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[17 July 2012] Paying Taliban to lay down arms is not effective - English US-led NATO says the strategy of buying the loyalty of Taliban members in Afghanistan has proved to be a failure as only around 5,000 militants have responded to the strategy by giving up their weapons. The US-led Western military alliance said that the plan has had very little effect across Afghanistan so far. The program, which started in October 2010, offers a stipend of USD 360 over three months to each Taliban militant who lays down arms and joins the program. The US-led invasion of Afghanistan was launched in 2001. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity continues to rise across Afghanistan despite the presence of tens of thousands of US-led troops there. The US-led war in Afghanistan, with civilian and military casualties at record high, has become one of the longest wars in US history. Press TV has conducted an interview with Carl Osgood, Executive Intelligence Review, from Washington, to further discuss the issue.

[02 April 2013] Erdogan calls on PKK to lay down arms and leave - English

[17 April 2013] Families of kidnapped Lebanese lay blame on Ankara - English

[03 Sep 2014] Ukraine, Russia lay out plans for ceasefire - English

اللہ کی کتاب میں تحریف کرنا ایمان لے آنے میں کیسے رکاوٹ بنتا ہے؟ || آیاتٌ بیّناتٌ || سورۃ بقرہ آیت ۷۵ تا ۷۷ || حافظ سید محمد حیدر نقوی Allah Ki Kitaab Main Tehreef Karna Imaan Lay Aany Main Kaisy Rukawat Banta Hay? || Ayaat-un-Bayyinaat || Surah-e-Bqra Ayat 75 to 77 || Hafiz Syed Muhammad Haider Naqvi أَفَتَطْمَعُونَ أَن يُؤْمِنُوا لَكُمْ وَقَدْ كَانَ فَرِيقٌ مِّنْهُمْ يَسْمَعُونَ كَلَامَ اللَّـهِ ثُمَّ يُحَرِّفُونَهُ مِن بَعْدِ مَا عَقَلُوهُ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ ﴿٧٥﴾ وَإِذَا لَقُوا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا قَالُوا آمَنَّا وَإِذَا خَلَا بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَىٰ بَعْضٍ قَالُوا أَتُحَدِّثُونَهُم بِمَا فَتَحَ اللَّـهُ عَلَيْكُمْ لِيُحَاجُّوكُم بِهِ عِندَ رَبِّكُمْ ۚ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ ﴿٧٦﴾ أَوَلَا يَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّ اللَّـهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا يُسِرُّونَ وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ ﴿٧٧﴾ Spread the message! Share this video! #AllahKiKitaab #Ayaat_un_Bayyinaat #SyedMuhammadHaiderNaqvi

کیا تم نے الله سے عہد لے لیا ہے کہ صرف کچھ عرصہ جہنم میں رہو گے؟ یا خدا پر جھوٹ باندھتے ہو! || آیاتٌ بیّناتٌ || سورۃ بقرہ آیت ۸۰ تا ۸۲ || حافظ سید محمد حیدر نقوی Kya Tum Nay Allah Say Ehad Lay Liya Hay Kay Sirf Kuch Arsa Jahannam Main Raho Gy? Ya Khuda Par Jhoot Bandhty Ho! || Ayaat-un-Bayyinaat || Surah-e-Bqra Ayat 80 to 82 || Hafiz Syed Muhammad Haider Naqvi وَقَالُوا لَن تَمَسَّنَا النَّارُ إِلَّا أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَةً ۚ قُلْ أَتَّخَذْتُمْ عِندَ اللَّـهِ عَهْدًا فَلَن يُخْلِفَ اللَّـهُ عَهْدَهُ ۖ أَمْ تَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللَّـهِ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴿٨٠﴾ بَلَىٰ مَن كَسَبَ سَيِّئَةً وَأَحَاطَتْ بِهِ خَطِيئَتُهُ فَأُولَـٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ ۖ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ ﴿٨١﴾ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ أُولَـٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَنَّةِ ۖ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ ﴿٨٢﴾ Spread the message! Share this video! #AllahSayEhad #Ayaat_un_Bayyinaat #SyedMuhammadHaiderNaqvi

اصلاح کا نام لے کر فساد کرنے والا منافق ہے! کل بھی اور آج بھی! || آیاتٌ بیّناتٌ || سورۂ بقرہ آیت ۱۱، ۱۲ || حافظ سید محمد حیدر نقوی Islah Kay Naam Lay Kar Fasad Karny Wala Munafiq Hay! Kal Bhi Aur Aaj Bhi! || Ayaat-un-Bayyinaat || Surah-e-Bqra Ayat 11, 12 || Hafiz Syed Muhammad Haider Naqvi وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ قَالُوا إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُصْلِحُونَ ﴿١١﴾ أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْمُفْسِدُونَ وَلَـٰكِن لَّا يَشْعُرُونَ ﴿١٢﴾ #FasadKarnayWalaMunafiq #Ayaat_un_Bayyinaat #SyedMuhammadHaiderNaqvi

Ralph Schoenman interviewed on Rense radio about what to expect from Obama

Our real enemies are not those living in a distant land whose names or policies we don't understand; The real enemy is a system that wages war when it's profitable, the CEOs who lay us off our jobs when it's profitable, the Insurance Companies who deny us Health care when it's profitable, the Banks who take away our homes when it's profitable. Our enemies are not several hundred thousands away. They are right here in front of us - Mike Prysner

Learn how to create a website the right way using any tools you like and simple CSS to lay the groundwork. I am using Fireworks CS4 and Dreamweaver CS4 to assemble my awesome power site. I can add Flash, graphics, or any other elements I choose to after I get the design shell made. Brought to you by Adam @ http://www.developphp.com

Learn how to create a website the right way using any tools you like and simple CSS to lay the groundwork. I am using Fireworks CS4 and Dreamweaver CS4 to assemble my awesome power site. I can add Flash, graphics, or any other elements I choose to after I get the design shell made. Brought to you by Adam @ http://www.developphp.com

