Special Dispatch - Iran
January 3, 2002
No. 325

Former Iranian President Rafsanjani on Using a Nuclear Bomb
Against Israel

Every year, in a tradition introduced by the late Ayatollah
Ruhallah Khomenei, Iran marks World Al-Quds (Jerusalem)
Day on the last Friday of the month of Ramadan to show its
solidarity with the Palestinian people. Former Iranian
president and "Expediency Council" Chairman Ali Akhbar
Hashemi Rafsanjani gave the Al-Quds Day sermon on December
14, 2001 at Tehran University, which was attended by
thousands of worshippers. In the sermon, he addressed
solving the problem of Israel with nuclear weapons.

Following are core elements of the speech, as reported in
Iran's English, Farsi and Arabic newspapers.(1) As none of
these sources provided a direct transcript of Rafsanjani's
speech, all style problems can be attributed to the
original Iranian English version which we adhered to:

On Colonialism and Zionism
Rafsanjani said that "global arrogance, led by the U.S. and
U.K.," is responsible for the crimes that the "artificial"
state of Israel has been committing worldwide over the past
half-century. The UN and other segments of the arrogant
world have been supporting Israeli crimes, he said, and,
cautioning against what he called "global arrogance arms
buildup [by the U.S.]" in an attempt to revive the
colonialist era, he asked nations and governments to
prevent colonialism from attaining its goals.

Rafsanjani added: "International Zionism has been the
driving force of this ugly phenomenon; Zionism is divisive;
a century has passed since the onset of Zionism, but not
every Jew is a Zionist, and not all members of the Zionist
party are Jews."

He noted that the Zionist party is still highly active
worldwide, and it is the driving force of important events
taking place in the world in connection with Israel. He
called the disasters that have occurred in the
half-century-old state of Israel an encyclopedia of
colonial crimes. Palestinians are not the only ones to have
suffered from the plan to establish this "forged" Israeli
state; the Jews too are paying the price, he added.

Rafsanjani claimed that the Jews had a place in various
parts of the world, living rather well in each country. But
this phenomenon [Zionism] caused them to take a stance
regarding their religious state and leave their homes,
under pressure and in the name of migration [to Israel].
Jews should wait for a day when this "extraneous matter"
would be removed from the region and the world of Islam,
and those who have gathered together in Israel would one
day be dispersed again.

Rafsanjani stated that the establishment of Israel has
inflicted hundreds of billions of dollars in damage on
states in the region. However, since the essence of the
phenomenon of Israel is colonialist - colonialism benefits
from this fabricated government. Rafsanjani added that
following the end of the official colonialist [era], the
perpetrators of colonialism set out to replace it, examined
various means, and [found that] the most important means
was to create states that were connected by the umbilicus
to colonialism in sensitive areas.

The formation of the Zionist state in the land of Palestine
was a multi-faceted base for colonialism. By this means,
the West rid itself of Zionism, while establishing it in
Palestine. Meanwhile, the colonialists affiliated
themselves with Zionism and the state of Israel so as to
keep them like a tool in their service, even though, for
its own survival, colonialism is itself dependent on
Zionism.

Rafsanjani added that with the formation of Israel,
colonialists created insecurity in the region, exposing
states to threats so as to bring them under the dominion of
colonialism. The survival of Israel depends on the
interests of global arrogance and colonialism, and as long
as this base is beneficial to them, they will preserve it.

Nuclear Weapons Can Solve the Israel Problem
Rafsanjani said that Muslims must surround colonialism and
force them [the colonialists] to see whether Israel is
beneficial to them or not. If one day, he said, the world
of Islam comes to possess the weapons currently in Israel's
possession [meaning nuclear weapons] - on that day this
method of global arrogance would come to a dead end. This,
he said, is because the use of a nuclear bomb in Israel
will leave nothing on the ground, whereas it will only
damage the world of Islam.

Israel, Islamic Jihad, and Liberation of Palestine
Rafsanjani said that it is unlikely that the Palestinian
Jihad will weaken. He explained that the Palestinians have
come to the conclusion that talks [with Israel] are
effective only along with struggle and self-sacrifice - the
two key elements that gave way to the second Intifada. The
Palestinian Jihad is the mother of many Islamic movements,
ranging from the [1979] Islamic Revolution in Iran to
Islamic movements in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Malaysia,
Central Asia, and many other Muslim states. All these
Islamic movements support the Palestinian Jihad and have
not forgotten it. The Palestinian Jihad has its roots in
the homelessness of five million people. Undoubtedly, [this
Jihad's] culmination will be the liberation of Palestine.

Colonialism and the Threat of a Third World War
Rafsanjani added that in its propaganda campaign against
the Palestinian Jihad, colonialism used four tools:
propaganda, violence, deception, and the instrumental
application of the Palestinian Authority. He warned the
agents of world arrogance of the day when they would pay
dearly for the pressure they were applying on the
Palestinian people, as one day these exhausted, pious, and
martyrdom-seeking people would decide to strike at the
vital interests of [global] arrogance everywhere, and they
will do this - it is possible. Rafsanjani advised Western
states "not to let the situation reach this [point] and not
to pin their hopes on Israeli violence [to serve Western
goals] - because it will be very dangerous. We are not
willing to see the security of the world disrupted."

Rafsanjani warned of the outbreak of World War III: "The
confrontation of pious and martyrdom-seeking forces with
the highest forces of colonialism is extremely dangerous,
and might inflame a third world war."

"In the present circumstance," concluded Rafsanjani, "the
world and the region need sobriety on the part of nations
and states, on the one hand, and realism and fairness on
the part of 'arrogant' powers. We hope that problems will
be solved on the side of right, justice, and truth."

Endnote:

(1) Iran News (English), Kayhan (Farsi), and Al-Wifaq
(Arabic), December 15, 2001.

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