The Foundation for Democracy in Iran brought two senior Iranian opposition to clerics Washington, DC this week, to meet with U.S. policy-makers, academics, journalists, and other leaders of democratic Iranian opposition groups.
The two clerics, Ayatollah Mehdi Rouhani and Molavi Ali Akbar Mollahzadeh, jointly addressed a lunch co-hosted by the Foundation for Democracy in Iran and the American Enterprise Institute - the first time ever that a senior Iranian Sunni and Shiite cleric have shared a podium to denounce the Tehran regime. FDI's Executive Director, Kenneth R. Timmerman, called the meeting "historic," and said that bringing together democratic opposition leaders from different organizations was part of FDI's "mission." (Text of Mr. Timmerman's statement).
Ayatollah Rouhani is a Shiite cleric and member of the FDI board, whose brother, Grand Ayatollah Sadegh Rouhani, has been under house arrest in Qom since 1985. Dr. Rouhani argued that "the ruling clerics have betrayed Islam, and they have betrayed the Iranian people." He called the recent election of Hojj. Mohammad Khatemi as president of Iran "a clear rejection by the Iranian people of the hand-picked candidate of the regime" and "a disavowal of the system of Velayat-e faghih [religious rule]."
Dr. Rouhani said he remains in touch with senior clerics inside Iran."All of the Grand Ayatollahs today are opposed to this regime, and they represent a powerful, popular force that should be reckoned with." He called for the clergy to withdraw from politics and to "leave government to more competent professionals. "
Molavi Ali Akbar Mollahzadeh, who joined Dr. Rouhani at AEI and at meetings sponsored by FDI with other democratic opposition leaders, is one of the most senior Sunni Muslim clerics in Iranian Balouchistan. He left Iran in 1991 for Pakistan, where Iranian intelligence agents fired 30 bullets into his car in an assassination attempt. On March 4, 1996, the regime assassinated his brother, Molavi Abdulmalek Mollahzadeh. Since then, he has lived in hiding.
Molavi Ali Akbar argued that religious discrimination against Sunni Muslims and other non-Shias has fueled a virtual insurrection in Balouchistan, where Tehran has deployed several brigades of crack anti-riot troops and units from two Revolutionary Guards divisions since 1994. The religious repression against Iranian Sunnis was so extensive, he said, that "one million Sunni Muslims in Tehran have no mosque in which they can pray."
Read an interview with Molavi Ali Akbar that appeared in the latest issue of The Iran Brief.
The opposition of Iran's Sunni and Shia Muslim clergy has received little attention in the West, since the Tehran regime refuses to allow access to emprisoned members of the clergy. Similarly, the plight of Iran's Sunni Muslim minorities (Kurds, Balouchis, Turmomens, Arabs, and others) if virtually unknown outside of the region. Sunni Muslims account for approximately 30 percent of Iran's 60 million population, and live mainly along Iran's borders with Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, and Iraq, as well as along the Persian Gulf.
Dr. Rouhani also addressed the Board of Directors of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), a Washington, DC think tank, on June 2, where he made an impassioned plea for better understanding among Muslims, Jews, and Christians, and urged Jews to join him in creating a worldwide "Monotheistic Front." Since the underlying ideology of the Islamic Republic "is not drawn from the Koran, it is therefore un-Islamic," he said.
Dr. Rouhani explained that Ayatollah Khomeini and his followers "have divided the world into two camps: Those who support their ideology, whom they call the "Hezballah" - or Party of God; and those who do not, whom they call "Taghout" - or Partisans of the Devil. They believe it is their duty to eradicate the Taghout wherever they may be," Dr. Rouhani added. "This explains their ideology of the Export of the Revolution and why they send terrorists and commandos around the world to subvert their neighbors and assassinate their political opponents. They believe that all means are justified in reaching their goal of converting the whole world into the Hezbollah."
Molavi Ali Akbar and Dr. Rouhani met with senior U.S. officials at the Department of Defense, and with other officials from the State Department and the United States Congress during their week in Washington. Both urged the United States to "stay the course" in maintaining pressure - including economic sanctions - against the Tehran regime.
Asked what the United States should do if solid evidence emerges of an Iranian hand in the Khobar Towers bombing in Dhahran, Dr. Rouhani said he felt that a military reprisal would be useless, and that "it would be better to support the opposition."
For further information contact Kenneth R. Timmerman, Executive Director, Foundation for Democracy in Iran. Tel: (301) 946-2918. Fax: (301) 942-5341.