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Sun, Nov 14, 2010 | The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center | YouTube

Hizballah Leader Nasrallah angers Iranians

Hizballah Leader Hassan Nasrallah Angers Iranians With Recent Speeches

Iranians against Nasrallah: YouTube video angers Iranian web surfers; Facebook page: “We, Iranians hate Hassan Nasrallah.”

A video recently circulated on YouTube, showing fragments from two speeches made by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, has angered many Iranian web surfers this week.

The video contains fragments from two speeches given by Nasrallah on two separate occasions this year. In one speech, Nasrallah discussed Iran’s Muslim identity, claiming its roots were Arab rather than Persian. According to Nasrallah, there is nothing in Iran that could be called “Persian” or “Persian civilization”, only Islamic civilization and the Arab religion of Prophet Muhammad. Nasrallah further claimed that the founders of the Islamic revolution were of Arab descent, the descendants of Prophet Muhammad, and that even Iran’s current Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, was a Seyyed from an Arab dynasty founded by the prophet.

In his second speech, Nasrallah addressed the events that took place in Iran following the last presidential election. In that speech, Nasrallah expressed his confidence in the Khamenei-led regime’s ability to successfully deal with the political crisis that broke out after the election.

It is not clear who is responsible for spreading the video or why it was released now. At any rate, it sparked an outrage among Iranian web surfers and triggered angry reactions from Iranian bloggers, mostly outside Iran.

In response to Nasrallah’s remarks, one blogger said that they unfortunately reflected the reality in which the Iranian nation, Iranian culture, Iranian civilization, and Iran’s resources are held hostage by foreigners (Greenmanifesto, November 7, 2010). Another blogger wondered whether Iranian petrodollars used by the regime to support Hezbollah were Arab as well (Irangreen-29, November 7, 2010). A group of Iranian exiles even started a Facebook page called “We, Iranians hate Hassan Nasrallah”. The official websites of opposition leaders inside Iran avoided making any comments about the affair.

On the other hand, pro-government websites strongly condemned the criticism voiced by Iranian web surfers against Nasrallah, claiming that, having grown tired of their efforts to act against the regime this past year, “anti-revolutionary” groups were now trying to get back at Nasrallah for the warm welcome he had given President Ahmadinejad during his last visit to Lebanon. Supporters of the “green [i.e., reformist] opposition” are trying to compromise Nasrallah’s image in the eyes of the Iranian people by misrepresenting his remarks, but their efforts are doomed to failure. Instead of supporting Nasrallah and the Iranian people, they support Iran’s enemies, funded and supported by the Americans, said a news website affiliated with President Ahmadinejad’s supporters (www.bibaknews.com, November 8).

Watch the video with Hassan Nasrallah’s remarks:

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah: Iran doesn’t have iranian civilization it has islamic civilization

Video with English Sub:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4V9sdifezQ

Hizballah chief denies Iran’s having any culture apart from Islam

Video with Persian Sub:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctyIbewtO5c