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Iranian Islamic scholar Mohammad-Taghi Akbarnejad said in an interview posted on Azad TV on YouTube (Iran) August 10, 2024, that the Iranian regime is not fulfilling the goals and promises of the Islamic Revolution. He said that Iran has lost without firing a single bullet by losing its people. Akbarnejad said that Iran has taken an entire people hostage for the sake of religion. He added that the regime tells the people that they will remain hostages so long as America exists. Akbarnejad stated that the public in Iran feels that it has been taken hostage by Palestine, and therefore most Iranians were not saddened by the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Mohammad-Taghi Akbarnejad: "The Islamic Republic has lost without firing a single bullet. A government, a country, or a regime loses when it has lost its people. You see? The USSR had several times more weaponry than we do. You cannot even compare the two. It had an army, missiles, and planes, but it lost even though the U.S. did not fire a single bullet.
"The Islamic Republic has duplicated the [Soviet] tension-creating policies. It confronted its own public, and therefore, has lost it.
"This is no longer the first year after the Revolution, nor the first five years, or the first decade. Forty-five years have passed since the Revolution. You have reached power with a whole lot of slogans.
"You said that you would reduce the social class differences. Has this happened? You said that you would give the people respect and spirituality, and that they would reach human perfection. Has our country become more monotheistic? Mr. Khomeini said that he would not have the same authorities the Shah had, and this is recorded in the pages of history. Has this happened?
"You said: We would uproot poverty. Has this happened? The public no longer accepts these things from us. You had this country, which is a rich country, at your disposal for 45 years. Seven to nine percent of the world's resources are located in this country. You had a rich country at your disposal, and with all these slogans you have mobilized us to the streets.
"Now, after 45 years, you are saying 'if' and 'but'? The chance you had is over. Today is the day that the Islamic Republic must be held accountable to the people. The insistence on justifying what was done in the past – deeds that stem from turning our leaders into idols – does not serve our leaders, the Islamic Republic, or the people.
"The only way to get out of the current situation, is to own up to our mistakes, and take the first U-turn ahead. Even if the regime would not admit that it was wrong, but it would actively show that it changes course, in keeping with the people's will and interests, but it would ask the public not to badmouth Mr. Khomeini – I would happily accept this. This is what China did. What is doing is the complete opposite of what Mao did, yet the statues of Mao are still in the city squares in China.
"What way is left for the people to tell the regime that they do not agree to its strategy and conduct with regard to Palestine? My colleague has made a good point with which I agree. He said that if the world leaves us alone for 20 years, everybody will see what progress we can make.
"Let's put ourselves in the other side's place. When you decide that your main policy is to eradicate it, why do you expect it to give you 20 years? You say that the other side should be erased from the face of the Earth. Day and night, after each and every prayer, you say, 'Death to America!' Death to this, death to that…And you still complain why the world does not give you a chance?
"True, Israel is oppressive, but it exists, and that's a fact. It is a modern power, a modern country. You are saying that you do not want it to exist, and our Leader says at each opportunity that he wants to arm [Israel's enemies]. We are fighting them so openly. We are talking about their very existence, not about one or two issues of contention. You say that [Israel] should not exist at all. This is very significant. Let us consider this. And after that, we complain that they don't leave us alone.
"We have taken the [Iranian] people hostage. I swear to God, I feel ashamed facing our people. In the name of religion, we have taken an entire nation hostage. We tell our people that so long as America exists, they will remain hostage, and that's it. I sense that our public feels it has been taken hostage by Palestine. Our public is Palestine's hostage. This is why most of the people were not saddened by the killing of Mr. Haniyeh. Many other disasters have not saddened them… This is shameful and very bad, but we have made people who were staunchly supportive of Palestine before the Revolution, feel that they are sick and tired."
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