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Ayatollah Ahmad Janati

Ayatollah Ahmad Janati

Iran Guardians Council

Axis of Evil

20020823

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran Cleric Says Ahmadinejad Chavez Remarks 'Heresy'

2013-03-16

[An Nahar] A senior Iranian cleric accused President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad of "heresy" on Friday by saying in his tribute to late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez that he would be resurrected with Jesus Christ. "Those comments on Chavez's return with Christ were heresy," Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, the hardline chief of the influential Guardians Council, told worshipers at Friday prayers in Tehran. Janati was referring to comments by Ahmadinejad on March 6 in which he called Chavez a "martyr" who would "return, along with the righteous Jesus and the perfect human." The last was an allusion to Shiite Islam's 12th imam that Iran's majority faith believes will return with Christ to bring peace and justice to the world. Janati said Iran's clergy had been "upset" by the remarks. "Should people say whatever comes to mind? I wish (Ahmadinejad) had spent a few days in a seminary before discussing such issues," he said. "Chavez was a populist and anti-American. His political agenda was completely acceptable. But he was not a Muslim," Janati added. Janati's Guardians Council is charged with overseeing elections and interpreting the constitution. Iran has scheduled a presidential election for June 14 to find a replacement for Ahmadinejad, whose disputed re-election in 2009 sparked street protests and a deadly crackdown by the regime in response.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Ahmadinejad under sorcerer's spell: top cleric

2011-05-16

Iran's diminutive President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad has been put "under a spell" by his chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, an ultra-conservative holy man was quoted by local media on Sunday as saying. Actually, that explains quite a bit... "I've told some of my close friends that I am more than 90 percent certain that (Ahmadinejad) has been put under a spell. This is not natural at all,"Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, believed to have once been a mentor of the president, told the weekly Shoma. "No sane person does such things unless his free will has been taken away,"Mesbah Yazdi said in reference to a crisis that has erupted since mid-April between Ahmadinejad and the hardline conservative camp close to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "His actions have no justification. When he has 10 friends... does it make sense to constantly defy nine of them and defend (the actions of the) tenth person?" Mesbah Yazdi asked in an allusion to Mashaie. Mashaie, the president's top adviser and close relative who has worked alongside Ahmadinejad for more than 25 years, has been the target of a barrage of criticism from the conservative camp in past weeks. Mashaie, who has been condemned for being too liberal, holding nationalistic views dating back to pre-Islamic Iran, and for having a great influence on the president, is now accused of leading a "current of deviation" aimed at destroying the Islamic regime. Mesbah Yazdi said he sensed a "great danger" lingering over Ahmadinejad because of Mashaie. "I do not know if it is (because of) hypnotism, a spell or relations with yogis. But there is something wrong," said Mesbah Yazdi. "It is almost as if this questionable person (Mashaie) has put this man (Ahmadinejad) under a spell, as if he has wrapped him around his finger," he said. The conservatives also accuse Mashaie of orchestrating the attempted sacking of Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi in mid-April, which was vetoed by the supreme leader. The aborted dismissal triggered an unprecedented political crisis in the higher echelons of Iran's regime, with Ahmadinejad expressing his displeasure by withdrawing from public life and official duties for 10 days. Several conservative websites have recently hinted that Mashaie may be connected to the practice of dark magic, while the judiciary has announced the arrest of two "sorcerers" but stopped short of linking them to the chief of staff. The rumours have gained enough momentum to prompt Ahmadinejad to deny them publicly. "Those who have spoken in recent days about the influence of fortune tellers and jinn (shape-shifting spirits) on government were telling jokes,"Ahmadinejad said on May 8. Iran's first Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi hit back hard at the accusation by the ultra-conservatives. "Some people speak of sorcery and jinns and attribute them to the government. Is it possible to govern the country with sorcery and jinn? Is it possible to send satellites into the sky (using them)? Science is behind all these issues," Rahimi was quoted as saying in some local papers. "How could they attribute such things to Dr. Ahmadinejad, the president and a (university) professor?" Rahimi added. Another vice president, Hamid Baghaie, defended Mashaie against accusations of deviancy, describing them as "slander." Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, who heads the powerful Guardians Council, a body that oversees elections, interprets the constitution and vets parliamentary legislation, warned Ahmadinejad on Friday that he could not protect Mashaie forever. "Some people seek to deviate from and act against the country and Velayat-e Faqih (the supreme leader)," Janati said. "But there will come a day that the regime and the people will deal with them."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iranian reformists call for protest

