Inside look
Commemorating Khomeini's legacy in changing the fabric of Western influence in the heart of the Middle East

Javad Fakharzadeh
June 4, 2007
iranian.com

I visited Iran for the first time since 1977 and could feel this atmosphere from within. It is quite different from the Western perspective.

As a starter, today is the anniversary of the death of Emam Khomeini; the founder of Islamic Republic of Iran. It is a national holiday in Iran. In fact all government offices, banks, schools and some businesses are closed in Iran for most of this week.

Iran's media have been busy broadcasting Khomeini's messages all week and is full of commentaries about the late leader. In fact, this event has been well organized in advance and you could see Khomeini's images, messages all over the capital and cites across Iran for the past several weeks. Such event is not propagated in the western media for obvious reasons.

Although many disagree with his harsh treatment of intellectuals during his reign, nevertheless, we have to accept that Khomeini was the man behind the 1979 revolution overthrowing the Shah's regime which was fully supported by the Zionists, Israel and the US and their allies. Their direct influence/interests have vanished not only in Iran, but also drastically decreased in the entire Middle East.

I visited Khomeini's shrine a week ago using the newly built advanced underground metro, one of the most modern I have seen in the world. The shrine is well-designed with a huge parking area surrounded by open area for prayers that can easily accommodate well over a million visitors around the shrine. I paid a visit to the shrine and saw many Azaris,Tajik, Baloochis, Afghan, Iraqis, Kurds and Arabs.

As a footnote, I could not see a single graffiti anywhere inside the metro. This is an indicative of people's respect to this highly popular means of transportation, easing city traffic. It's been stated that the government is planning to expand the metro to triple the size to cope with demand.

This week, millions of people are traveling from all over Iran (and the Middle East?) to Khomeini's shrine just south of Tehran to commemorate his legacy in changing the fabric of Western influence in the heart of the Middle East. You would not hear or read today's big event in any Western media for obvious reason in order to down-play the huge movement underway in Iran in an attempt to change the world political atmosphere to justify anti-Iran propaganda and the possible subsequent military strike against Iran. This is the essence of Zionist inner ploy and an attempt to quell and suppress Iran's independence.

Although much improvements are needed across Iran's political, economical and social spectrum to improve the standard of living of the vast majority of the people, but these changes must come from within and without any outside direct force or confrontations; e.g., US-Israel-UK imposed mandates or regime change as prescribed by the neo-cons and/or the Zionists. Comment