Ayatollah Khamenei and the 'Enemies' Who Consider Him the Most Radical

Ayatollah Khamenei has attacked rivals and opponents with various accusations and lies in the public sphere and has deprived them of their political participation rights through the Guardian Council. He considers the division and polarization of society solely his right. He labels opponents as 'the dregs left over from the era of imperial dominance', 'big shots', 'seditionists', 'enemy infiltrators', etc., and creates a dichotomy in society around infiltrators and revolutionaries. In a speech on 26 February 2016, he strongly opposed the polarization of society around 'radical' and 'moderate' forces, deeming this dichotomy a creation of enemies. He defended Hezbollah and Basij forces, stating that the enemy regards these forces as radical and extremist. Khamenei has always defended Basij, revolutionary, and Hezbollah forces, asserting that they should dominate all institutions and society (refer to the article 'Ayatollah Khamenei and the Occupation of Embassies: Open Opposition and Unseen Support'). Khamenei's Double Standards On 17 February 2016, in defense of Ayatollah Jannati, Mohammad Yazdi, and Mesbah Yazdi, he claimed: 'An English radio is instructing the people of Tehran to vote for this person, not to vote for that person! What does this mean? The English are longing to interfere in Iran... Now they are instructing people via radio to vote for this person, not to vote for that person... [People] should know what the enemy wants; when you know what the enemy wants, you act against it; it's obvious.' Khamenei, who considers even a couple of articles by Iranians living abroad as interference and influence from England and America in Iran's affairs, himself told the President of Azerbaijan on 23 February 2016: 'The Islamic and Shia beliefs of the people of Azerbaijan are a valuable asset, and the more the government respects and shows goodwill towards these manifestations and religious beliefs of the people, the more the people's support for the government and their resistance against the enmity of some superpowers will increase.' Heydar Aliyev was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan from 1969. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he served as the President of Azerbaijan from 1993 to 2003. After his death, his son Ilham Aliyev has been the President of that country since 31 October 2003. He was also a communist, and if he has abandoned communism, he is a secularist - and probably irreligious. Now Khamenei sectarianly calls him to Shiaism. Is this not interference and influence in the internal affairs of other countries? Does Ilham Aliyev give the slightest importance to Khamenei's words? For example, on 22 November 2015, Khamenei referred to Muhammadu Buhari, the President of Nigeria, as 'a devout Muslim' and considered 'defending the identity of Islam and Muslims a fundamental necessity' that he too must adhere to. After returning to his country on 21 December 2015, the Nigerian president ordered the army to attack Shia Muslims, killing hundreds - according to Islamic Republic officials, more than a thousand. This is also one of the results of Khamenei's orders and interventions in the affairs of other countries. Khamenei, the Symbol of Extremism In his speech on 26 February 2016, Khamenei stated, 'Today, according to them [America and England], I am the most radical.' This means that just as this claim is not true about me, it is also false about the clerics and Hezbollah forces I support. To judge Khamenei's extremism, it is enough to look at his unwavering support for Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi as the ideologue of the Sultan and the clerical regime. Khamenei told members of the Islamic Knowledge Group of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting on 13 March 1991 that in 'Islamic rational and philosophical knowledge', who do we have today at the level of Mr. Mesbah Yazdi? You should definitely use him. In a decree issued in October 1995 for him, he wrote: 'You are one of the lasting blessings of the Qom seminary and one of the figures known for knowledge and action and diligence and innovation.' At a time when Mesbah was theorizing violence in Friday prayers in Tehran and was criticized by critics, Ayatollah Khamenei said about him: 'I have known Mr. Mesbah for nearly forty years and I have a heartfelt admiration for him as a cleric, philosopher, thinker, and expert in fundamental issues of Islam. If God Almighty did not grant our current generation the opportunity to benefit from personalities like Allameh Tabatabai and Martyr Motahhari, but by God's grace, this dear and great personality fills the void of those dear ones among us' (Javan Newspaper, 5 September 1999, p. 2-1). Now, let’s look at just a few of the hundreds of violent and terrorist opinions of Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi to better understand Khamenei. In Friday prayers in Tehran in August 1999, Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, referring to terror, said: 'You must be equipped in such a way that the enemy fears you. I recommend those who are familiar with Arabic literature to see what the equivalent of terror is in foreign languages? If I say tomorrow, the newspapers will headline that this person supports terrorism. In any case, in the Quran, we have a command for severity and terror, for whom? For those who do not understand logic, do not open the way for the guidance of the Prophet, and consciously and out of enmity fight against Islam; with these people, it cannot be said that you follow your religion and we follow ours, let’s live together friendly and peacefully... You must make them feel your harshness and violence' (Gofteh Mesbah, a report on the life and scientific-political positions of Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, Islamic Revolution Documents Center, p. 410). So, a person who does not understand logic must be frightened. Who does not