Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, an influential clergyman based in Qom, has criticized the fading of values sought by the leaders of the Islamic Republic and said that one senior official believed Iran should be like Lebanon in terms of dress code.
Mr. Mesbah Yazdi, in a meeting with commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said some Iranian officials “are not at all seeking an Islamic country” and some of them, despite their background in religious education, hold views different from Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the former leader of the Islamic Republic, and “those whose hearts are truly aligned with the Imam are very few.”
He said one senior government official during the revolution believed that Ayatollah Khomeini’s influence was beneficial, but he did not have the power to govern the country.
Mr. Mesbah Yazdi added: “Or another one of the officials who currently holds one of the country’s highest positions explicitly said that we want to have a country like Lebanon so that everyone can live and behave as they wish, whoever wants to go out with a chador is free to do so, and whoever wants to be bare is free to do so.”
He did not specify which senior official or officials he was referring to.
Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi has been a harsh critic of Mohammad Khatami, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Hassan Rouhani. Supporters of reformists and moderates launched a campaign against Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi in the recent elections to the Assembly of Experts. Iran’s leader considered Mr. Mesbah Yazdi’s failure to enter the Assembly of Experts as a “loss.”
Mr. Mesbah Yazdi said some Iranian officials “are seeking a country where, in the shadow of America and its support, science and technology can advance and reach somewhere.”
Praising Ayatollah Khamenei, he said everyone should obey the positions of Iran’s leader “without selective interpretation” and “that an individual says ‘the Supreme Leader’ ten times in a speech, but does not believe in the guardianship of the jurist, cannot govern the country correctly.”
Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi made these remarks last week among a group of IRGC commanders, and his official website published these remarks today, Wednesday, 15 Ordibehesht.
Source: BBC Persian