Alevi inancında Hz. Alinin doğum tarihi 21 Marttır ve bugün Nevroz (Nevruz) Bayramı kabul edilir. Aleviler arıca bugünün başka kudsiyetlerine de inanırlar. Nevruz da kimi yörelerde 9 güne kadar oruç tutulur, kurbanlar kesilir, kabirler ziyaret edilir ve sadakalar dağıtılır. Ateşler yakılır, halaylar çekilir, türküler söylenir, yaşama coşku ile bağlanarak umutlar yinelenir. Nevruz Alevilikte bir neşe ve Barış bayramıdır. Hz. Ali, İslam Peygamberi Hz. Muhammedin amcasının oğludur. Onun yanında büyümüş ve eğitimini önemli ölçüde ondan almıştır. İslamiyeti ilk kabul eden kişidir. Ayrıca Hz. Muhammedin kızı Hz. Fatima ile evlenmesi vasıtası ile onun damadıdır. Hz. Muhammedin Ehl-i Beytim yani ailem dediği kişilerden biridir. Hz. Fatimadan doğan çocukları vasıtası ile Peygamber soyunun sürdürücüsüdür. Hz. Peygamber, kendisinden sonra Halifenin kim olması gerektiği konusunda belirttiği beyan ve Hadisleri doğrultusundan yerine Vekil bırakmak istediği kişidir. Hz. Peygamber bir çok Hadis ve sohbetinde kendisinden sonra Hz. Aliyi Halife olarak tanıtmıştır. Ne var ki Hz. Peygamberin vefatı ile verilen sözler unutulmuş ve Hz. Ali ile bazı taraftarları Hz. Peygamberin defin işlemleri ile ilgilenirken, diğerleri acele tarafından Ebu Bekiri Halife seçerek bir oldu-bitti vakası ile Hz. Alinin hakkı olan Halifelik makamını gasp etmişlerdir. Hz. Muhammedin Halifelik makamını Hz. Aliye layık görmesi ve onu önermesi elbette sıradan bir akrabalık ilişkisi olamazdı. Böyle olsa Hz. Muhammedin kendi diğer bazı akrabalarını da bu mantıkla gözetmesi gerekirdi. Hz. Muhammed bir Hadislerinde Hz. Aliyi kast ederek ‚Alinin on sekiz özelliği var ki, bunların hiç biri bu ümmetten hiç kimsede yoktur buyurmuşlardır. Bu özelliklerden bir kısmı sadece akrabalık ilişkisi ve benzeri anlamlarla değerlendirilse bile, diğer başka özellikleri muhakkak ki Hz. Alinin olağanüstü birikim ve yeteneklerinden kaynaklanıyordu. Hz. Muhammed ‚ Ben İlim şehriyim, Ali onun kapısıdır, İlim isteyen kapısına gelsin derken, diğer bir yanı ile de muhakkak ki Hz. Alinin bilgeliğine dikkat çekiyordu. Hz. Alinin en önemli özelliklerinden bir kaçı, insani ahlâk, yiğitlik, mazlumu koruma, cömertlik, yardımseverlik, erdem, vefa, olgunluk ve yola bağlılık konusunda güvenilir olmaktır. 1400 yıllık tarih boyuna dillere destan olacak ölçüde sevenlerinin gönlünde taht kurmasının hikmetlerinden biri budur. Alevi-Bektaşiliğin temel ahlak ilkesi olan Eline, Diline, Beline sahip olmak anlayışı Hz. Alide simdelenir. Onu bu yolun ana ilkesi haline getirir. Onun günsel yaşam ilkeleri ve yüzlerce söz ve konuşmalarını içeren deyimlerini bir araya getirdiğimizde bu anlamın ne kadar doğru olduğu çok net bir şekilde ortaya çıkar. Hz. Alinin öğretileri arasında en çok öne çıkan öğelerden biri onun büyük ilim sahibi olması ve bunu insanlarla paylaşmak istemesidir. Ayrıca ilimi iyi anlamak, halkın yararına kullanmak, yolu gözetmek anlaşılmalıdır. Gereksiz ve yanılgılı konuşmamayı özellikle gözetmekte, barış içinde ve hoşgörülü olmayı telkin etmektedir. Zulmü ve insanlara haksızlığı şiddetle men etmekte, defalarca haksızlığa uğranılsa dahi, insanların kendilerine haksızlık edenlere zulüm yapmamalarını ısrarla vurgulamaktadır. Her türlü yalan, dolan, iftira, ikiyüzlülük ve kem sözden insanları caydırmaya çabalar. Mütevaziliği ve alçakgönüllüğü öven, cahil ve yeterince erdem sahibi olanlardan mesafeli durulmasını öneren, dayanışmayı, dürüstlüğü ve adaleti bayrak edinen bir ulu zattır Hz. Ali. İnsan olmanın temel ilkelerinden biri olarak da nefsin köreltilmesini (kontrol altına alınmasını) tavsiye eder ve uygular. Hiç bir insanı kınamayı hoş görmediği gibi, insanları mensup olduğu kavimler (ırklar) konusunda da eşit tutar. İnsan haklarına son derece uyan ve saygı duyan, Kul hakkını kutsal gören, insanların kula hakkına riayet etmelerini, müslüman olmasalar dahi tüm insanlara adaletle yaklaşılmasını telkin eder. Kimsesizleri, yetimleri, dulları, köleleri, yaşlıları, bedensel özürlüleri ve çaresizleri korur. Onlara toplumun dayanışma ruhu ile sahip çıkmalarını, onlara umut verilmesini ister. Hz. Ali, gönül zenginliğini, mal zenginliğinden üstün tutar. Erdemi, olgunluğu; kişinin kendisini bilmesi olarak görür. Dünyevi tutkulardan uzak mutasavvıf bir kişilik sergiler. Şöhret ve zenginliği önemsemez. İnsanların gönül gözünü açmalarını ve tasavvufa yönelmelerini telkin eder

