Contact: Kenneth R. Timmerman, Executive Director (exec@iran.org).FDI materials, including the FDI Newswire, are availablefree-of-charge via the Internet at http://www.iran.org/.