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The following are excerpts from an interview with Iraqi MP Iyad Jamal Al-Din, which aired on Alan TV on January 9, 2010.
Iyad Jamal Al-Din: The political parties that are friends with Iran must realize that there is one country called Iraq and another called Iran. Their relations with Iran must not come at the expense of the interests and stability of Iraq. Unfortunately, we did not see an [Iraqi] response on the scale of the Iranian [seizure of the Fakkah oil well]. On the contrary, some Iraqi politicians have volunteered to defend Iran and its measure, without any justification, and without trying to resolve the issue diplomatically. Nobody called to wage a war. We don't have the ability or the will to wage a war, but "suspicion always haunts the guilty mind."
I believe that the issue goes beyond the Fakkah or Majnoun oil wells. The issue is Iraq – whether it is an independent country, or a country under Iranian occupation. In my view, this is the most abominable form of occupation.
The American occupation – if you want to call it that – is evident: There are tanks, there are planes, and there are the UN Security Council resolutions, which enable us to force the US to protect Iraq, in accordance with international law. But with regard to Iran – there is nothing. There are no Iranian tanks at which we can point our finger.
We need to exert an effort to prove the existence of this Iranian occupation. Iran never bears the responsibility for anything. There are people in Iraq who are more eager to defend the policies of the Iranian regime than the Iranians themselves. The [pro-Iranian] Iraqis are much more fanatic than Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Mohammad Khatami, or the reformists in Iran. They could as well be Ahmadinejad's cousins for all their hatred of the [Iranian] reformists. This is very peculiar, because the way I see it, the reformists are Iranian patriots who believe that Iran should come first, unlike the global regime of Ahmadinejad, who protects the oppressed in Venezuela more than the oppressed in Qom.
When it comes to our relations with Iran, what we need is an Iraqi government that does not follow Saddam Hussein's model of defending the "eastern gate" of the Arab nation, but also does not succumb to total spiritual, religious, and ideological submission to the authority of the Jurisprudent Ruler, Imam Khamenei. Some Iranian politicians believe that they can only reach Paradise by obeying Imam Khamenei.
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Interviewer: Why has the Iraqi government not taken an unequivocal position so far? It only demanded that the Iranian forces withdraw [from the oil well], or even just remove the Iranian flag from there. There was no direct and public statement. What is the reason, in your view? Do they fear Iran, or does the government feel awkward about this, with the elections drawing near?
Iyad Jamal Al-Din: No, they are devout people. They do not lie. They are Islamists. The Islamists do not recognize the modern state. They do not recognize the borders between Iraq and Iran, and so on. Their motto is: "God has destroyed the borders they have built." They do not recognize nation states. The Ba'thists believe that there is one country – from Iraq to Morocco. That's why they use terms like the Iraqi "territory" or the Tunisian "territory." They consider it all to be one country, without borders.
The same is true with regard to the Islamists, both Sunnis and Shiites. They too believe that there should be one country – from Indonesia to Nigeria. The Shiite Islamists firmly believe in the Rule of the Jurisprudent. The Jurisprudent Ruler in our times is, obviously, Imam Ali Khamenei.
Interviewer: Is this the reason [the Iraqi government] kept quiet?
Iyad Jamal Al-Din: This is undoubtedly one of the main reasons. They believe in the Rule of the Jurisprudent. They believe that the Jurisprudent Ruler has the divine right to exercise his authorities upon all Muslims, and especially the Shiites, wherever they may be – in Sudan, in Spain, or anywhere, and all the more so in Iraq, which is a neighboring country. The official title of Imam Al-Khamenei is "Guardian of the Muslims." The Guardian of the Muslims should exercise his authorities.
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The crux of the matter is that these people believe in this idea, they believe in this religious outlook, and their religious commitments take precedence over their political commitments. Therefore, they cannot object if Imam Khamenei declares Jihad, for example. It is their religious obligation to bear arms and respond to the call of Imam Khamenei, who must be obeyed, according to Shiite political Islam.
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Iran was the first country to recognize the political process in Iraq, the first country to recognize the Iraqi Governing Council, and the governments that have succeeded it, but the Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian intelligence are working underground in an entirely different fashion. In other words, Iran's treatment of Iraq is two-fold. Iraq's treatment of Iran should also be two-fold. Our foreign ministry should talk in one fashion, and our intelligence agencies should act, Allah willing, in another fashion. As long as Iran does not cease to interfere in the affairs of Iraq, Iraq has several cards up its sleeve it can use against Iran. I advise the Iranians and others who try to harm the Iraqis...
Interviewer: Will you use this "card" if you win the elections?
Iyad Jamal Al-Din: Absolutely, without any hesitation or fear. The first "card" I will use, Allah willing, if I come to power in Iraq, is the card of Mujahideen-e Khalq, and other opposition groups in Iran.
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There are 1, 000 opposition groups in Iran that no one supports – in addition to the domestic reformist movement. There are Arabs, Kurds, Baluchis, and the Turkmens. I know Iran because I lived there for 16 years. I know it as well as I know Iraq – maybe even better. There are many loopholes that any patriotic ruler in Iraq can use. As weak as it is, Iraq can harm Iran twice as much. Double. Two times.
Iran should treat us with respect, just like any country respects other countries, any people respects other peoples, and any culture respects other cultures. But if Iran wants to be the guardian of the Iraqis, and to determine who will enter parliament and who will not – this is something that the Iraqis will not tolerate.
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