Opinion

Worse than A’jad

Iranians may soon regard Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s eight-year presidency as “the good old days” — for the man tipped to be imposed as the next president of the Islamic Republic has unveiled a program that could lead to harsher repression at home and more conflict abroad.

He is Saeed Jalili, who has led the Iranian team in nuclear negotiations with the European Union plus Russia, China and the United States.

A surprise last-minute candidate, Jalili is seen as a protégé of “Supreme Guide” Ali Khamenei, who has prevented rival factions from fielding credible candidates in next month’s presidential election.

Jalili, 47, lost a leg fighting in the Iran-Iraq war. Born in Mashad, Iran’s chief “holy” city, he graduated from a religious university with a PhD in theology. His dissertation was on the Prophet Mohammad’s foreign policy — which, according to Jalili, consisted of preparing jihadists for “destroying the empires of the time” and “opening the path for mankind’s conversion to Islam.”

In his first major speech as presidential candidate, Jalili presented “a massive extension of the realm of Islam” as his top priority. “We are determined to uproot the Zionist regime [Israel] and destroy capitalist and communist systems,” he said. “Our aim is to propagate the Islamic system.”

He also claimed there was “no reason why the Islamic Republic should not lead the world’s Muslims in seeking global power.”

Yet the Islam of which Jalili talks is a special brand. Labeled “pure Mohammadan Islam,” it is based on Shiism plus the teachings of the late Ayatollah Khomeini and “Supreme Guide” Khamenei.

“We are in a position to challenge global powers,” Jalili said. “And if anyone says that we are after creating a great empire, we have no problem with that.”

His analysis is based on the belief that the United States is in “historic retreat” and that other Western democracies lack the will to defy Tehran. Iran’s alliance with Russia will help neutralize the United Nations and prevent it from taking action against Iranian ambitions.

Some in Jalili’s camp also believe that the United States and Western European democracies are heading for internal turmoil symbolized by “the revolt of the poor” and tensions caused by “grievances of Muslim and black minorities.”

This week, his supporters held a special ceremony to honor Malcolm Shabazz, the grandson of Black Muslim leader Malcolm X. According to RAJA News, an agency run by Jalili’s camp, Shabazz had converted to Shiism and was “murdered by CIA agents” in Mexico on May 9 as he was preparing to travel to the Iranian holy city of Qom to train as a mullah.

While the foreign-policy section of Jalili’s program is devoted to his plan to destroy Israel and the United States, his domestic program could destroy the lives of many Iranians. He promises “no mercy” to those who dare question Khamenei’s leadership, and promises to create “a new economy based on self-sufficiency and resistance.”

“We should not become slaves of consumerism” he says. “If need be, we could seal the oil wells and live a simple life.”

His code word is “khod-kafa’i” (self-sufficiency) with demands that Iranians tighten their belts to cope with UN, US and EU sanctions.

Ruh-Allah Husseinian, a Jalili adviser, goes further by asserting that Iran should devote its energies to “spreading the rule of Islam” rather than “building an economy.” As he said at a rally last week, “The shah could have turned Iran into a second Japan . . . But what would have been the good of that? We made revolution to protect Islam and go to war against the infidel powers . . .

“We cannot devote our attention to economic issues and forget Palestine,” Husseinian said. “The elimination of Israel has been and remains an aim of our revolution as fixed by Imam Khomeini.”

Jalili and his group could best be described as “the North Koreans of Islam.” Their aim is to build a wall around Iran while waging low-intensity terrorist war against real or imagined foes abroad. The result could be greater misery for the Iranian people.

However, Iranians could still fight back to prevent Khamenei from imposing his protégé. A discredited electoral process shouldn’t be allowed to produce a suicidal administration that could make even Ahmadinejad look sane.