NCRI – Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, described Khamenei’s 10-day expedition to the holy city of Qom a desperate attempt to restore his lost clout and to overcome growing opposition of the clergy and religious leaders who are distancing themselves from the faltering clerical regime as days pass. Khamenei and his gang had been planning for months through an all out mobilization to bring the Qom city under the dominance of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in order to suppress their opponents or force them to surrender.
Mrs Rajavi added, “Total disregard by distinguished clergy towards this trip and Khamenei’s speech on his first day indicated in advance that he would face another disgraceful defeat in this campaign. Divisions within the regime are getting deeper and the clergy and young scholars despise Khamenei even more.”
In his speech upon his arrival in Qom, Khamenei called his rivals to submit to the instructions of the dominant faction of the regime and to “correlate with the state’s three forces” and deterred them from opposing Ahmadinejad. Referring to the public repulsion against the clerical regime and extensive opposition to the absolute clerical rule, he said, “Making rumors … will in no way benefit country’s affairs and its future”. He also expressed his concern over “presenting gloomy prospects of the situation” and “disheartening people and driving them out of the scene.”
Despite all the preparations and imposed pressures by the suppressive systems over the past two months, yesterday upon his arrival in Qom, Khamenei faced a boycott by the renowned religious authorities, clergy and seminary teachers. Only such detested clergymen as Moghtadai, Mohammad Yazdi, Mesbah Yazdi and Ahmad Khatamim, who owed their very existence to the regime, attended the welcoming ceremony.
Large majority of people in Qom also refused to take part in the ceremony. The crowd who attended Khamenei’s speech was formed by the members of Basij and the regime’s Revolutionary Guards dispatched from other places. This was while the regime’s officials as well as the state media had been for long time publicizing this trip and deceitfully described reception of Khamenei as that of the Shi’t’s last Imam. They forcefully stopped all religious lessons, prevented the clergy leaving Qom using different tactics and closed all the shops and schools in order to persuade people to take part in the welcoming ceremony.
Referring to the objectives and oucome of the trip, Khamenei and his faction anticipated that in this trip, “all plots would disappear”, “everyone in the theology school would swear allegiance to Khamenei and they would distance themselves from those trouble-makers who made every attempt to oppose the clerical rule and its absolute ruler”. They also underscored that Khamenei’s trip to Qom and “expression of support for his absolute clerical rule” would put an end to the sedition and the claim that “theology school has defected from the clerical rule and its leadership”. They also anticipated that “last year’s babbles and conspiracies” would be discarded”.
Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
October 20, 2010
