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Iranian mullahs dragged Islam into `political gutter`: Powell
New York, Nov 11: US Secretary of State Colin Powell delivered a surprisingly sharp attack on Iran`s conservative religious leadership, bluntly accusing them of sullying Islam for political means.
New York, Nov 11: US Secretary of State Colin
Powell delivered a surprisingly sharp attack on Iran's
conservative religious leadership, bluntly accusing them of
sullying Islam for political means.
In a speech yesterday to the city college of New York focused on US efforts to promote democracy in the Arab and Muslim world, Powell said the "hidebound" mullahs would not be able to deny the Iranian people their desire for reform. "The Iranian people want their freedom back, of this there can be no doubt," he said at a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of us statesman and diplomat Ralph Bunche. "They do not want to banish Islam from their lives, far from it," Powell said. "They want to be free from those who have dragged the sacred garments of Islam into the political gutter.
"They have been imprisoned for wanting this, they have been gagged for wanting this, they have been intimidated and threatened for wanting this, some have already died for wanting this," he said.
Powell noted that despite crackdowns on pro-reform students and media, tens of thousands of Iranians, many of them women, had turned out to greet Iranian Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi when she returned home last month.
"The hidebound clerics of Iran know what it means too," he said. "Should they be worried? Does morning follow night? They should be."
Bureau Report
In a speech yesterday to the city college of New York focused on US efforts to promote democracy in the Arab and Muslim world, Powell said the "hidebound" mullahs would not be able to deny the Iranian people their desire for reform. "The Iranian people want their freedom back, of this there can be no doubt," he said at a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of us statesman and diplomat Ralph Bunche. "They do not want to banish Islam from their lives, far from it," Powell said. "They want to be free from those who have dragged the sacred garments of Islam into the political gutter.
"They have been imprisoned for wanting this, they have been gagged for wanting this, they have been intimidated and threatened for wanting this, some have already died for wanting this," he said.
Powell noted that despite crackdowns on pro-reform students and media, tens of thousands of Iranians, many of them women, had turned out to greet Iranian Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi when she returned home last month.
"The hidebound clerics of Iran know what it means too," he said. "Should they be worried? Does morning follow night? They should be."
Bureau Report