On June 17, 2015, the Iranian daily Kayhan, which is affiliated with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, published an editorial praising the month of Ramadan and, in connection with this, praising also the 175 Iranian military frogmen killed in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War whose bodies were recently brought to Iran and given a martyrs' interment.
Kayhan stated that Iran is currently in a situation similar to that of the early battles of Islam, when Muhammad won the Battle of Badr and annihilated the Jews of Khaybar. It called on Iranian nation to act in Ramadan after the example of the martyrs and to redeem Islam, "which is entangled by the Jews' deception" and by the trickery of the U.S. - "The Great Satan" - and Britain - "the wily fox." It warned that as part of this struggle, Tehran would strike the White House within minutes of any American attack on Iran's nuclear facilities.
Criticizing attempts by pragmatic camp leaders Hashemi Rafsanjani and President Hassan Rohani to reach a nuclear agreement with the U.S., the editorial stated that these attempts to reach such an agreement contradict the Koranic order against making pacts with the enemy. It implicitly accused President Rohani - who once called the U.S. "the village leader,[1] thus indicating his perception of U.S. supremacy - of violating the Koran's statement that God will not allow infidels to gain the upper hand over His faithful, and added that the attempts also contradict the martyrs' fierce resistance to the U.S.-led West. It also said that the U.S. is now on its deathbed.
The paper expressed resentment at the wealth and economic corruption attributed to the Rafsanjani family,[2] and stated that these values are contrary to the legacy of the martyrs who clung to the jihadi management recently preached and promoted by Khamenei.[3] It concluded by stating that Iran would not submit to the U.S. despite its economic hardship, because it has extensive room to maneuver, is advancing towards realizing its goal, and is anticipating divine assistance.
Following are excerpts from Kayhan's editorial:
During Ramadan, "Divine Angels Call Us [To Join] God"
"Slowly but surely, Ramadan approaches... The month of God that is arriving is better than a thousand suns... During this month, the heavens are open to all, and the path of the world and of the souls is facilitated. A good message arrives this month, and the angels distribute hidden aspirations and good tidings of salvation. Divine angels call us [to join] God.
"The month of God [i.e. Ramadan] reveals its face gradually, with joyful mornings and iftar [break-fast] dinners that grant vitality. With the morning devotions and the call to prayer that infuses us with the voice of salvation and eases our spirit, and like swift children, we shed tears and our hearts beat like those of lovers. The sound of the believers' Koran recitation is like a beehive... This is [the Imam] Ali, who receives the worshippers of God during this month. He is the hand of God, and the hand of God is in his sleeve - a hand that caresses orphans and the oppressed and smites the oppressors and the violators of treaties, that digs a well to bring sweet water to the people, that makes the palm trees grow and destroys the gates of Khaybar [populated by Jews] to annihilate the foundations of idolatry...
"A few days ago, we received news that some men [175 frogmen killed in the Iran-Iraq war], whose hands were bound and who were killed, although they were strong, have come to us... These are the true men, who are a source of national pride. Their secret is their bound hands, unbound 30 years later... They knew that war is war, and that dying in the path of God is one kind of victory. They convey to us that it is better to die, even with bound hands, than to be humiliated [by the enemy], and that it is inconceivable for us to submit to Satan. Oh great brothers, how honorable and proud are you. How close to God are you, and how distant from you are we. Your hands are bound, but your hearts are generous... Can the hands of God, which carry out divine actions, ever be bound?..."
"Iran Is Now In The Era Of [The Victory Of] Badr And [The Massacre Of The Jews At] Khaybar"; Islam Is "Entangled By The Jews' Deception"
"Iran is now in the era of [the victory of] Badr and [the massacre of the Jews at] Khaybar[4] - What is honor? What is humiliation?
"[To the dead frogmen:] Come tell us about honor and zeal. Tell us the ABC of courage and honesty. [Tell us] what the Iraqi Ba'ath regime did to you on the orders of 'the Great Satan' and the P5+1 of that time - so that our zealotry will overflow and so that our faith will be as fervent as that of the young men who held their heads high because of [the spilling of] your blood. [Do this] so that we will have faith in those who, without help from [Rohani's designated] 'village leader,' [i.e. the U.S.], crossed the boundaries of [nuclear] science and made their mark. [Do this] so that we will have faith in those who made the enemy tremble with jihadi management and with the management of the young people - and not with the management that seeks profit, that is old and rife with corruption [a reference to Rafsanjani]... [Do this] so that we will have faith in in the young people who did not go to study in Britain and America but who surprised the alumni of Western [education] and Western scientists. [Do this] so that we will have faith in those who did not receive scholarships or diplomas from overseas, and did not bribe Western companies...
"Let us have faith that America is incapable of any misstep [against Iran], and that it cannot even attack Iranian facilities without the White House being destroyed in under 10 minutes. Let us have faith that the old 'village leader' [i.e. the U.S.] has fallen onto his deathbed, and that even in his youth, he never made the mistake [of daring to attack Iran], and that he, like Israel, remains mired in quicksand. Let us have faith that Britain is a wily fox, and that its laughter is deceptive. Let us have faith in the Koran that says that the enemies are not men of their word, and that God has not permitted the infidels to gain supremacy over the believers...
"[Again addressing the frogmen:] Oh brothers, you went [to Iraq] and came home [to Iran]... Welcome... We can speak at length of your bound hands. Our arms are short, but your heads, and your stature, are high. They [the Iraqis] bound your hands so that you could not not raise them to the heavens - but they did not know that your heads touched the sky.
"Brothers, your jihad is blessed, and your lot is Paradise. You, who sat with God during the month of God's Prophet and the month of God [Ramadan], will understand us and honor us - not by means of bread [i.e. the pragmatic camp's promise of an agreement with the U.S. and the West] but by means of the redemption of the world that is mired in deception, and by means of redeeming Islam, which is entangled by the Jews' deception and by the trickery of the American 'Great Satan' and [the British] old fox [i.e. the promise of the ideological camp].
"While we are aware of the people's dinner table [that Rohani and Rafsanjani vowed to provide for], we will not accept the humiliation of table scraps provided by 'the village leader' and his servants - because we are the sons of Ramadan, and our eyes are turned towards the highest peaks, and towards the morning star that emerges above the horizon.
"Our hands are not closed before Satan, but are full, and we believe that just as the hands of God never remained closed, the straight path will also never reach a dead end."
[1] In a campaign speech on May 12, 2013, Rohani announced that he intended to conduct direct talks with the U.S. if he were elected president, because, he said, the U.S. is "the village leader." Mehr (Iran), May 12, 2013.
[2] Hashemi Rafsanjani's son Mehdi was recently sentenced to prison for economic corruption.
[3] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 6088, Khamenei's 'Red Lines' Speech, June 30, 2015.
[4] A reference to the victory of a few Muslims led by the Prophet Muhammad against the wealthy infidel Quraysh tribe (623 CE) and the Prophet Muhammad's massacre of the Jews of Khaybar (628 CE).
