The USG Open Source Center summarizes the statements of Lebanese Shiite leader Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah concerning what he sees as an American push to set Arab countries against Iran.
Round-up of Middle East Friday Sermons 5 Oct
Middle East — OSC Summary
Sunday, October 7, 2007
. . . At 0738 GMT, the news agency carries a report on the Friday sermon delivered by Scholar Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah at the Imams Al-Hasanayn Mosque in Beirut.
In this Friday sermon, Fadlallah says: “A British newspaper carried a news report on training . . . the United States conducts for some of its allies of the Arab states in preparation for a possible war against Iran. This newspaper quoted some Arab officials as justifying this plan by saying that Iran seeks to consolidate itself as a great regional power, something which necessitates cooperation with the United States on the political level, the exchange of information, and the conduction of joint training exercises.”
Fadlallah adds: “In light of this, we wonder: Do these Arab states have any interest in participating in the declared US war against Iran at a time when everyone knows that the Arab region’s stability and security will not be achieved by the foreign plans which only serve the US strategy of controlling the Islamic region and prevent this region from acquiring means of strength? This is in addition to the fact that if this war breaks out, it will destroy the region and burn all its security and economic resources.”
He says: “We hope that these states will resort to logic and reason and not respond to the US plan in this regard, and search for the elements of the Arab-Iranian confidence, taking into consideration that Iran has continued to stress that it seeks good relations of friendship and neighborliness with the Arab states, that it wants to consolidate its economic interests with them, and that Iran’s power will not be used against its neighbors, but it is a defense force against any aggression by the United States.”
He adds: “The US Administration began to focus on the need to attack the positions of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard instead of the nuclear positions. This is because this administration has failed to convince the US public opinion that Iran poses an imminent nuclear threat.”
Fadlallah says: “The question is: Why the US, European, and some Arab statements are confined to the Iranian interference in Iraq? Why they do not raise the issue of occupation, which turned Iraq into a state of security and terrorist chaos and economic deterioration and forced a large number of Iraqis to leave their country, something whose danger could extend to the entire region, particularly in light of the US Congress’s decision to partition Iraq and to later partition more than one Arab and Islamic state in implementation of the Israeli and arrogant powers’ plan to dismember the entire region?”
Fadlallah criticizes the “enemy foreign minister’s” statements on the peace conference the US President has called for. On the International Jerusalem Day, he calls on the Arabs to draw a plan “to liberate Jerusalem.”
Turning to the Lebanese situation, Fadlallah speaks about “rumors on arming the parties.” He says: “The problem in Lebanon is that the political reality, including its leaders and parties, does not pay attention to the fact that there are starving and deprived people who are destroyed in their feelings, concerns, and fears, especially since the people have become addicted to these human idols which they worship and obey blindly.”
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