Washington, DC - FDI Board member Ayatollah Dr. Mehdi Rouhani was received by a senior State Department official on Jan. 17, in a 90 minute meeting that focused on U.S. policy toward the Islamic Republic and the clerical opposition to the Tehran regime.
The senior official reassured Dr. Rouhani that the United States was not in the process of "making a deal" with Tehran, as some pro-Tehran Iranian exiles have suggested. Instead, he reiterated Washington's long-standing offer to hold a public dialogue with the regime on subjects including the regime's support for international terrorism, its violent opposition to the peace process, its nuclear weapons program, and its human rights record.
Dr. Rouhani explained that for most of Iran's senior religious authorities, the regime had definitively "lost its legitimacy" with the death of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989. "The ruling clerics have betrayed Islam, and they have betrayed the Iranian people," he said. "All of the Grand Ayatollahs in Iran today are opposed to this regime, and they represent a powerful, popular force that should be reckoned with." He called Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamene'i "a small time preacher," and argued that the clergy should leave government to more competent professionals. "Ayatollah Khomeini was very good at destroying a regime - the regime of the Shah - but he was totally incapable of constructing a new regime. That job should be left to individuals who have specific competence, not the clergy," he said.
Dr. Rouhani called on the Clinton administration to maintain a tough U.S. policy toward the Islamic Republic, "to give time to opponents of the regime both inside Iran and abroad." The opposition was not seeking direct U.S. help, or U.S. intervention, he said, "only moral support and a halt to trade that benefits the regime. The Iranian people are hoping for a sign from the United States to show its support for freedom and democracy in Iran."
During his brief visit to Washington last week, Dr. Rouhani met with representatives from Congress and the Executive Branch, as well as with journalists and prominent academics. He also addressed a forum hosted by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, a conservative think tank, and was received by FDI Board member Peter Rodman at the Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom.
Dr. Rouhani's older brother, Grand Ayatollah Sadeq Rouhani, is one of Iran's most respected clerics. He has been under house arrest in Qom since 1985 because of his opposition to the regime.
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