TEHRAN Former Iranian president and Chairman of the expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani scoffed here Friday at the still-undecided U.S. presidential election, saying it is God's revenge on a conceited government which has for years been sending electoral observers to other countries under the disguise of democracy to humiliate other nations and governments.
Hojjatoleslam Hashemi Rafsanjani who was addressing thousands of worshipers at the weekly Friday congressional prayer at the compounds of Tehran University here said, "The United States which has always been deriding at the election processes in our countries is now trapped in a political scandal." He pointed to the low turnout in U.S. election and said that electoral fraud is widely seen in the U.S. presidential election.
A Sunday deadline for the final results of the U.S. presidential election may not spell the end to the 17-day drama, as Democrat Al Gore has vowed to contest the results of one Florida County that refused to do a recount.
Political analysts believe the stage is set for more legal wrangling regardless of who is declared winner on Sunday if it is Republican George W. Bush, Gore will challenge the Mimi-Dade results; if Gore wins, Bush will probably contest results in other Florida counties. Because the November 7 race was so close, whoever wins Florida will get all of the state's 25 electoral votes, putting him over the 270 required to win the White House.
Elsewhere in his second sermon remarks, Rafsanjani blasted certain Islamic governments which did not fully sever their relations with the Zionist regime during the recently-concluded summit of the 56-member Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Doha.
He also castigated the American double-standards toward the issue of Palestine.
Rafsanjani called on all Islamic and Arab nations to defend the current Palestinian Intifada (uprising) movement.
The clashes which erupted at the compounds of the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque in September has thus far killed nearly 260, mostly Palestinians.
The Jewish state is not recognized by the Islamic Republic and as the former head of the OIC, Iran called on Muslims to cut all ties with Israel at the OIC Summit in Qatar.
On Wednesday, Iran's Foreign Ministry praised Egypt for recalling its ambassador from Israel in protest against Israeli military strikes on the Palestinians. It also hailed Jordan for deciding to delay sending its newly appointed ambassador to Israel as a gesture of protest.
"These are positive steps in line with recent resolutions of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi said.
"We hope they are a prelude to taking further steps to fully restore the rights of the Palestinian nation," he said.
Rafsanjani questioned whether the American government that has supported the Zionist regime against homeless Palestinians for half a century can rightfully pretend to be concerned about the status of the human rights in other parts of the world.
Addressing himself to the U.S. government and architects of the American politics, he said, "Do not allow yourself into thinking that the silent (sector of the Palestinian) nation are happy with your policies. (They are silent because) you have closed all venues through which they could otherwise vent their anger at you." (IRNA)