2011-02-20

[Al Jazeera] Iran's opposition has invited Iranians to attend a protest rally in Tehran and other cities on Sunday to mark a week since the deaths of two people in earlier demonstrations. With organisers renewing calls for protest on Facebook and Twitter, the opposition website kaleme.com says the rallies on Sunday will be a "fight against religious dictatorship" in Iran. The announcement comes just a day after many MPs and holy men called for the execution of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who are already under house arrest, for organising last week's rallies. At least two people were killed in Monday's festivities between security forces and opposition protesters in Tehran. The rallies were the largest to be held by the opposition in more than a year. The brother of one of the men has been nabbed following an interview he gave to the Voice of America (VOA). The Iranian government says that Sana Jaleh was a member of the Basij security force, and that he was killed by anti-government protesters in Monday's banned demonstrations. On Wednesday, Jaleh's brother, Ghaneh, told the VOA that his brother was not a member of the Basij and that his family was under intense pressure to keep silent. Following several reports in independent Iranian media, the International Campaign for Human Rights confirmed on Friday that Ghaneh has been nabbed. Ghaneh's account is disputed by the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Iran's state media. The broadcaster interviewed an unnamed man claiming to be Sana's brother, saying that Sana "is a martyr ... in the footsteps of Iran's Islamic martyrs" and denying that anyone in his family had ever spoken to the VOA. 'Corrupt on earth' Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... tens of thousands of government loyalists poured on to the streets of Tehran on Friday, demanding that Mousavi and Karroubi be hanged for their "rebellion". Kaleme.com, the website of Mousavi, reported that the opposition leader was now completely cut off from the world and that masked men had been deployed at the entrance to his Tehran house. "Death to Mousavi! Death to Karroubi! Mousavi, Karroubi should be hanged!" worshippers chanted as they emerged from Friday prayers at Tehran University to join large crowds of loyalists marching toward Enghelab Square. They also called for the hanging of reformist Mohammad Khatami, Iran's former president. In his Friday prayer sermon, Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, the head of the powerful Guardians Council, demanded the total isolation of Mousavi and Karroubi as worshippers chanted "American servants, shame on you!" Janati said the judiciary must "cut access (of Mousavi and Karroubi) with the people completely, the doors of their homes must be shut ... so that they can't receive and give messages, their phones ... internet must be cut and they be imprisoned in their homes." In their final declaration, the organisers of what was billed as a "hatred" rally, demanded the "harshest punishment to the heads of sedition" and labelled them as "corrupt on earth", a crime punishable by death under Iran's penal code.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran issues military warning to United States

2006-04-15

Iran said it could defeat any American military action over its controversial nuclear drive, in one of the Islamic regime's boldest challenges yet to the United States. "You can start a war but it won't be you who finishes it," said General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the head of the Revolutionary Guards and among the regime's most powerful figures. "The Americans know better than anyone that their troops in the region and in Iraq are vulnerable. I would advise them not to commit such a strategic error," he told reporters on the sidelines of a pro-Palestinian conference in Tehran. "I would advise them to first get out of their quagmire in Iraq before getting into an even bigger one," General Safavi said with a grin. "We have American forces in the region under total surveillance. For the past two years, we have been ready for any scenario, whether sanctions or an attack." At a Friday prayer sermon in Tehran, senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Janati simply branded the US as a "decaying power" lacking the "stamina" to block Iran's ambitions. And hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told AFP that a US push for tough United Nations sanctions was of "no importance." "She is free to say whatever she wants," the president replied when asked to respond to comments by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice highlighting part of the UN charter that provides for sanctions backed up by the threat of military action. "We give no importance to her comments," he said with a broad smile. On Thursday, Rice said that faced with Iran's intransigence, the United States "will look at the full range of options available to the United Nations." "There is no doubt that Iran continues to defy the will of the international community," Rice said, after Iran also dismissed a personal appeal from the UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran dares US to attack

