It has been brought to MEMRI's attention by the Kuwaiti Embassy in Washington, D.C. that the author of this article is Kuwaiti columnist Ahmad Al-Fahd, and not the Kuwaiti deputy prime minister, who is commonly referred to in the Kuwaiti media by the same name. We regret the mistake; the report has been corrected (Kuwaiti Columnist: Iran's Policy of Exporting the Islamic Revolution Is No Different Than the Nazi Occupation of Europe ).
On August 23, 2009, the Kuwaiti daily Al-Watan published an article by Kuwaiti columnist Ahmad Al-Fahd stating that Iran's policy of exporting the Islamic Revolution is aimed at taking over the neighboring countries and plundering their wealth - in striking parallel to Hitler's agenda.
Following are excerpts from the article:
"Iran's Aim is to Take Over the Surrounding Countries... This Ideology... Resemble[s] Hitler's Occupation of Europe"
"A week ago, in a ceremony organized by the mayor of Istanbul and attended by Ayatollah Akhtari [1] from Iran, [Dr.] Ibrahim Al-Ashaiqer Al-Ja'fari [2] from Iraq, and Mahdi Yahfoufi [3] from Lebanon, a foundation was laid for the construction of a Shi'ite religious and cultural complex in Istanbul, under the auspices of the Istanbul Municipal Council.
"This suggests that the idea of exporting the [Islamic] Revolution was not [conceived by Iran] either with the view of delivering the people of the [target] countries from darkness and bringing them into the Iranian enlightenment, or in hope of reviving in these countries the concept of 'the rule of the jurisprudent.' [Rather,] Iran's aim is to take over the surrounding countries - first in order to ensure Iran's survival, and second in order to fill the pockets and caches of the Tehran mullahs.
"This ideology, and the way it is being implemented, resemble Hitler's occupation of Europe, which began in Poland. Hitler's aim in occupying Europe was neither to compel the Poles, the French, or the Belgians to salute him by raising their arms and saying 'Heil Hitler,' nor to have portraits of him and his mistress hung on historical buildings. [Rather,] he occupied Europe so as to use the treasures of [European] countries to build a German empire.
"Iran employs various means [to achieve its goal]: it supports Al-Maliki's party in Iraq; it sends money… to Hizbullah in Lebanon; its ambassador meets with parliamentary candidates and former parliament members of various democratic countries in [Iran's] embassy. And it seeks not so much to revive 'the rule of the jurisprudent' as it seeks to take over these countries and to plunder whatever it can lay its hands on.
"[Iran] purloined Iraq's security [and] stability, thereby redirecting all religious tourism to its own holy sites. It attacked the Ashraf camp [of the Iranian opposition], and sanctioned the killing of the Mojahedeen-e Khalq by the Iraqi regime - rather than [soil] its own hands [with their blood]. [4] Whenever the attention of the international community is drawn to Iran's nuclear reactors, Iran [employs a diversionary tactic] by pitting Hizbullah in Lebanon against Israel."
If Iran Really Seeks To Bring Enlightenment to the World, Why Does It Export the Revolution Only to Its Neighbors?
"Let us assume, tongue in cheek and for the sake of argument, that Iran seeks to spread Islam and tolerance, and to deliver humanity from darkness to light - the Iranian light, of course. Then why does it persist in exporting the Islamic Revolution only to the countries neighboring it, which are Islamic to begin with, or to [other] countries whose population is Muslim? Why doesn't it send its preachers to China, to towns on the banks of the Amazon, or to the African desert?... Don't these towns, deserts, or savannahs need ayatollahs like Akhtari, Ibrahim Al-Ashaiqer Al-Ja'fari, or Mahdi Yahfoufi? [Don't they need] cultural centers and mosques more than Istanbul, that 'mother of mosques,' [5] does?"
Endnotes:
[1] Ayatollah Mohammad Hassan Akhtari is deputy of international affairs in the office of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and former Iranian ambassador to Syria.
[2] Former Iraqi prime minister.
[3] Representative of the Supreme Islamic Council of the Shi'ite Community in Lebanon.
[4] See The MEMRI Blog, "Majlis Committee Member: Iraqi Attack On Mojahedeen-e Khalq Is Welcome," July 30, 2009, http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/18711.htm
[5] Al-Watan (Kuwait), August 23, 2009.
