Al-Arabiya
TV Report: Iranian Volunteer Suicide Bomber Organization of
40,000 "Time Bombs" Recruited to Target Americans in Iraq and Israel
On July 2, 2005, Al-Arabiya TV broadcast a report on an Iranian
movement of suicide bombers with the aim of targeting Americans in
Iraq and Israel. The volunteers said they wanted to carry out
martyrdom operations to liberate Islamic lands and stated that so far
40,000 "time bombs" have been recruited. According to the chairman
and spokesman of The World Islamic Organization's Headquarters for
Remembering the Shahids, Mohammad 'Ali Samedi, his organization began
recruiting suicide bombers about a year and a half ago, as reported
by MEMRI last year.(1) Since then, he has engaged in organizing
conventions, registering volunteer suicide bombers online, and
providing guidance and training for martyrdom operations. The
organization's supporters, and those participating in its activities,
include public figures, such as veteran MP Mahdi Kuchak-Zadeh, from
the prominent conservative party Coalition of Iran's Developers (Abadgoran)
which backed Iranian President-Elect Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad and
Revolutionary Guards officers such as General Salami, head of The
Revolutionary Guards Headquarters for Strategic Operations. As they
did a year ago, spokesmen for the organization are trying to
emphasize that it is not a government organization and does not have
the support of the Iranian government. However, at the same time,
they hint at help given to them by the government.(2)Although Firooz
Rajai, one of the leaders of the organization, stated that volunteers
have not been sent to carry out missions, the London Arabic-language
daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported in June 2004 that a group sent from
Iran on a suicide mission to Iraq had apparently been apprehended and
handed over to British forces in Iraq.(3) Endnotes: The interviewees
on the program also underlined the "successful" cooperation between
the organization and the Palestinian movements Hamas and Islamic
Jihad.
On the Iranian Movement of "Martyrdom
Seekers"
The following are excerpts from a
report about the movement of "martyrdom seekers" in Iran. Al-Arabiya
TV aired this report on July 2, 2005.
Martyrdom-seeking movement member
Vesaly: My name is Vesaly... We are first
and foremost Muslims and it is our duty to defend our brothers and
sisters throughout the world. We don't need permission from anybody.
This has to do with our religious duty and responsibilities. This is
our choice, and we have no fear. We adhere to the legacy of our late
leader, Imam Khomeini.
Crowd:
There is no God but Allah. There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is
Allah's messenger.
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Reporter:
These young women have forsaken the temptations of life, and have taken
the hard way. Indeed, they have chosen martyrdom as a way of liberating
the Islamic lands. This is what they say. 40,000 time bombs in Iran -
this is the number of volunteers so far, and the registration is still
open. There is no distinction between men and women, Sunnis or Shiites.
"We all sacrifice for the sake of Islam," they chant. This is the
movement of martyrdom seekers, whose goals and organizational structure
are still unclear. They refused to give further details, but did not
conceal their determination to sacrifice their lives. The reason - what
America has done in the holy places of Najaf and Karbala.
Firooz Rajai, a movement leader
: In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the
Compassionate. The movement of martyrdom seekers began after the
American campaign against Najaf and Karbala in Iraq over a year ago. The
religious scholars decided that such a movement should be established in
this country, whose majority are Shiites, in order to support their
brothers, especially following the experience of the war that was forced
on Iran by the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq.
Reporter:
This is a symbolic grave of the first man who tried to get rid of Salman
Rushdi. Here, there are also symbolic graves commemorating the people
who killed hundreds of American and French soldiers in Lebanon, in 1983.
This young mother from Palestine, who sacrificed her life and blew
herself up at an Israeli checkpost, is a role model for the movement's
members, who believe this is the only way to liberate the Palestinian
lands, and especially the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Firooz Rajai
: In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
We will not allow the Zionists to build their Solomon Temple in the
place where the Al-Aqsa Mosque stands. They have not succeeded so far,
and they never will. We are willing to sacrifice our bodies and souls to
defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Our goal is to achieve martyrdom by way of
true Jihad.
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This is the true path to which we
strive. We don't need a fatwa on this, since we get our fatwas
from the Koran and from all the authorities on Islamic law. We vow to
turn into bombs that will explode at anyone who wishes to desecrate our
holy places.