2006-04-14

IRAN has said it could defeat any American military action over its controversial nuclear drive, in one of the Islamic regime's boldest challenges yet to the United States. "You can start a war but it won't be you who finishes it," said General Yahya Rahim Safavi, the head of the Revolutionary Guards and among the regime's most powerful figures. "The Americans know better than anyone that their troops in the region and in Iraq are vulnerable. I would advise them not to commit such a strategic error," he told reporters on the sidelines of a pro-Palestinian conference in Tehran. The United States accuses Iran of using an atomic energy drive as a mask for weapons development. Last weekend US news reports said President George W. Bush's administration was refining plans for preventive strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. "I would advise them to first get out of their quagmire in Iraq before getting into an even bigger one," General Safavi said with a grin. "We have American forces in the region under total surveillance. For the past two years, we have been ready for any scenario, whether sanctions or an attack." Iran announced this week it had successfully enriched uranium to make nuclear fuel, despite a UN Security Council demand for the sensitive work to be halted by April 28. The Islamic regime says it only wants to generate atomic energy, but enrichment can be extended to make the fissile core of a nuclear warhead -- something the United States is convinced that "axis of evil" member Iran wants to acquire. At a Friday prayer sermon in Tehran, senior cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Janati simply branded the US as a "decaying power" lacking the "stamina" to block Iran's ambitions. And hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that a US push for tough United Nations sanctions was of "no importance". "She is free to say whatever she wants," the president replied when asked to respond to comments by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice highlighting part of the UN charter that provides for sanctions backed up by the threat of military action. "We give no importance to her comments," he said with a broad smile. On Thursday, Ms Rice said that faced with Iran's intransigence, the United States "will look at the full range of options available to the United Nations". "There is no doubt that Iran continues to defy the will of the international community," Rice said, after Iran also dismissed a personal appeal from the UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief must give a report at the end of April on Iranian compliance with the Security Council demand. In Tehran he said that after three years of investigations Iran's activities were "still hazy and not very clear". Although the United States has been prodding the council to take a tough stand against the Islamic republic, including possible sanctions, it has run into opposition from veto-wielding members Russia and China. Representatives of the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany are to meet in Moscow Tuesday to discuss the crisis. In seeking to deter international action, Iran has been playing up its oil wealth, its military might in strategic Gulf waters and its influence across the region -- such as in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Britain more dangerous than a jungle: Janati

2005-08-27

TEHRAN: Britain is a terrible place to live and anti-terrorist laws there make life as an animal in a jungle far safer, a top Iranian cleric said on Friday. "Day by day, corruption, tyranny, felony, insecurity and different dangers are attacking human society. Just look at the fight against terrorism in Britain," Ayatollah Ahmad Janati said in a Friday prayer sermon. "All gatherings are under the microscope. People should know they are being watched. In cinemas, parks, streets and even in the railway stations, cameras are watching," he said, asking "what kind of security is this when people are constantly monitored?" British police, he said, can also "arrest anyone without any evidence or pressing charges". "Is this life for a human being? No animal in a jungle lives with the amount of insecurity that they have there," he alleged, slamming British authorities for also "spreading insecurity in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine."