Ayetullah Uzma Seyyid Ali Hamaney\'in Hicri 1432 (2011) Yılı Hac Mesajı Bismillahirrahmanirrahim Hamd alemlerin Rabbine aittir. Allah\'ın salatı ve salamı yaratıkların efendisi Muhammed Mustafa\'ya, onun pak Ehl-i Beyt\'ine ve seçkin ashabına olsun. Hac baharı ilahi ihtişam, manevi güzellik ve sefasıyla ulaşmıştır. Müminlerin iştiyaklı gönülleri tevhit ve vahdet Ka\'besinin etrafına dönmekte; Mekke, Mina, Müzdelife ve Arafat \"İnsanların arasında Haccı ilan et…\" nidasına icabet ederek Gafur ve Kerim olan Allah\'ın misafirliği ile şereflenen mutlu insanların bir araya geldikleri menziller ve ilahi ayetlerin nurunun yayıldığı ve her kese güvenlik şemsiyesinin gerildiği hidayet odağı mübarek evler durumuna gelmişlerdir. Kalbinizi zikir ve huşunun safa ve zemzeminde yıkayın. İç gözünüzü Hak Teala\'nın apaçık alametlerini görmek için açın, gerçek kulluğun nişanesi olan ihlas ve teslime yönelin. Teslimiyet ile İsmail\'ini kurbanlığa götüren o büyük babanın anısını defalarca gönlünüzde canlandırın ve bu yolla Yüce Allah\'ın, kendi muhabbetini kazanmak için önünüze açtığı yolu algılayın ve bu yolda adım atmayı imana dayanan azim ve niyete dönüştürün. İbrahim\'in makamı o apaçık nişanelerden biridir. İbrahim\'in makamı bir yandan ihlas ve fedakarlık makamı, diğer yandan nefsani isteklere ve dönemin Nemrud\'une karşı çıkış makamıdır. Bu iki unsur biz İslam ümmetinin kurtuluş yoludur. Bizden her birimizin İslam yolunda şecaat, azim ve kararlılığı, Hz. Adem\'den Hatem\'e kadar ilahi mesajlarının taşıyıcılarının insanlığa sundukları ve takipçilerine dünya ve ahiret mutluluğunu vaat ettikleri çağrılarına icabet ve onlara uymak sayılır. Bu büyük hac toplantısında hacı adayları İslam dünyasının en önemli konu ve sorun-larıyla ilgilenmeleri gerekir. Günümüzde bu meselelerin başında bazı önemli İslam ülkelerinde cereyan eden İslami kıyam ve inkılaplar gelir. Geçen yılın hac merasimleri esnasında ve bu yıl İslam ümmetinin takdirini değiştirebilecek, maddi ve manevi ilerleme, izzete dayalı aydın bir geleceği müjdeleyen gelişmeler ve olaylar vuku buldu. Mısır\'da, Tunus\'ta ve Libya\'da diktatörlerin ve bağımlı tağutların egemenliklerine son verilmiş ve diğer bazı ülkelerde de halkın kıyamı zalimlerin saraylarını yıkılmak eşiğine getirmiştir. Ümmetimizin tarihinde açılan bu yeni faslın ortaya çıkardığı gerçekler bize hayat bahşeden derslerdir. Bu gerçekler, müslü-man milletlerin bütün muhasebelerinde dikkate alınmalıdır. Bunları şöyle sıralaya-biliriz: Birincisi, günümüzde on yıllar boyunca yabancıların siyasi tasallutu altında yaşamış milletlerin içinden öz güvenle tehlike meydanına atılan, egemen güçlerle karşı koymaya çalışan ve var olan durumu değiştirmeye çalışan yeni bir genç nesil ortaya çıkmıştır. İkincisi, laik yöneticilerin çaba ve tahakkümüne rağmen ve onların bu ülkelerdeki dine karşı açık ve gizli çabalarına rağmen İslam muhteşem ve apaçık bir güçle sahnededir, gönüllerin hidayetçisi olarak söz ve amelde milyonluk kitlelerin toplantılarına canlılık ve hayat veren bir pınar durumundadır. Ma\'zeneler, tekbirler ve İslami sloganlar bunu ifade eden gerçeklerdir. Tunus\'ta gerçekleşen son seçimler de bu iddiayı kanıtlayan kesin bir delildir. Hiç şüphesiz diğer ülkelerde de serbest seçimler gerçekleşecek olursa Tunus\'ta gerçekleşen sonuçtan farklı bir sonuç ortaya çıkmaz. Üçüncüsü, bu yıldaki olaylar herkese gösterdi ki Aziz ve Kadir Allah milletlerin iradesinde öyle bir güç vermiştir ki hiçbir güç ona karşı koyacak bir güce sahip değildir. Dördüncüsü, müstekbir devletler ve onların başında Amerika onlarca yıl boyunca türlü türlü siyası ve güvenlik oyunlarına başvurarak bölge ülkelerini kendi emirlerine boyun eğdirmiş, kendi zanlarınca iktisadı, kültürel ve siyasi sultaları için engelsiz bir ortam oluşturmuşlardı. Şimdi bu devletler milletlerin nefretlerinin hedefi durumundadırlar. Kesinlikle bilmemiz gere-kir ki bu inkılaplardan meydana gelen nizamlar asla önceki zillet dolu denklemlere boyun eğmeyecektir. Bu bölgenin siyasi coğrafyası milletlerin eliyle ve onların izzeti ve tam bir bağımsızlığı yönünde seyredecektir. Beşincisi, Batı\'nın münafık ve aldatıcı yapısı, bu ülkelerin halkları nezdinde artık iyice bilinmektedir. Mısır\'da, Tunus\'ta ve Libya\'da, Amerika ve Avrupa ellerinden geldiği kadar kendi maşalarını korumak için çalışmışlardır. Ancak milletlerin iradesi onların isteklerine üstün geldiğinde halkın yüzüne aldatıcı gülücükler sunmaya başladılar. Son bir yılda gerçekleşen olaylarda meydana gelen ilahi açık alametler bu saydıklarımızdan daha fazladır. Tefekkür ehli için bu alametleri görmek zor değildir. Ancak bütün bunlara rağmen bugün İslam ümmeti ve özellikle kıyam eden milletler iki temel unsura muhtaçtırlar. 1- Direnişi sürdürmek ve azimlerin gevşemesini önlemek: Yüce Allah\'ın Kur\'an\'da Peygamber\'ine emri şöyledir: \"Artık sen ve seninle beraber bulunan ve tövbe etmiş olanlarla birlikte, nasıl emredildiyse öylece dos-doğ‏ru hareket et.\" (Hud: 112) Yine Hz. Musa\'nın dilinden şöyle diyor: \"Musa kavmine, \"Allah\'tan yardım dileyin ve sabredin. Kuşkusuz yeryüzü Allah\'ındır; onu kullarından dilediğine miras bırakır ve (güzel) son takvalı-larındır.\" dedi.\" (A\'raf: 128) Kıyam etmiş milletler için bu dönemde takvanın somut örneği kendi mübarek hareketlerini sürdürmeleridir. Kendilerine iyi sonuç vaat edilen takvalıların taşımaları gereken en önemli takva unsuru da bundan ibarettir. 2- Uluslararası hilelere ve bu hareketlerden darbe alan güçlere karşı uyanıklık: Düşmanlar boş durmazlar; bütün siyasi, güvenlik ve mali güçleriyle bu ülkelerde elden çıkan güç ve nüfuzlarını yeniden elde etmek için çalışırlar. Onların ellerindeki vesile aldatma ve tehditten ibarettir. Tecrübe göstermiştir ki elit kesim arasında onlara araç ve vesile olacak kimseler bulunurlar, bunlarda olan korku, ihtiras ve gaflet bilerek veya bilmeyerek düşmana hizmet etmelerine yol açar. Gençler, din alimleri ve aydınlar bu tür sapmaları dikkatle gözetlemelidirler. En önemli tehlike bu ülkelerin yeni siyasi yapılarında küfür ve istikbar cephesinin müdahale etmesi ve etkili olmasıdır. Onlar bütün çabalarıyla yeni kurulan nizamların İslami ve halkçı bir yapıya sahip olmaması için çalışacaklardır. Bu ülkelerdeki samimi kimseler ve ülkelerinin izzet, onur ve ilerlemesine önem veren her kes yeni kurulacak nizamların tam manada İslami ve halkçı bir içeriğe sahip olması yolunda çaba göstermek durumundadırlar. Bu arada hazırlanacak anayasaların önemli bir konumu vardır. Milli birliliği korumanın yanı sıra, mezhebi, kabilevi ve dil farklılıklarını resmiyete tanımak gelecek-teki zaferlerin şartıdır. Mısır\'da, Tunus\'ta ve Libya\'da kıyam eden şecaatli halk, diğer uyanık ve mücadeleci milletler bilmelidirler ki onların Amerika\'nın ve diğer müstekbirlerin zulüm ve oyunlarından kurtulmaları dünyadaki güç dengesinin onların lehine değişmesine bağlıdır. Müslümanlar, sorunlarını ciddi bir anlamda emperyalistlere rağmen çözebil-meleri için kendilerini dünyadaki bir güç olacak düzeye ulaştırmalıdırlar. Bu da sadece İslam ülkelerinin gönül birliği ve işbirliği ile mümkün olabilir. Bu İmam Humeyni\'nin unutulmaz vasiyetidir. Amerika ve Nato habis ve diktatör Kazzafi\'yi bahane ederek aylarca Libya halkının başına ateş yağdırdılar. Kaddafi Libya milletinin şecaatli kıyamından önce onların yakın dostlarından sayılır onu bağırlarına basıyor ve onun aracılığı ile Libya\'nın servetini yağmalıyorlardı. Onu aldatmak için elini sıkıyor veya öpüyorlardı… Halkın kıyamından sonra onu bahane ederek Libya\'nın bütün altyapısını tahrip ettiler. Hangi ülke halkın Nato tarafından katledilmesine ve Libya\'nın tahribine engel olabilirdi? Kan içen ve vahşi Batılı güçlerin diş ve pençeleri kırılmadıkça sürekli İslam ülkeleri için bu tür tehlikeler söz konusu olacaktır. Bundan kurtuluş ancak İslam dünyasının güç bloğu oluşmayla mümkün olur. Bugün Batı, Amerika ve Siyonizm her zamankinden daha çok zayıflamışlardır. İktisadi sorunlar, Afganistan ve Irak\'ta birbirini izleyen yenilgiler, Amerika ve diğer Batı ülkelerinde her gün geçtikçe genişleyen köklü itirazlar, Filistin ve Lübnan halklarının fedakarca mücadeleleri, Yemen, Bahreyn ve Amerika\'nın nüfuzu altında olan ülkelerin halklarının kahra-manca kıyamları, İslam ümmetine ve özellikle yeni İnkılap etmiş ülkelere büyük müjdeleri içermektedir. İslam dünyasındaki mümin kardeş ve bacılar özellikle Mısır, Tunus ve Libya\'daki halklar, uluslararası İslam gücünü kurmak için bu fırsattan en güzel şekilde yararlanmalıdırlar. Aydın kesim ve bu hareketlerin öncüleri Yüce Allah\'a tevekkül etmeli; Onun yardım vadine güvenmelidirler ve İslam ümmeti için açılan bu yeni sayfayı kendi kalıcı çabalarıyla Allah\'ın rızasını kazanmak için bir vesile kılmalıdırlar. Allah\'ın selamı salih kullarına olsun. Seyyid Ali Hüseyni Hamaney 29 Zilkade 1432

