Wednesday
March 28, 2001
Saving Persepolis
I was reading an article by Alireza Nourizadeh who has written extensively
on the hidden and bloody hands of the Iranian Mafia, in the murder of opponents
of the Islamic regime. Then I saw a recent biography by Sadegh Khalkahli,
the infamous killer of many of the Shah's close associates and of innocent
people who were killed upon his order.
I remember a sentence he uttered shortly after the revolution while
execution orders had taken place and realizing that many innocent people
had died, when he said, " Well, they will go to heaven if they were
innocent!" Such were the crimes committed then and ironically today
a man like Khalkhali is considered one of the country's reformists!
The face of reform is now obvious to everyone. How could Khalkhali,
who's hands were stained with the blood of so many innocent lives, all
of a sudden change overnight and become an advocate of reform? We are not
fools anymore. People remember Khalkahli very well. His idiotic face is
not forgotten.
I also came across another paragraph in the same article by Nourizadeh
and became extremely proud. The same Khalkhali and the thugs around him,
all followers of the Navab Safavi movement, the brothers in arm of the
Taliban in Afghanistan, attempted to destroy Persepolis in Shiraz. It was
only a few weeks after the revolution when Nosratollah Amini had become
the governor of Fars.
After hearing of the attempt against Persepolis, Amini, who had been
a member of the National Front during the days of Mossadegh and his personal
lawyer, called upon the security forces in Fars, and in a show of force,
threw out the humiliated invaders headed by Khalkhali.
Nosratollah Amini said the destruction of the beloved Persepolis would
be possible over his dead body. And he saved this most historic and ancient
remnant of our ancestors. I am extremely proud to be the daughter of such
a man.
The Khalkhalis are still around, so are the Taliban who have been destroying
ancient statues in Afghanistan. But Persoplis is still standing tall and
so are the people of Iran. They have not given up. Thank you dear father.
Fariba Amini
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