Iran's Reaction to President Bush's Statement - 2002-07-14

An Iranian official says President Bush has resorted to outdated and decayed methods to create a rift between the Iranian people and their government. These comments by Hamid Reza Asefi, the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, were made in response to President Bush's remarks regarding public support for the resignation of a dissenting cleric in today's issue of an official newspaper. This cleric has strongly criticized the hardline conservatives in Iran in his resignation letter. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson accused President Bush of interfering in Iran's internal affairs. The English-language Tehran Times reported that President Bush's statements indicate that Washington has become isolated due to its policies in Afghanistan and the Middle East. Iranian reformists have also criticized President Bush's statement. Mohsen Mir-Damadi, the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stated that President Bush's actions hinder the progress of the Iranian reform movement. According to Mr. Mir-Damadi, the Iranian reform movement is fundamentally different from the reforms promoted by American officials. In his statement on Friday, President Bush condemned what he called Iran's uncompromising and destructive policies and urged Tehran's officials to listen to the voices of the Iranian people, who seek the same freedoms and human rights enjoyed by people in other countries. President Bush issued this statement after Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri, a prominent cleric and Friday prayer leader in Isfahan, resigned in protest against the management of the country by religious hardliners. Ayatollah Taheri accused conservative clerics of paralyzing civil and elected institutions in the country in the name of religion.