Prayers Without Chants of Death to America

Rooz Online

Following the historic telephone conversation between the presidents of Iran and the US last week, which was welcomed even by some Majlis representatives close to the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), there is some talk to stop the “Death to America” chants from official events such as the weekly congregational Friday prayer gatherings.

After ayatollah Khomeini’s grand-daughter Naimeh Eshraghi and prominent university professor and political commentator Sadegh Zibakalam associated with the Hezbe Kargozaran party (Agents of Reconstruction) called for ending the Death to America chants in Iran, Isfahan’s Friday prayer imam yesterday spoke of this chant being “un-Quranic” said it should be eliminated.

As reported in Fararoo website, Mohammad Taghi Rahbar, the temporary Friday prayer imam of the city of Isfahan who is viewed as a conservative and traditional cleric who for years was the head of the Majlis clerics caucus said, “For some time we used to chant Death to the Soviet Union and if the relations with America become similar to those with Russia and America shows good will towards us, this issue will also be resolved. There is no Quranic verse that we must always chant Death to America and just like we used to do with the Russians in those days and eventually stopped chanting that slogan, we will be dealing with America in the same light.”

He continued, “It is not right to present the image that our problems with America have been solved with a few talks and expect our relations with it to be on the correct path. Because, either the US must stop acting on its principles or the Islamic republic do it, which is not possible because the US considers Israel its red line not to be crossed and we believe and follow the goal that the imam (ayatollah Khomeini) declared that Israel must be eliminated from the earth. America has an arrogant and hegemonic nature so we must not be very optimistic about (a change in) it but we can reduce the tensions and sensitivities without changing our principles and engage in soft diplomacy to reduce the tensions. And as the supreme leader has said, we cannot trust the US but since they have interests in the world which with a reduction in tension can reduce its inflictions of harm. These problems have to be solved with political smiles so solve a series of issues and so that the US reduces its sanctions against the Iranian people. The US has been interfering in Iran for the last 50 years and must apologize for this. At the same time, we must direct our relations towards what Switzerland and Sweden have done and have relations with others.”

He then turned his remarks to Israel and said, “America and Israel are different, one is a creditable country in the world while Israel is a cancerous tumor and anti Islamic. We do not reject the US, similar to what Mr. Obama said that they are not after toppling the Islamic republic. We can establish relations through softness. Of course we must bear in mind that the road is long until contacts turn into relations and ambassadors are exchanged. Iran in general must not retreat from its positions. The new policy is the policy of reduction (of tensions).”

In contrast to this view, Raja News, posted an article by Basiji web blog under the name of Noor al-Anvar, which takes the opposite view. “When my father asked me yesterday to go to the Friday congregational prayer I refused saying that these events no longer carry political weight. I will stay at home and perform the religious ritual, I told him. Other events such as 13 Aban (the day the US embassy was taken over) and others are coming, what should I go and say there? I have decided to act like the Japanese after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima to observe international norms and just remain silent for a few seconds, as a way to think of our interests,” he said.

He continued, “We are not paws in the hands of politicians, so they can dictate which way to turn. Now that we are unnecessarily abandoning the Death to America slogan, what is the point in chanting it in Friday prayer events while others go start a friendship with them? Now that the views of at least half Iranians who believe in the imam’s goals and those of the martyrs in politics are disregarded I too will leave this field and like my father and other relatives depart so that everyone realizes whether the regime will be preserved this way or through chants of Allaho Akbar and Death to America.”

In a related development, Sadegh Zibakalam wrote a piece in Shargh newspaper in which he said, “The problem that principlists are making is that they think that tension between the US and Iran is eternal. And contrary to their views relaxation of tensions between the two is appearing. It is now sometime since the educated layers of Iranian society no longer value animosity between Iran and the US. Rather than worrying whether Hassan Rowhani will succeed in reducing the tensions between the US and Iran, extreme principlists should be worried about the unattractiveness of the Death to America slogan and the reduction of animosity with the West and the US as a value of the new generation of Iranians. So even if we assume that Rowhani’s efforts fail like those of his predecessors, Khatami and Rafsanjani, what are the principlists doing to do with the new generation that does not believe in animosity with the US?”

Also, Naimeh Eshraghi, the granddaughter of the founder of the Islamic republic ayatollah Khomeini, posted this message on her Facebook page: “Remove the chant of Death to America from the official chants of the country and Friday prayer announcements. This is not a gesture of support for American policies but an honor in entering the world of new diplomacy and peaceful and heroic talks.”