Imam Khameni's View of Egypt

31 January 2011 - 20:30

News ID: 223709

• Egyptian Nation Will Not Tolerate Treachery of its Leaders

"The US is making a mistake. By assembling Arab governments around the negotiation table to conduct such disgraceful talks, the US is intensifying the hatred of the people of those countries towards their governments. Are the people of Arab countries prepared to let their leaders sell the homeland of the Palestinian nation to others? If, God forbid, the leaders of those countries reach such an agreement, the gap between them and their people will be widened. This will further infuriate their people. It will make the Egyptian nation more furious. That wretched Egyptian travels to the US like a beggar to complain about Iran, to another wretched person who himself holds more grudges against Iran than the complainer.

Why do you complain about Iran? Complain about Islam! Complain about your Muslim nation! If that person is supposed to complain about anyone, it is the Egyptian nation that he has to complain about. The Egyptian nation is a Muslim nation. The Egyptian nation has an Islamic background. The Egyptian nation has achieved great honors on the path of Islamic struggle and promoting innovative Islamic thoughts. The Egyptian nation is a valorous nation. There is no doubt that this nation will not tolerate the treachery of its leaders and will confront them.

What does the conflict in Egypt have to do with us? We are happy wherever Muslim people are wakened. We are happy wherever Muslim people clench their fists against the enemies of their religion. We are unhappy and feel responsible wherever Muslim people are beaten. But we are not there to get engaged and wake up a nation such as the Egyptian nation to its duties.

The Egyptian nation has gained a correct understanding. It is based on this correct understanding that the Egyptian youth have stood against a government that is betraying Islamic ideals, the ideals of the Palestinian nation and the destiny of Islamic countries. This has nothing to do with us. This is where they are being mistaken. They are mistaken in that they cannot understand the power and influence of Islam."

Part of a speech delivered by the Supreme Leader to Hajj officials on April 28, 1993

• Muslims were in Isolation

"In Africa, Asia and the Middle East, there are many Islamic countries in which different governments have been in charge. But in all those places, Muslims have been in isolation. For instance, in a country like Iraq, a royal regime was in power. After that, another regime assumed power. That regime collapsed too and it was replaced by another group of people.

This happened again until the Ba'athi regime came to power. In all these exchanges of power, it was Muslims whose empty place was felt. The majority of the people of Iraq are Muslims. But in those developments, there was no trace of their presence. Or imagine a country like Egypt. Of course, in that country there was a society called the Society of the Muslim Brothers. A development took place as a result of which the royal regime collapsed.

After the collapse of the royal regime, a republican and revolutionary regime came to power whose prominent figure was Abdel Nasser. After Abdel Nasser, another person came to power. Then, that person left too and was replaced by another man. During all this time - of course, prior to the victory of the Islamic Revolution - all the developments took place without the presence of the Islamic movement and Islamic elements. Islamic elements had no power at all. At the beginning of the revolution in Egypt, Islamic elements played an influential role. But as soon as the new government was formed, they disregarded the Islamic elements. Some of them were imprisoned, some of them were killed, and some others were dispensed with. Even here, Islam had no presence."

Part of the Supreme Leader's Friday prayer sermons on the 3rd day of the month of Ramadan in the year 1415

• Like the yell that the Iranian nation let out...

"In Egypt a number of young Muslims, a number of Muslim people stand up and shout Islamic slogans, and there is no relationship between them and our people - in terms of ordinary human relationships. But their slogans are so close to our slogans that their wretched and disgraced President says, "These people have been provoked by Iran!" What do we have to do with them? They are Muslims, and they shout Quranic slogans on their own. It is they themselves who feel that they should speak and yell for the sake of God and move forward on the path of God. This is just like the yell that the Iranian nation let out against America and against global arrogance and tyranny during the time of taghut [government not sanctioned by God], and it still lets out this yell."

Part of a speech delivered on November 18, 1992 in a meeting with Basij commanders from across the country

• Shia and Sunni, no different to global arrogance

"To global arrogance, which is opposed to the essence of Islam, Shia and Sunni make no difference. We see how global arrogance pressures Sunni revolutionaries in Palestine and Egypt. These revolutionaries are not Twelver Shia. They are our Sunni brothers. You see how much pressure they exert on these revolutionaries. It does not make any difference to global arrogance. Although global arrogance is opposed to any form of Islam, Islamic denomination and Islamic Ummah, sometimes it sides with one Islamic denomination and makes efforts and spends money against another Islamic denomination. We need to be vigilant."

Part of a speech delivered on December 26, 1989 in a meeting with a group of clerics

• Torturing Muslim groups in Egypt

"Muslim groups which rise up to defend Islam are easily pressured, tortured and imprisoned by the leaders of those countries, and global powers support these governments. This is true of Egypt today. This is also true of many other countries in the world."

Part of a speech delivered on November 15, 1989 in a meeting with a large number of disabled war veterans and families of martyrs and POWs

• America's support for the dependent Egyptian government

"In Egypt Muslim generations are violently and furiously persecuted by the corrupt and incompetent regime of that country. And the dependent and degraded government of that great country receives encouragement and financial and security support from America."

Part of a message to hajj pilgrims on May 18, 1992

• The people of Egypt love the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household

"Today in Egypt the mosque "Ra's al-Hussayn" - in which they believe Imam Hussein's head is buried - is the gathering place of the emotions of the Egyptian people who love the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household. The Egyptian nation is a good nation. I am not speaking about that great country's regime. The Egyptian people love the Holy Prophet's (s.w.a.) household."

Part of a speech delivered on June 16, 1992 in a meeting with Islamic scholars, seminarians and clerics

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