understand logic? It is clear that here the meaning of logic is not the science of logic that the majority of people have not studied, but rather the acceptance of Islam. The next sentence of the speaker conveys this meaning precisely. Because he says that someone who does not open the way for the guidance of the Prophet. Who does not open the way for the Prophet? According to the interpretation of many clerics, offensive jihad is to open the way for Islam. In another Friday prayer, Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi returned to terror and said: 'This issue of frightening the enemy, frightening the transgressor, is a great wisdom that Muslims and policymakers should keep in mind' (Gofteh Mesbah, p. 411). If his intention was the implementation of laws by the government, there would be no need for such speech. He says Muslims must consider the wisdom of frightening transgressors. In another Friday prayer, he speaks more explicitly: 'If it is said, 'Preserve the spirit of the martyrs and the spirit of Navab Safavi within you,' it does not mean that you should go kill people, but the existence of this spirit, that the enemy knows that if he claims prophethood, he will suffer the fate of Kasravi, is important... But with a spirit of tolerance and leniency, when our zeal has been taken and we have been made spineless and indifferent, even if they make a clear command, no one will come to the scene' (Gofteh Mesbah, pp. 440-439). On 1 September 2000, Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi told students that Kasravi claimed prophethood and Navab Safavi came to Iran for this reason. When he was sure that he was an apostate, he executed God's command regarding him. He then added: 'This is the duty of anyone who has religious zeal; I said, 'The blood of Navab Safavi, what I expressed was that the blood of Navab Safavi flows today in the veins of our Basijis.' Yes, in this sense, I promoted him, and if conditions truly arise that are similar to those of that time, and the conditions are exactly similar to that movement, the same movement of Navab must be carried out... When the laws of Islam are in danger and people mislead and come like Kasravi claiming prophethood, the same action that Navab did must be done now; the ruling is the same now' (Gofteh Mesbah, pp. 430-429). Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi said on 1 May 1999 that if believers encounter 'propaganda, articles, speeches, and books and magazines that are contrary to Islam and public morality and the interests of the country', they must refer to the officials of the Islamic Republic. If they do not investigate, it is obligatory for the individual to act personally (Gofteh Mesbah, pp. 436-435). In his view, the value of belief is greater than the value of human beings, and humans must be sacrificed for belief, not that belief serves humans. He says: 'Where Islam is in danger, even if thousands are killed, it is appropriate; they must be' (Gofteh Mesbah, p. 437). 'Insulting the sanctities of Islam is punishable by death. And where it is not possible to form a court for such a person, every Muslim is obliged to act personally... We consider Islam a thousand times more precious than our lives and property and those of our children' (Gofteh Mesbah, pp. 442-441). The theorizing of violence is not limited to Mesbah Yazdi; other court/royal clerics (Ayatollah Jannati, Mohammad Yazdi, Alamolhoda, Ahmad Khatami, Ali Fallahian, Sadegh Larijani, etc.) have also engaged in and continue to engage in this practice. Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi has also said regarding the command to enjoin good: 'We are in an era where Western and atheistic culture has spread in Islamic societies, and if enjoining good is done in an authoritative manner, we will hear in response, 'What does it have to do with you? I am free and can do whatever I want; if they do not disrespect the forbiddance or beat him, at least they will say it does not concern you; in these years, we have seen examples that led to the killing of the enforcer.' The Islamic Consultative Assembly is simultaneously preparing a 'Protection of Chastity and Hijab' bill and intends to turn it into law. Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi has also spoken about hijab and enjoining good and preventing people from going to hell, saying: 'When we know that God is not pleased with the hijab of some people and the heart of Imam Zaman is bleeding, we must work to please the heart of the Imam. All of us, when we see someone injured on the street, feel sad without knowing who he is; the one who sins is in a worse condition than that injured person, we should not be satisfied that a person burns in the fire of hell with his sin; therefore, out of compassion and with a specific tone, we must make him aware.' Khamenei in his speech on 26 February 2016, while criticizing the labeling of Hezbollah forces and himself as 'radicals', warned enemies: 'They also call ISIS radical; is ISIS radical? ISIS is deviant; deviant from Islam, deviant from the Quran, deviant from the straight path. We do not have radicals in this sense. They should pay attention to the language that the enemy uses and the specific meaning they have in mind; we should not repeat it.' Whether ISIS is radical or 'deviant from Islam, the Quran, and the straight path', are the legal opinions of Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, Mohammad Yazdi, Jannati, Sadegh Larijani, Ahmad Khatami, Alamolhoda, and other clerics appointed by the leader not similar to the legal opinions of ISIS? Does ISIS not promote and implement legal opinions other than those of Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi? When Ayatollah Khamenei defends the opinions of Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi to this extent, he should not be surprised that others consider him 'the most radical'. Considering rivals and opponents as American and British infiltrators is also a pillar of 'clerical ISIS-ism'.