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Ayatollah: US, UK, Israel Citizens Should Be Made to Feel Unsafe

2004-06-05

From IranMania Top Iranian hardline cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Janati on Friday accused the United States, Britain and Israel of "warring against God" and said their nationals should be made to feel unsafe wherever they are. "If the Muslims do not know security, the Americans, British and the Israelis should not know security, for they are "moharebs" (warring against God)," Janati said at Friday prayers in Tehran, broadcast by state media. "It is the duty of all Muslims and ardent non-Muslims to stand against the Americans, the British and the Israelis and to endanger their interests worldwide." His comments sparked chants of "Death to the United States", "Death to England" and "Death to Israel" from the thousands who gathered for Friday prayers at Tehran University campus. .... He urged Iraqis to unite behind Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the top Shiite cleric in Najaf, a holy Shiite city where Sadr’s men are battling US troops. The Americans "are here to fight Iraqi people, Kurds, Arabs, Shiites and Sunnis, in addition to Islam, so do not fight one another, and come under the umbrella of Ayatollah Sistani, for the clerics are your path to salvation," he said. ....

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Europe

Tehran worshipers cry ’Death to France!’ over head scarves

2004-01-04

Will he or won’t he? That is, will Chiraq go down in history as the French President who only needed "a roar from Muslims, and the French would back off." to be known as the " When they say jump, I say how high?" President. TEHRAN Thousands of Muslim worshipers shouted "Death to France!" during weekly prayers here Friday in response to a sermon denouncing a proposal to prohibit Muslim schoolgirls in France from wearing head scarves. Ayatollah Ahmad Janati called on Islamic countries to "threaten France with canceling contracts and to reconsider their relations with France" over the issue. Last month, a committee of French experts recommended banning "conspicuous" religious insignia from state schools, which are secular. This would include the hijab, or head scarf, skullcaps and large crucifixes. In a speech later, President Jacques Chirac of France came out in favor of the ban, which he wants written into law by the start of the next school year. But Janati assured worshipers that all that was necessary was "a roar from Muslims, and the French would back off." He called on the French authorities to "let Muslim women express their freedom and carry out their religious obligations." His comments were welcomed by shouts of "Death to France!" Since Chirac spoke in favor of the ban on Dec. 17, Arab and Muslim countries have been voicing outrage, even if a few intellectuals dispute claims that Muslim women are bound by duty to wear the head scarf. Numerous Iranian officials, including President Mohammad Khatami and nearly 200 members of Parliament, have already called on the French authorities to reject the ban. Khatami said last week that the "hijab is a religious necessity and its restriction is a sign of a kind of extreme nationalistic tendency." On Monday, 150 students, including women in the head-to-foot chador, protested in front of the French Embassy in Tehran shouting "Death to France!" and "Death to Chirac the Zionist!"

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Axis of Evil

Janati slams idea of settling differences with USA

2002-08-23

A hardline Iranian conservative figure slammed Friday any idea of resolving differences with Washington. "US policies of force and intimidation in the world are aimed at colonizing other countries", said Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, head of Iran's powerful Guardians Council, in a sermon at Tehran University. It was not in Iran's interest "to settle differences with the United States," he said, reminding the faithful to "be vigilant to confront conspiracies by domestic and foreign enemies." A-yep. Y'gotta watch those conspiracies. They're everywhere y'look... He cited the 1953 US-sponsored coup that ousted Iranian prime minister Mohammed Mossadegh and replaced him with the exiled shah, as an example of Washington's intentions. That was, ummm... 49 years ago... The Guardians Council, a 12-member body dominated by conservatives, screens laws to ensure they are in accordance with its interpretation of Islamic principles and the constitution. They're the Guardians of Morals, divine-right theocrats ordained by Gawdalmighty to keep Iran on the Straight and Narrow™, Cotton Mather in a parallel universe, only with a turban. Without them, Iranian women would be running around in bikinis or less and all the cities in a Great and Pious Nation™ would be chock full of titty bars and NASCAR-themed beer joints. Men would forget their small arms training and spend their time on frivolous pursuits, like working for a living and chasing the bikini-clad babes. There would be Victoria's Secret catalogs under every mattress. There would be impious laughter and frivolty, even outright mirth. Men would be dancing with women, even touching them! The mosques would all close and deserving holy men would be starving in the streets...

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