Iran’s empty condemnation of terrorism
While denouncing the Orlando shooter, Tehran
leads the world in attacks
- - Wednesday, June 29, 2016
condemnation-of-terrorism/
About two days after an Orlando gunman
carried out the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, the Iranian foreign
ministry issued a statement purporting to decry the incident. Speaking via the
state-run IRNA, a spokesperson said the Iranian regime “condemns” the attack
“based on its principled policy of condemning terrorism and its strong will to
seriously confront this evil phenomenon.”
It’s hard to imagine an expression of sympathy more disingenuous. Tehran’s comments must be viewed against a
backdrop of its status as the world’s most active state sponsor of terrorism,
its steady propaganda against the United States, and its own brand of
homophobia that has its origins in Islamic extremism.
Iran is not all talk. The rhetoric about
Western “arrogance” and “hostility” has been backed up by the arrests of
numerous people who hold both Iranian and Western citizenships. The same goes
for journalists, artists and professionals who have any meaningful connections
with the West, and for activists the regime deems pro-Western.
More significant is the regime’s long and brutal history of
institutionalized homophobia. Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once
famously declared during a visit to the United States that Iran “does
not have any homosexuals.” His laughable bluster was typical of his macho
regime.
Mr. Rouhani came to
power amidst promises of not only a new opening with the international community,
but also of domestic reforms, the release of political prisoners, and a
generally freer Iranian society. Three years later, and one year prior to his
re-election bid, none of these has come to pass. Quite the contrary, the
situation has only gotten worse in several crucial ways, according to experts,
such as the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Iran.
The rate of
executions has skyrocketed. Some 2,600 people have been executed since Mr.
Rouhani took office, in a country that already held the record for the highest
number of executions per capita in the world. Meanwhile, restrictions on the
rights of women have tightened, and authorities recently dispatched thousands
of undercover morality police to identify women violating the state-mandated
dress code. The regime has also grown more intolerant of the LGBT community in Iran.
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