Ayatollah Rafsanjani delivered a powerful sermon at Friday prayers today at Tehran University. See more pictures from this important event below.
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Dear All,
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Today close to a million Iranians attended the Friday prayer at which the ex-Iranian President Mr. Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was to deliver the sermon. Well, I listened to all of almost 65 minutes of his speech and can tell you this: The Old Man of the Islamic Republic Delivers!
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I did not think I would ever be sending you an image of Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani in these windows. But he paid his dues today and may indeed have earned the forgiveness of many a skeptic in Iran. By the time he finished his Friday sermon, the crowds were chanting “Hashemi, may God protect you!” to which he replied “May God protect YOU so you stay present in the arena of Iranian politics.”
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Hashemi Rafsanjani delivered big time today for the Green Movement. After his sermon today, the crowd chanted: "Hashemi, May God Protect You!"
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Rafsanjani’s Speech
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* Mr. Rafsanjani spoke about 65 minutes. He was calm, articulate, slightly emotional at times, but as confident as always.
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* At some point toward the end when the crowd chanted anti government slogans, he said half jokingly “let me say it, I am doing it better than you.”
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* Most important chants of today were: “Down with the dictator” and ”We will not abandon Mousavi.” When an official prompted the crowd to chant “Death to America” they responded with “Death to Russia” alluding to the fact that Russia supported Mr. Ahmadinejad after the faulty election.
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Mr. Rafsanjani’s Main Points
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* He started with the story of Prophet Mohammad’s mission and his basic reliance on the people’s presence and participation.
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* He used examples to show that Khomeini emphasized the role of the people in governance above other sources of power including military force.
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* He described the early stages of the election campaigns as a great success, especially since people’s participation was tremendously high. But then it was mishandled from the last days prior to the election.
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* People’s trust in the current government is seriously undermined.
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* We are in a state of crisis. Just as the Islamic aspect of the ”Islamic Republic” is important so is the “Republic.” If we abandon it we will fail.
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* A government not wanted by its people cannot function.
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Lets take a break from the analysis of Rafsanjani's sermon for a second and take another look at the crowd at event (above). It is reported that close to one million Iranians turned out for Rafsanjani's sermon/rally at Tehran University. See link below for many more pictures from the sermon/rally.
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Mr. Rafsanjani’s Suggestions
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* Open the state run media to the protesters to speak freely and with no censorship.
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* Act within the limits of the law.
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* Address the public distrust in the accuracy and fairness of the election and really look into the way the election was conducted.
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* Free all political prisoners
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* Persian speaker friends who like to listen to the full presentation by Mr. Rafsanjani can go to: http://www.khandaniha.eu/items.php?id=794.
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Pictures from Today
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* For all of you to get a view of today I have put together a slide show of images collected by a good friend, Kowsar Jamshidi. Kowsar is a talented photographer but tells me these are not her own pictures. Please click here: Pictures from July 17th Friday Prayer Rally.
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*There are tons of images of today’s demonstrations on you tube. Here is one video compilation:
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Good Night,
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Fatemeh
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Fatemeh Keshavarz, Professor and Chair
Dept. of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures
Washington University in St. Louis
Honorary Co-Chair, Iranians For Peace
Tel: (314) 935-5156
Fax: (314) 935-4399
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