Home
Najaf rejected attempts to dominate the Iranian and Iraqi identity prefer
12/16/2011 | (Voice of Iraq) - Add comments - Sistani wrath of the open office Shahroudi .. He asked his followers not to meet their representatives
)
of Najaf: Liz Sly, *
when he announced A senior Iranian cleric last month that he was planning to move to the holy city of Najaf to open an office there, engulfed a state of extreme anger over the city, which gives a glimpse of the future of the complex relationships between the two countries. With the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, we should keep in mind that Iran was preparing a more beneficiaries of the U.S. presence in Iraq, which lasted for about nine years. Given that Iran has suffered greatly during the war, which lasted eight years in the eighties of the last century with Iraq, which dominated the year, it is Iran can now rely in closer relations with the government of Shiite neighbors. However, the longer the Iraqi Shia are more beneficiaries, because they have stepped up to power. And despite the fact that Iraqi Shiites would welcome large-scale departure of the Americans, it seems they are not ready to replace one form of foreign domination is another form of domination, at least in Iran, as they say. This was evident in the city of Najaf, more than any other place, where This city is the spiritual capital of Islam, Shiite, and the location of more shrines sacred, and a base for a new form of Iraqi nationalism, and a place that emphasizes the beliefs and rituals of religious Shiite, but still retain the identity of the Iraqi excellence. and say grace Abbadi, director of the Iraq Center for Research and studies, which take from the city of Najaf-based «Do you know who hates Iran more than anyone else in Iraq? .. It Najaf », echoing a widespread view on a large scale in the streets of the city. The Abadi «Shiites in Iran are Iranian in the first place, which they believe they are better than the Arabs, but the people of Najaf believe that they are Shiite people and that the Iranians are just Mhakon them». and under the supervision of the religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the religious authority in Najaf or the so-called points of reference as a beacon of moderation, the Shiite regime that has emerged recently, with moves such reference strongly to emphasize the religious thought moderate Shiite, under which the limited role of the clergy to merely counseling instead of participating in the political process, as is the situation in Iran. Therefore, it was announced last month that Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Cherody, a senior ally of the Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and one Iranian supporters of the theory of «velayat-e faqih» in power, was greeted with shouts of indignation and condemnation, not only in Najaf , but outside as well. It seems that the qualifications and capabilities Cherody as head of the judiciary in Iran until last year, as well as the timing of the announcement ahead of weeks of the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, has made it appear beyond doubt that the move represents an attempt by Iran to step up its role in Iraq after the decline of American influence, according to Babak Rahimi, a professor of religious studies at the University of California at San Diego. He Rahimi that, although the Cherody was born in Iraq, he had spent many years in Iran and «seen a lot Iraqis, it carries the Iranian agenda. The Cherody part of the Iranian establishment, and it seems that this strategy to manipulate the Shiites of Iraq ». The narrow alleyways of this ancient city abuzz with speculation that Iran hopes to equip Cherody to be the likely successor to Sistani who passed eighty years old, which is a power of major religious Shiites around the world . 's comments Sistani sacred for almost anything, from people who had to vote for them in the first democratic elections taking place in Iraq for nearly six years, and whether the Shiite sect allows eating hamburgers in the «McDonald's» or not (Sistani said, yes, but if the owner of the shop a Muslim). but the presence of the Office of Shahroudi in Najaf means that there will be another forum holds different views, and that he would be able to teach and the distribution of scholarships to students of religious who came to the city in large numbers to study in the seminaries of the Holy, and perhaps instill the same principles of governance prevailing in Iran in the city of Najaf. There are reports that Sistani is angry and that he instructed his followers not to meet any of the representatives of Cherody. After Sistani has refused to send a representative to the opening of the office, before the arrival of the Ayatollah of Iran, distanced clerics in Najaf themselves away from the Cherody, with the exception of one student who was wearing a white turban and on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. indicates the reaction of the people of Najaf to the statements to the difficulty that Iran will face if they tried to fill the power vacuum withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, despite U.S. and Iraqi fears that they will do so. Ebadi said «will put the Iranians themselves in all things Iraq if they are allowed to Iraqis so, in religion and politics in everything, but we will not let them do what they like, especially here in Najaf». said Farhan Abu Shish (57 years), a businessman and one of those who have achieved economic success significantly as a result of the Renaissance witnessed by Najaf since arrived Americans «This is impossible, you will not fall Iraqis never under the influence of the Iranians or Arabs». In 2003, Abu Shish has a hotel lonely in the old city, and was attached a sign in English that read «Brice Hotel» hoping to lure the guests of Americans. The hotel was destroyed in a U.S. air raid in 2004, but the re-construction of new, targeted Iranian pilgrims who were flocking to Najaf at 20,000 people per day during the last years of prayers at the shrine of Imam Ali. Abu Shish and proud that the hotel occupancy rate up to 100 per cent over the year, and is now building three other hotels. Turkey is the largest investor in the city of Najaf, and refuses to local businessmen to deal with Iranian goods, preferring to do business with Turkey as well as other Asian and European countries, according to Abu Shish. He described Abu Shish visit of the Minister of the Iranian government in the chapter summer, and that which appealed to a gathering of businessmen in Najaf spend more of the profits they get from Iranian pilgrims to buy Iranian products, it was to no avail. Abu Shish «We told him, frankly, you do not have what we need, and there is a problem with Iranian goods». * Service «The Washington Post» Specific «Middle East»
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