Two US police officers have been ordered to stand trial in the death of a mentally ill homeless man following a violent arrest last summer. California's Orange County Superior Court Judge Walter Schwarm made the ruling after a hearing that included surveillance video of the confrontation between the officers and 37-year-old Kelly Thomas in the city of Fullerton. Officer Manuel Ramos is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Jay Cicinelli is charged with involuntary manslaughter and assault or battery by a public officer. Both have pleaded not guilty. The officers confronted Thomas while responding to reports that a homeless man was looking into parked cars at a transit center. "This is another victory, on another battle," said Thomas' father, Ron. "We're going to start a new one with the trial." John Barnett, Ramos' attorney, said he would seek another court's review of Schwarm's ruling and did not expect his client would end up facing a jury trial. "We're disappointed that they were held to answer but we will seek review in an appropriate manner," he told reporters after the ruling. "He believes, and he is innocent." Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said during the hearing that Ramos bullied a shirtless Thomas with his menacing remarks and aggressive stance — actions that would have led anyone to fear they were about to get beaten by police. "Any person, any creature on this earth would have fear at that point," Rackauckas told the court during the preliminary hearing. "You're going to fight or flee because this is an imminent threat of a serious beating by a police officer who is there with a baton and a gun and other police officers.... This is going to be a very bad deal," the prosecutor said. Defence attorneys countered that police — who are authorised and trained to use force when necessary — viewed the incident as an encounter with a man who refused to give his name and continued to resist arrest even as multiple officers rushed to assist. The three-day hearing was marked by repeated showing of clips from surveillance video and audio recordings of the confrontation. The footage includes scenes of officers pummelling and pinning down Thomas as he screams that he can't breathe and moans for his father until he goes silent and is taken away by medics, leaving behind a pool of blood. Barnett, Ramos' attorney, said during the hearing that the video — which was introduced by the prosecution — shows that his client made a conditional threat during his conversation with Thomas, stating he wanted the man to start listening and following police orders, such as sitting with his legs stretched out and providing his name to officers. "All that Kelly Thomas had to do was simply comply," Barnett said. "Officer Ramos just lifts him up, he's going to arrest him. ... Not only can he do it, he must do it. He is bound to do it." "Officer Ramos didn't do anything that should or could kill Kelly Thomas," Barnett said, pointing out that his client is often seen on the video at the man's feet. Prosecutors have argued that Ramos punched Thomas in the ribs, tackled him and lay on him to hold him down while Cicinelli — who arrived later on the scene — used a Taser four times on Thomas as he hollered in pain and hit him in the face eight times with the Taser. Thomas lost consciousness and was taken to a hospital. He was taken off life support and died five days later. The coroner's office found that Thomas died from compression of his chest that made it difficult for him to breathe and deprived his brain of oxygen, and facial injuries stemming from his confrontation with law enforcement. In court, Schwartz, Cicinelli's attorney, challenged those findings, noting that testimony by a paramedic who treated Thomas at the scene indicates that Thomas was breathing, although with difficulty, during the confrontation. Schwartz also defended his client's use of the Taser on Thomas, who was still struggling and resisting officers' efforts to handcuff him, and said Cicinelli only swung the Taser at Thomas' hand when the man made an effort to grab the weapon. "To call that a crime is to effectively handcuff our police officers out in the field from dealing with any combative suspect," Schwartz said. The hearing in a Santa Ana courtroom was marked by lengthy testimony from medical experts and graphic photos of Thomas' injuries, including multiple bruises and a bloodied eye, while he was lying on the autopsy table. Attorneys repeatedly played portions of the grainy surveillance video, which was paired with audio from digital recorders worn by some of the officers who were present and which brought some of Thomas' supporters to tears and prompted them to leave the courtroom. The incident last July prompted an ongoing FBI investigation to determine if Thomas' civil rights were violated, an internal probe by the city, protests by residents and an effort to recall three Fullerton councilmembers that is slated for next month's ballot. The recall was sparked after angry residents chastised the council members for failing to take significant action regarding the incident.

