Cleric likens Yemeni president to Saddam
Tehran Times Political Desk

TEHRAN -- Tehran’s Friday prayer leader likened the Yemeni president to Saddam Hussein for massacring his own people.

“The act of Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh is like the act of Saddam and he has turned into ‘Saddam Hussein of the day’,” Kazem Sediqi told worshippers.

Saddam Hussein killed thousands of Shias in southern Iraq in 1991. He also used chemical weapons against the Kurdish population in northern Iraq.

Sediqi said what is happening today in Yemen is a “real genocide” which makes the hearts pain.

He also blasted Saudi Arabia for being an accomplice in cracking down on Yemeni Shias. The cleric also hit out at the Yemen rulers for allowing Saudi Arabia to “commit crimes” in their country.

“Missiles that target houses in Yemen from Saudi are a kind of massacre which goes against human conscience.

“Which government allows outside countries to commit crimes inside its country?” he asked.

The Friday prayer leader asked international organizations including the 53-member Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to confront genocide in Yemen.

Cleric lambasts U.S. sanctions extension on Iran

Cleric Sediqi also denounced the Obama administration for extending sanctions against Iran for another year despite claims by Washington that it is overstretching its hands to Tehran.

The cleric said such acts are indications that the U.S. has “animosity” toward the Iranian nation.

He said hopefully President Obama failed to convince China to join the U.S. in imposing sanctions against Iran “but Obama extended sanctions against Iran once more and this indicates their wild nature.”

The cleric went on to say that the Iranian nation will never give in under any threats or pressures.

He also branded as “simple-minded” those at home who have been defending establishing contacts with the United States.

“(They) think that relations with America create a paradise for us,” he commented, adding relation with the U.S. is not an “honor”.

“They (Americans) said we are ready to establish relations (with Iran) and we said that this relationship must be based on goodwill but you (nation) noticed that those simple-minded persons were mistaken.”

   Print Version     |        Back    |     Send To Friend