Khameini: Iran will never abandon Hamas, Haniyeh

[shira]

Khamenei: Iran will never abandon Hamas, Haniyeh

By Natasha Mozgovaya and the Associated Press

Iran's supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said yesterday his country will stand beside Gaza's Hamas rulers and that Israel is on the path to destruction. According to Iranian state-run television, Khamenei called the Hamas' prime minister in the Gaza Strip, Sheikh Ismail Haniyeh, a "mojahed," or soldier of holy war, saying the Iranian nation will "never let you be alone."

It also quoted him as saying Israel's Zionist regime is moving toward weakness, destruction and defeat and that the current generation of Palestinians will see "that great day."

Khamenei, who was speaking at prayers marking the Muslim Eid el Fitr holiday, has predicted Israel's downfall in the past, as has Iran's hard-line President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Khamenei has repeatedly called Israel a cancerous tumor that need to be removed from the Middle East.

<snip>
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1025594.html

[shira]

1. exploding myths

So much for those who say Ahmadinejad's rants don't account for much since he is not the supreme leader and lacks such power. Looks like he's doing just fine being Khameini's vile mouthpiece.

So much for those who say Hamas (or the PA) isn't really supported by Iran. The support was there with the Karine-A back in Arafat's days at least 6-7 years ago.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/paship.html

For those wondering about the Gaza sea blockade and Gazan "fishermen":

Iran still smuggling weapons into Gaza by sea (April 2008):
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1208422633228

[amdezurik]

2. And?

so the only allowed religion is the one you approve of? And it's A-OK for us to shovel our tax dollars, weapon systems and nuke technology to a state in that area that has shown itself not above committing war crimes and breaking international laws itself? The idea that there is innocence in any state there is pure bullshit.

[Igel]

3. There's this funny fiction in some circles

that Shi'a ans Sunni can never cooperate, as a matter of higher religious conviction.

Then there's another fiction that Iran is a non-player, that it is fully innocent and all the ME machinations so any attempt to say it's bad is part of something akin to a conspiracy and unjust calumny. Part of that rests upon believing that when Neejad rants and raves, he's just a completely powerless figurehead that a sweet, tolerant Khamenei can't bestir himself to silence, or that Neejad's ranting and raving is consistently mistranslated in the world possible way by Iranian translators, both in the government and in the media.

[azurnoir]

4. Who has said Iran is a "nonplayer"?

Well except for claims such as yours? Iran is most definitely a player however is Iran developing a nuclear bomb so it can nuke Tel Aviv? Again I must ask what would be the end result of such an act for Iran, ditto Iran supplying Hamas or Hezballah with such a weapon even in a smaller form. Are we to believe that Iran is suicidal as a nation?