Reporter:
The movement denies any connection to the Iranian government, and
considers itself an independent organization. Although the government
occasionally expresses reservations about the movement of martyrdom
seekers and its operations, the movement has used government buildings
for its training, and some Revolutionary Guards members have publicly
defended them.
Iranian MP Hamid-Reza Haji-Babai:
Martyrdom seekers may exist in every country, and in Iran, they have
beliefs that they hold sacred. This is a popular movement, which cannot
take the form of an organization. Iran has so far managed, in a
democratic and diplomatic way, to maintain relations with all countries,
and preserve its status, despite the American hostility.
The American oppressive, inhuman, and
undemocratic behavior in recent years has led to the creation of
martyrdom-seeking movements everywhere.
Reporter:
After receiving theory lessons, the volunteers undergo secret training,
far from the media. Even though the movement's leaders refrain from
disclosing what kind of activities are included in this training, they
emphasize that this is not a military organization, and that no special
or complex training is required – A few days are enough to train the
volunteers.
Firooz Rajai
: So far, we have not sent any brigade out of the
country, and have not clashed with government opposition to us. We law
and order, and our activity is clear and serves Islam. This does not
mean that we are not prepared to report for duty anywhere, any time.
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We believe in combining ideology and
action. Our movement is not a symbolic one. Our goal is well known. When
the time comes, martyrdom will be inevitable. There are many NGO's in
Iran that support the Palestinian cause, and we maintain relations and
cooperate with them, as well as with Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. We
meet with the representatives of the two movements in Tehran, and we
hope this will be successful.
Reporter:
Whether in Iraq, Palestine, or any Islamic country, the movement of
martyrdom seekers is ready for action, but the Iranian government still
does not know whether the movement has already sent volunteers to Iraq
or even to Israel.
Ali Samadi, a movement leader:
As everyone can see, the Zionists attribute no significance to the Arab
and Islamic governments. They continue their aggressive policies to
fulfill their goals. The world considers the Israeli military to be the
fifth most powerful force and its security apparatus to be the second
most powerful in the world. Since they only understand the language of
force, our new weapon of martyrdom operations is bound to change the
balance of power. Even the separation wall they are building won't
prevent the martyrdom operations and the changing of the balance. The
Iranian youth takes pride in the foundation of this movement after the
Islamic revolution in order to create a core of resistance against the
occupiers in a way that is not marred by flaws, as was the case with the
Al-Qaeda organization, for example. We are not afraid of the American
fleets or the British weapons in Iraq. We vow to become time bombs in
the event of every aggression on our land.
Reporter:
Thus, they await death with happiness and joy. In their view, martyrdom
for the sake of Allah is the sweetest thing.
Sources: MEMRI,
IMRA, Monthly Herald, Al Arabiya TV, Al Jazerra
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Iran
recruits suicide bombers against Israel, the Jews and the USA.
An advertisement in the Iranian press has called for people to come forward
for "martyrdom operations" against the enemies of Islam.: Israel, the Jews and
the United States. The message focused on the necessity of eliminating Israel
and fighting the Jews worldwide. A large segment of the advertisement preached
the urgent need of establishing Islam as "the only religion" in the world. It
is published by an institute managed by one of Iran's most conservative and
radical clerics, Ayatollah Masbah Yazdi, who has declared his support for
Iran's new President, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. The advertisement calls for men and
women to enlist with the "Martyrdom Lovers' Headquarters". It says the idea is
to achieve "all-out readiness" against the enemies of Islam - and the Islamic
Republic of Iran. Those who are picked will be specially trained for their
missions in different divisions in every province. To apply, all that is
needed are photographs, a form and a copy of a birth certificate. Symbolic:
This is not the first time Iranians have registered for suicide missions -
though in Islam a clear distinction is made between ordinary suicide and
martyrdom for a religious cause. Several people have signed up with different
organizations to defend the holy shrines in Iraq and the rights of
Palestinians. But in practice, their pledges are merely symbolic and it is
highly unlikely that they would actually go on suicide missions. One function
was held earlier this year to honor dead Palestinian women suicide bombers,
and a huge mural in central Tehran still depicts one Palestinian woman who had
two children, yet chose to die.
Photo:
"It is a short distance to Karbala" ... "registration for martyrdom
operations", as written on this Iranian poster appearing at Shiraz University
campus.