Visit our website for more episodes! http://ramadhan4u.com to make your ramadhan a productive Ramadhan. SUBHANALLAH.. Animals fast too!! Check out our new series.. Animal Instincts Salmon: Salmon fasting over a long period induces a feeling of sensitivity in them so that they are able to recognise the proper location. Each fish swims upstream in the river in which it was hatched to reproduce in the same place from which it originated. When they are guided to the right place, the salmon start to dig holes for eggs. The females lay eggs, and the males cover them with their sperm to fertilize them. The females are then motivated by instinct to cover the eggs with an appropriate layer of soil from the riverbed. They stay behind the eggs until they incubate and the young red salmon come out of their holes and shake off their dust. Both parents cast a final look on the young and realize that they have successfully concluded their mission. Then they pass away in a state of fasting in the same location, leaving behind a new generation of the young. When those young grow up and become sexually mature, they will start their fasting and then pass away in a state of fasting in their own and their ancestors' birthplace. Eltemas Dua :) R4U Team For more information visit www.ramadhan4u.com

Hence the developments relating to Karbala\\\\\\\' are quite clear and all of them are throughout a matter of great honor and pride. But we have disfigured this shining historic event to such an extent and have committed such a monstrous treachery towards Imam Husayn (\\\\\\\'a) that if he were to come and see, he will say, \\\\\\\'You have changed the entire face of the event. I am not the Imam Husayn that you have sketched out in your own imagination. The Qasim ibn Hasan that you have painted in your fancy is not my nephew. The \\\\\\\'Ali Akbar that you have faked in your imagination is not my aware and intelligent son. The companions that you have carved out are not my companions.\\\\\\\" We have fabricated a Qasim whose only desire is to become a bridegroom and whose uncle\\\\\\\'s wish, too, is to have him wedded. Contrast this one with the historical Qasim. Reliable histories report that on the night of \\\\\\\'Ashura\\\\\\\' the Imam (\\\\\\\'a) gathered his companions in a tent whose location, as described by the phrase \\\\\\\'inda qurbil-ma\\\\\\\', was the place where water used to be kept, or near it. There he delivered that very well-known sermon of the night preceding \\\\\\\'Ashura\\\\\\\'. I do not want to mention its details here, but, to put it briefly, in this sermon the Imam told them that every one of them was free to depart and leave him to confront the enemy alone. The Imam did not want anybody to stay just for considerations of courtesy or to remain out of compulsion, or even to think that they were obliged to do so by virtue of the allegiance (bay\\\\\\\'ah) they had given him. Hence he tells them, \\\\\\\"You are all free, my companions, members of my family, my sons, and my nephews-everyone-to leave without being liable to anything. They [i.e. the enemy\\\\\\\'s forces] have nothing against anyone except me. The night is dark. Take advantage of the darkness of the night and depart. They will definitely not stop you.\\\\\\\" At first, he expresses his appreciation for them and tell them, I am most pleased with you. I do not know of any companions better than mine, and no better relatives than the members of my family.\\\\\\\" But all of them tell him, in unison, that such a thing was impossible. What answer will they give to the Prophet on the Day of Resurrection? What will happen to loyalty, to humanity, to love and attachment? Their ardent responses and their words said on that occasion melt a heart of stone and are most moving. One of them says, \\\\\\\"Is one life worth enough to be sacrificed for someone like you? I wish that I were brought to life seventy times to die seventy time for your sake.\\\\\\\" Another says, \\\\\\\"I would lay down a thousand lives for your sake if I had them.\\\\\\\" Another says, \\\\\\\"If I were to sacrifice my life for you and my body were burnt to ashes and the ashes were cast to wind, and were this done a hundred times, I would still love to die for your sake.\\\\\\\" The first to speak was his brother Abu al-Fadl, and then the Imam changed the subject and told them about the events of the next day, informing them that they all would be killed. All of them receive it as a great good news.

