Iran’s Ahmadinejad: Sharon dead and “others to follow suit”

Iran Focus: Tehran, Jan 05 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a crowd of theological students in the holy city
of Qom on Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon “has joined his ancestors and others will soon follow suit”, according to the state-run Mehr news agency. Iran Focus

Tehran, Jan 05 – Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a crowd of theological students in the holy city of Qom on Thursday that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon “has joined his ancestors and others will soon follow suit”, according to the state-run Mehr news agency.

“The Butcher of Sabra and Shatila has joined his ancestors and others will soon follow suit”, Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying. The same report appeared on the website Khedmat, which is run by members of the Iranian president’s entourage.

Ahmadinejad’s announcement of the death of the Israeli Prime Minister comes at a time when Sharon was reportedly fighting for his life on Thursday after a massive brain stroke.

Iran’s state-owned media and newspapers have been reporting the Israeli leader’s deteriorating health condition with evident glee. In a statement put out by state-run news agencies, the Headquarters for the Commemoration of Martyrs of the Global Islamic Movement said “the death of Sharon brings joy to the hearts of Muslims”.

The ultra-conservative president told the radical Shiite Islamists, many of whom have come to Qom from different Muslim countries, that Islam did not restrict itself to geographical borders.

“We must believe in the fact that Islam is not confined to geographical borders, ethnic groups and nations. It’s a universal ideology that leads the world to justice”, Ahmadinejad said.

“We don’t shy away from declaring that Islam is ready to rule the world”, he added.

Ahmadinejad dwelled on his recurrent theme that the return of the Shiite Messiah, the Mahdi, is not far away and Muslims must prepare for it.

“We must prepare ourselves to rule the world and the only way to do that is to put forth views on the basis of the Expectation of the Return”, Ahmadinejad said, referring to the Shiite Muslim belief that the Mahdi, on his return, will establish justice in a world consumed by chaos and corruption.

“If we work on the basis of the Expectation of the Return [of the Mahdi”>, all the affairs of our nation will be streamlined and the administration of the country will become easier”, Ahmadinejad said.

“Some politicians think we had a revolution so that some could hit others in the head and have one party ruling for some time and another party in opposition for some time. But we had a revolution to achieve a lofty goal, on the basis on the Expectation of the Return”, he said.

Ahmadinejad said Divine Providence was helping Iran’s Islamist regime, as the turn of events around the world picked up speed.

“Our interpretation is that the hand of the Almighty is putting every piece of the jigsaw puzzle of the future of the world in place in line with the goals of Islam”, the hard-line president said.

Ahmadinejad cited the United States occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, both Iran’s neighbours, as proof of his assertion.

“The Global Oppressor [the U.S.”> occupied these countries with the aim of putting pressure on Iran, but God let the fruit of this fall on the lap of the Iranian nation”, he said.