« Email From Iraq: In Service To The Queen | Main | Iran Website Shows Videos Of Islamic Republic of Iran Interrogations Done On Prisoners »

November 28, 2004

Iran Group Signs Up Suicide Volunteers

Sun Nov 28, 2 hours,  59 minutes ago, AP Middle East report:

TEHRAN, Iran - The 300 men filling out forms in the offices of an Iranian aid group were offered three choices: Train for suicide attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq for suicide attacks against Israelis or to assassinate British author Salman Rushdie.

It looked at first glance like a gathering on the fringes of a society divided between moderates who want better relations with the world and hard-line Muslim militants hostile toward the United States and Israel.

But the presence of two key figures -- a prominent Iranian lawmaker and a member of the country's elite Revolutionary Guards -- lent the meeting more legitimacy and was a clear indication of at least tacit support from some within Iran's government.

Since that inaugural June meeting in a room decorated with photos of Israeli soldiers' funerals, the registration forms for volunteer suicide commandos have appeared on Tehran's streets and university campuses, with no sign Iran's government is trying to stop the shadowy movement.

On Nov. 12, the day Iranians traditionally hold pro-Palestinian protests, a spokesman for the Headquarters for Commemorating Martyrs of the Global Islamic Movement said the movement signed up at least 4,000 new volunteers.

Mohammad Ali Samadi, the spokesman, told The Associated Press the group had no ties to the government.

(However, Backspin reported on June 8 that Samadi was quoted as saying that the committee awaited permission from Iran's 'supreme leadership' before dispatching bombers. That sounds as though the government of Iran has something to do with the dispatching of suicide bombers.)

And Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters recently that the group's campaign to sign up volunteers for suicide attacks had "nothing to do with the ruling Islamic establishment."

"That some people do such a thing is the result of their sentiments. It has nothing to do with the government and the system," Asefi said.

Yet despite the government's disavowal of the group and some of its programs, there are indications the suicide attack campaign has at least some legitimacy within the government.

The first meeting was held in the offices of the Martyrs Foundation, a semiofficial organization that helps the families of those killed in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war or those killed fighting for the government on other fronts. It drew hard-line lawmaker Mahdi Kouchakzadeh and Gen. Hossein Salami of the elite Revolutionary Guards. Read More...

On the Radio Sedaye Iran website KRSI on Nov 24, 2004 Mohammad Ali Samadi was referred to as the  head of public relations of the HQ for commemorating martyrs of the global Islamic movement. Also reported is his statement that in sympathy with the oppressed people of Fallujah, the HQ will announce the establishment of the first company of martyrs.

Without giving any details, he said: This action will be taken in response to the eminent Khamenei's message. In this connection, Khorasan a conservative daily published simultaneously in Tehran and Khorasan Provinces wrote: The establishment of the first company of martyrs will be announced in Behesht-e Zahra cemetery [in Tehran] in conjunction with the inauguration of a tablet of stone commemorating the biggest martyrdom operation against American occupiers.
Samadi said: The company which has been named after Martyr Yahya Ayyash, will be comprised of three teams called Martyr Rimen Riyashi, Mostafa Ma'zah and Ahmad Qeysar.
Samadi stressed: On the fringe of the ceremony, volunteers for martyrdom operations with valid ID will be enrolled.

Backspin posted the link to the martyrs' application form.
Ace of Spades  has a summary of today's article.

Posted by Hyscience at November 28, 2004 8:10 PM

• Iran Group Signs Up Suicide Volunteers - Nov 28, 2004