Supreme Leader\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Speech to Basijis 21/11/2012 The following is the full text of the speech delivered on November 21, 2012 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with Basijis and Salehin activists. In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful Thankfully, an event similar to the great event of Ashura - which has been narrated for us - took place in our own times. During the Sacred Defense Era, many men, women and young people who were trying to achieve their noble goals, laid down their lives and wealth and forgot about the material aspects of their lives. Today we are benefiting from the blessings of this event. The coincidence of this event with the great event of Ashura is a lesson for us. The Islamic Ummah should never forget the event of Ashura which is a lesson and a source of guidance for us. Definitely Islam is alive because of the event of Ashura and the efforts of Hussein ibn Ali (a.s.). \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"And I am from Hussein.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" This narration means that Hussein (a.s.) continued the path of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) and he continued to promote Islam after him. If it had not been for the event of Ashura and if these great sacrifices had not been made in the history of Islam, this valuable experience and this practical lesson would not have been bestowed on the Islamic Ummah and Islam would have definitely deviated from its path - as many religions before Islam did - and nothing would have remained from it. The greatness of Ashura is because of this. Of course, the pain and suffering which Imam Hussein (a.s.) and his followers endured on the day of Ashura were too agonizing and the harm which was inflicted was very serious. The life of Hussein ibn Ali (a.s.) is more valuable than everything in the world. The pure and sacred lives of those followers of Imam Hussein (a.s.), the lives of those youth and those members of Imam Hussein\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (a.s.) household are not comparable to the life of other people. Their bodies were covered in blood and dirt. They made sacrifices and they laid down their lives. The households of the Holy Prophet (s.w.a.) and Imam Ali (a.s.) were imprisoned. Those events are very tragic and very difficult to tolerate. But what was achieved on the day of Ashura was so great and glorious that it made it easy for Imam Hussein (a.s.), his followers and his household to endure the sufferings. This has been narrated by prominent figures. The late Hajj Mirza Javad Agha Maleki (may God bestow paradise on him) stressed in his book \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Muraqibaat\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" - what he has said in this book is certainly true - that the greater the sufferings grew on the day of Ashura, the brighter and more cheerful the face of Hussein ibn Ali (a.s.) would become. You should always keep in mind these important and extraordinary facts about Ashura. In our own times, we have seen similar examples of these sacrifices. We have seen similar examples of sacrifices which we have read about in history books. One significant and remarkable example of these sacrifices is what Basij did before the start of the imposed war, during the Sacred Defense Era and after it ended. We have enormously benefited from the blessings of Basij and by Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, these blessings should and will continue to benefit us. An important point about Basij is that during the Sacred Defense Era, we could see that Basij enjoyed great purity. We should preserve this purity in Basij. The present situation is more complicated. It is dangerous to go to war, kill, fight and take on responsibilities which may result in martyrdom or disability. It is still dangerous even if nothing happens to you, but being present in a military confrontation is not complicated. The present situation in which you are faced with the enemy\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s plots and attacks has certain complications. The confrontation between you and the enemy has certain complications. The dangers that our soldiers were exposed to may not exist today, but the present situation has more complications. An advantage of the military confrontation we experienced was that whoever entered it showed great purity of intention. Entering the arena of war was a life and death situation. It was not a joke. It needed courage, selfless efforts, faith and reliance on God, but our soldiers went to war and they were martyred. Today we still need that kind of courage and faith in different arenas, but it is possible that certain people call themselves basijis without having these characteristics. You should be vigilant about this. First, we should guard ourselves against this and second, we should guard Basij against this. This is the duty of all members of Basij. You should strengthen the basiji spirit in Basij organizations including Salehin organizations which you manage. We should make sure that Basij has purity in everything it does. This is difficult to some extent. One reason why practicing self-restraint and paying attention to spiritual matters is called \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"greater jihad\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" is the difficulty of this task. In a military confrontation with the enemy, one can easily measure one\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s and other people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s purity. It is easier to do this in the case of a military confrontation, but in the arena of practicing self-restraint this is not very easy. In latter case, you may make a mistake in judging how pure your actions are and others may also misjudge what kind of person you are. Another point is that we should avoid negative qualities such as arrogance, pretension and hypocrisy. These qualities are very destructive. If we make an achievement, we should be thankful to God and we should know that our achievement has been made with the help of God and we should ask God to help us continue making these achievements. It is very important not to be arrogant and not be over-confident. We should not think that we have made achievements on our own and we should rely on God Almighty. It is a fact that there is no power except the power of God Almighty. Everything is done by God. Our achievements, our capabilities, our enthusiasm, our faith and our love all come from God. We should know this and we should be thankful to God. We should ask God Almighty to increase these qualities in our characters. This is an important issue. I noticed an important point in the statements of the dear people who spoke in this meeting. That point is the high quality of organizations which form the basis of Basij. What is damaging is superficiality in our beliefs, our understanding of different matters and our principles. Superficiality is damaging. It is like a precarious stack of things which is easily blown down by a strong wind. We should give depth to our beliefs. Thankfully, you pay attention to these issues. Salehin organizations were created with a view to giving depth to the thoughts and the spirits of young basijis in spiritual and educational matters. Generally, Basij is one of the miracles of the Revolution. Basij reflects the innovation of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.). It shows his understanding, his wisdom and it reflects the connection between his enlightened heart and the source of divine wisdom. Basij provided a solid foundation for the Revolution. See how active Basij is in the area of scientific matters, in the area of practical matters, in the area of technological matters, in the area of spiritual matters, in the area of social services, in the area of formulating theories on different parts of social life, and in different other areas. If one day something happens which makes our people arm themselves against the enemy for the purpose of defending their country, these youth, these basijis, these brave youth of our dear nation will once more prove the courage of the Iranian nation, the resistance of the Iranian nation, the power of the Iranian nation and the invincibility of the Iranian nation to the enemy. Other groups of people and other countries which have tried to tread the enlightened path of Islam will follow our example. We have a valuable experience in this regard. We should perform well because it will make Basij a living and dynamic role model in the world of Islam. Today this has almost happened. Therefore strengthening Basij, making all its members as pure and spiritual as possible, expanding its activities to all areas of life are among the tasks which should be carried out by the people in charge of Basij, member of Basij and everyone connected with Basij. Islam has advised us to start from ourselves. All of us, at all levels, should start from ourselves. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"He who considers himself the leader of people should educate himself before educating others.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Nahjul Balaghah, Saying 73] This piece of advice is true at all levels. We should start from ourselves. We should establish this idea in Basij. The Islamic view of lifestyle can be a standard for self-evaluation in Basij. I am not saying that organizations which are higher in rank should evaluate our behavior. I am saying that we should be the people who evaluate our own behavior. How is our behavior in our workplace? How is our behavior towards our wife and children? How is our behavior at home and in social environments? How is our behavior towards people who stand below us in rank? How is our behavior towards people who stand above us in rank? How is our behavior towards the enemy? In Islam, there are certain criteria for all of these. We should evaluate ourselves. This is self-evaluation. This can lay a firm foundation for our lives and for the work we should do in all areas - especially the work we should do in Basij, which is the topic of our discussion. Anyway, our country, our nation, our Revolution and our history need Basij and Basij needs to improve itself on a daily basis in terms of quality. What you dear brothers and sisters are doing - in Salehin organizations - is very good and outstanding and it perfectly complements Basij. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, we should improve Basij on a daily basis. We should raise quality in Basij. Of course, quality should be given more significance than quantity, but increasing the quantity of work as well as the quality of work is also important. That is to say, we should both increase the volume of our work and add depth to it. Both should be taken into consideration. Today the world of Islam needs this movement by Basij. The savage attack on Gaza over the past week, which is truly shocking, should awaken the world of Islam and it should give fresh impetus to the movement of Muslim peoples. The enemy is not sitting idle. This effort by the Zionist regime has several dimensions. First, it shows the extreme brutality of the Zionist regime. How savage these people are. They have no conscience at all. You become shocked when you see how savagely they attack innocent people and civilians. They have no human qualities. They are against the world of Islam and the Islamic Republic of Iran. These creatures who have no human qualities want to challenge the Islamic Republic of Iran at international meetings. This is one aspect of the issue which is very important. Another shocking aspect of the issue is that the leaders of global arrogance behave so shamelessly in this crisis. They not only do not frown at the brutal Zionist regime and they not only do not prevent it from doing what it is doing, but they rather support and encourage it. America explicitly supported the Zionists. England supported them. France supported them. These are the leaders of global arrogance. Muslim peoples do not have enemies who are as hated and brutal as these people. All these people explicitly supported them. The recent event shows how willing the leaders of global arrogance are to observe morality. They are very far away from human qualities. Now that they give political support to the Zionist regime for the purpose of safeguarding their corrupt political interests, why do they claim that they support human rights? Does America - which not only fails to condemn this violent and savage attack in Gaza, but also supports it - have the right to claim that it supports human rights? Does it have the right to put itself in the position of prosecutors of other nations and governments in the name of defending human rights? This is a shameless claim. The same is true of France and England. Muslim nations have not forgotten their past behavior in the world of Islam, the crimes that they committed, the killings that were carried out and the pressures that they exerted on Muslim peoples in different countries. And today they support the actions of a brutal regime, namely the Zionist regime. This is another aspect of the issue. Another aspect of the issue is the behavior of Arab and Islamic governments regarding the event of Gaza which was not acceptable. Some of them only condemned the Zionists in words and some others did not even condemn the Zionists in words. Those who call Muslim nations to unity and claim to be the leaders of the Islamic Ummah should prove themselves in such situations. They are very outspoken on issues which suit their political agenda, but in this case - because they have to face America and England - they refuse to condemn the Zionists in an outspoken and genuine way or they merely offer verbal support, which is of little value and is not very effective. Today the world of Islam, especially Arab countries, should join hands to defend the people of Gaza and make the enemy lift the siege. They should try to help the innocent people of Gaza. Of course, God Almighty has bestowed on the people of Gaza the blessing to resist and stand up against this violent and savage enemy. The people of Gaza saw the result of their resistance: they managed to preserve their dignity. They proved that by relying on resistance and hard work it is possible - even with a small number of people - to defeat large and heavily armed groups that are supported by the arrogant powers. Today the Zionists, who have occupied Palestine, are looking for a ceasefire more desperately than the people and the officials of Gaza. Although they committed these crimes and brutal actions, they were harmed more. This happened because of the resistance of the small number of Muslim people and youth in Gaza. There is no other way to defeat the enemies. This is a message to the world of Islam. If the world of Islam wants to be invulnerable to the attacks, machinations and plots of the enemy, it should defend itself strongly. It should strengthen itself, both spiritually - strengthening one\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s faith and determination - and materially. Material strength includes making scientific and technological progress, gaining experience and making advances in the area of building weapons and in other areas. The world of Islam and Islamic societies should equip themselves with these. If they do this, then every district even as small as Gaza can inflict as much harm on the enemy as the people of Gaza did. As I said before, what the people of Gaza did made the enemy look for a ceasefire more desperately than the people and the officials in Gaza although they went through pain and suffering and a number of them were martyred. This is a lesson for the world of Islam and of course we learned this lesson during the Sacred Defense Era. Thankfully, our people, our youth, our scientists and our experts have made progress in this regard. We have made progress in theoretical and practical areas. We have become fully aware of the fact that we should stand on our own feet which is one of the requirements for resistance. Another point is the issue of unity among the Islamic Ummah and among the people of each country. The unity among the people and the political parties of each country is important. The same is true of our nation. The reason I repeatedly point out that political parties, our dear officials, people who can address the public - including newspapers, websites, executive and other organizations in charge of our media - writers and people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s representatives should preserve unity among themselves, is that unity is very important in essence. Fortunately our country has managed to preserve its unity and cohesion. Fortunately the recent disagreements between the officials have not shattered the unity of our nation. The fact that there are differences of opinion between the officials creates no problems as long as these differences do not result in major disputes. In the eyes of the enemy, our country has been very powerful since the start of the Revolution and this has happened because of our unity. Today they have the same opinion. Some time ago I advised the officials to preserve unity among themselves. Fortunately the esteemed officials of the three branches of government listened to my advice. This is very valuable. It is necessary to thank these people. The officials and the heads of the three branches of government listened to my advice. They stressed that they will preserve their unity in different areas although they have differences of opinion. We welcome this positive move made by these dear brothers and esteemed officials and we believe that it was a wise move and they should continue to be careful about what they say. What the MPs are doing in the Majlis is one of the things that has certain praiseworthy aspects. You dear brothers and sisters and the honorable people of Iran should know that asking questions of our government officials, whether the President or other executive officials, is a positive move because of two reasons. One reason is that it shows the people\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s representatives in the legislative branch have a sense of responsibility towards issues of the country. This is positive. Another reason is that the executive branch announced with confidence and with praiseworthy courage that it is prepared for answering the questions posed by the MPs. This is positive too. The legislative branch carries out its responsibility and our executive officials show that they have confidence in their decisions and sincerity. What else do we expect? This is the best situation. This decision has been made: the Majlis has announced that it wants to summon the President for questioning which shows their sense of responsibility, and the executive branch has announced that it is prepared to answer the questions with confidence - they said this to me too. This too is praiseworthy. These two moves made by the Majlis and the executive branch are both good. But I believe that the efforts should not be continued. They should end the issue immediately. This was a good test for both the Majlis and the executive branch. The people are also insightful and wise. Continuing this issue is exactly what the enemies want. The enemies want to pitch the two branches against each other. The enemies want to provoke people on each side to give in to their feelings and create uproar through newspapers, websites and other such things. Our country needs tranquility. All the officials, no matter which branch of government they belong to, need tranquility to do their duties and the people also want tranquility. The Majlis did its duty and in response to the decision of the Majlis, the executive branch showed that it has the necessary self-confidence to defend its actions. What these two branches of government did is satisfactory. Now I ask the brothers who made this decision in the Majlis to end this issue and show that government officials in the executive, legislative and judiciary branches of government respect unity and tranquility more than anything else. I thank all the brothers and sisters in Basij. I hope that Allah the Exalted bestows success on all of you. I thank all the brothers and sisters who spoke in this meeting. I hope that God Almighty bestows great rewards on them. I also thank the dear brother who gave me his medal. I have accepted this medal, but I would like to give it back to him as gift. It is better for him to keep the medal because it will evoke the memory of his championship and something to remember me by. I hope that Allah the Exalted bestows success on you. Source : http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1727&Itemid=4

O Allah! Send blessing on Muhammad and on the children of Muhammad. In the name of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful. \"Bismillah\" words that seekers of sanctuary repeatedly recite, word that the very cautious, in search of protection, often repeat. for the I seek refuge with Allah, the Exalted above all, from the oppression of the unjust, from the deceitful malice the envious (use) to lay snares and traps, from the injustice and outrage of the tyrants, and I sing His praise, do better and go beyond other praisers. O Allah, Thou art One, has no partner; and is the Lord—Master, without being made; there is no discrepancy or nonsense in Thy commands, nor there is lawlessness in Thy Kingdom, I beseech Thee, to send blessings on Muhammad, Thy servant, Thy Messenger; to let me ask Thee for enlightenment and inspiration so as to be thankful for Thy bounties, which alone get Thy approval ultimately; to help me to obey Thee, and instinctively worship Thee; and make me deserve Thy rewards on account of Thy very kind patronage; and have mercy on me and prevent me from breaking in the bounds of (Thy) prohibitions, as far as I am kept alive, and show the way unto that which is useful and advantageous till I go on (survive); to let me take to heart the meanings of Thy Book, and, by its reading, throw down the heavy burden (of sins), and receive welfare and salvation, as a gift; let not my family and friends, who love me, leave me alone, let Thy favours reach me, in abundance, during the remainder of my life, exactly as they used to be made available for me, in full in the days gone by, O the Most Merciful. O Allah! Send blessings on Muhammad and on the children of Muhammad

Supreme Leader\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Speech to People of East Azerbaijan 22/02/2013 The following is the full text of the speech delivered on February 16, 2013 by Ayatollah Khamenei the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution in a meeting with the people of East Azerbaijan. The meeting was held on the anniversary of the uprising by the people of Tabriz on the 29th of Bahman of 1356. ‌ In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful I welcome all you dear brothers and sisters and the dear youth. In particular, I welcome the dear families of martyrs, religious scholars and government officials who have come here from distant places, brought a valuable gift of affection from the dear people of Azerbaijan on this occasion and delivered their message of resistance. I hope that Allah the Exalted bestows great blessings and infinite mercy on all of you. I would tell you dear brothers and sisters and all the people of Azerbaijan and Tabriz including religious men and women that the presence of the people of Azerbaijan and Tabriz has truly played a determining role in the movement of the Iranian nation throughout all the eras in our history - from 100, 150 years ago until today. And today nothing has changed. It is you who have managed to protect the dignity of our country and our nation against the enemies with your firm determination, your pride and your faith. And Azerbaijan has played an increasingly significant role in different arenas. Thirty-five years have passed since the 29th of Bahman of 1356. Today, in terms of faith, resistance and wisdom, Azerbaijan is even better than it was during those important and fateful times. There have been so many vicious plots to separate the people in different parts of the country. But these plots have backfired. It is you who have always managed to play a leading role. In fact, it is you who are the anchor of peace in this country. As you said in the poem you recited: \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"You are the peace in the heart of Iran.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" [Audience shout in the Azeri language, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We are prepared to lay down our lives. We are Khamenei\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s soldiers.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"] One can clearly see that the dear people of Azerbaijan have a specific characteristic. This characteristic exists in other parts of the country, but in Azerbaijan it is more visible. This characteristic is that the political activities and the proud movement of the people of Azerbaijan in different eras - in the case of the Constitutional Movement, the military occupation of Azerbaijan and different other issues - were based on religion and religious faith. And they played a leading role in many of these issues. Despite the fact that the leftist intellectual movement and the movement which was dependent on the west were active in Azerbaijan since after the introduction of the unhealthy intellectual movement into our country and despite the fact that they were trying to separate the people from religion, the movement of the people was based on religion. If you take a look at the movements which were started in Azerbaijan - many of these movements were national movements, and the people of Azerbaijan were pioneers - you can see that despite the efforts of those leftist movements, the people and the leaders of these popular movements in Azerbaijan expressed their commitment to religious issues more openly than the people in other cities. In Tabriz, Sattar Khan used to say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The fatwa of the ulama of Najaf is in my pocket\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\". That is to say, this great and brave man used to coordinate with the marja taqlids of Najaf. What he did was exactly the opposite of what eastern and western intellectual movements wanted to achieve at that time in the country. Today nothing has changed and nothing will change in the future either. The Iranian nation considers religious faith as the standard. I cited Azerbaijan as an example of this religious faith, but people throughout the country are, more or less, like this. The movement of the Iranian nation is one that is accompanied by pride, courage and a sense of responsibility. But it is based on religious teachings and religious faith. This is very valuable. That is why the dangers caused by global powers, which other nations are usually faced with and which make them waver, did not threaten the people of Iran and did not make them waver. When the enemies wanted to impose sanctions and exert pressures they said, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We want to impose crippling sanctions on the people of Iran.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" And they did this. Two, three days before the 22nd of Bahman, they put a new round of sanctions into the equation. Besides, a few months ago, in Mordad of this year, they did the same thing. That is to say, they increased their so-called pressures on the people before the 22nd of Bahman of this year. What do they hope to achieve? They do these things in the hope of weakening the people. What was the response of the people? The people of Iran responded by participating in the rallies on the 22nd of Bahman more enthusiastically. All the people participated. People from different parts of the country participated. They participated with great spirit and with a smile on their faces. The people of Iran are such people. Each year on the 22nd of Bahman, the people of Iran deal a blow to the enemies. They strike the enemies and the opponents like an avalanche. This avalanche struck them this year too. I deem it necessary to express my gratitude again - even if one expresses his gratitude 100 times, one is not overdoing it - to the people of Iran for their glorious and impressive presence [in the rallies on the 22nd of Bahman]. One should bow before such insight. The people of Iran are such people. I would tell you that in these conditions, the enemies have taken a passive role. Despite the fact that they pretend to be active, they are not active. The enemy has taken a passive role in the face of the Iranian nation. Enjoying firm determination, wisdom and faith, our people know what they want and they know the way to achieve their goals. They endure the hardships with great courage. Different political, military and economic weapons do not work on our nation. Therefore, the enemy has taken a passive role and for this reason, they make irrational moves. I would tell you that American politicians are irrational people. They make irrational statements. They act in an irrational and thuggish way. They expect other countries to give in to their unreasonable demands and their bullying. Well, some people give in to their demands. Some governments and some political personalities in certain countries give in to their bullying. But the Iranian nation and the Islamic Republic will not give in. The Islamic Republic of Iran has many things to say. It has logical reasons. It has power and authority. For this reason, the Islamic Republic does not give in to irrational statements and actions. In what ways are they irrational? The sign of their irrationality is the contradictions between their words and actions. Their words are not in line with their actions. No other piece of evidence can show their irrationality more clearly. A reasonable person makes a convincing comment and then he sticks by it. These men, American politicians and their western followers, are not such people. They say a certain thing and make a certain claim, but they do exactly the opposite of what they have claimed or said. I would like to give a number of examples: They claim that they are committed to human rights. The Americans have raised the flag of human rights. They say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We are committed to human rights not only in our country, America, but also in the entire world.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Well, this is a claim. What have they done in practice? In practice, they inflict the most serious harm on human rights and they hurl the biggest insult at human rights in different countries. Their secret prisons throughout the world, such as their prisons in Guantanamo, in Iraq, in Abu Ghraib and their attack on civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan and in different areas are examples of the Americans\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' claim to support human rights. Based on the news that is reported every day from Afghanistan and Pakistan, their drones both spy for them and pressure the people. Of course, as an American journal said a few days ago, these drones will be a source of trouble for them in the future. They say that they are committed to non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Their pretext for attacking Iraq 11 years ago was that the regime of Saddam wanted to build nuclear weapons in Iraq. Of course, they went there and they did not find anything. It became clear that it was a lie. They say that they are committed to non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. This is while they support an evil government - the Zionist government - which has nuclear weapons and which threatens to use them. That is what they say and this is how they act. They say that they are committed to establishment of democracy in the world - I do not want to speak about the kind of democracy America itself has. Under this claim, they constantly confront the Islamic Republic which has the most genuine democracy in the region. This is while they shamelessly support countries in the region which do not know the first thing about democracy and in which the people have not seen ballot boxes even once. This is their commitment to democracy. Notice how different their words and actions are. They say that they want to resolve their issues with Iran. They have said this many times. Recently, they are speaking about it even more than before. They say that they want to negotiate and resolve their issues with Iran. This is what they say. But in practice, they resort to imposing sanctions and broadcasting negative propaganda. They publish inappropriate and false things about the Islamic Republic and the people of Iran. A few days ago the President of America delivered a speech about the nuclear issue of Iran. He spoke as if the conflict between Iran and America is over Iran\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s decision to build nuclear weapons. He said that they will do everything in their power to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. If we wanted to build nuclear weapons, how would you stop us? If Iran had decided to build nuclear weapons, America would not be able to stop it in any way. We do not want to build nuclear weapons and this is not because this will upset America, rather it is because of our beliefs. We believe that building nuclear weapons is a crime against humanity and they should not be built. Besides, we believe that the existing nuclear weapons should be destroyed. This is our belief. It has nothing to do with you [Americans]. If we did not have this belief and if we decided to build nuclear weapons, no power could stop us, as they could not stop other countries. They could not do this in India, Pakistan and North Korea. The Americans were opposed to development of nuclear weapons in these countries, but they built nuclear weapons. The Americans claim, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We will not let Iran build nuclear weapons.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" This is deceptive talk. Is this an issue of nuclear weapons? Regarding Iran, the issue is not related to nuclear weapons. The issue is that you want to deny Iran its natural and inalienable right to enrich uranium and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes through using its domestic capacities. Of course, you cannot do this either and the Iranian nation will not renounce its right. American politicians make irrational statements. One cannot use logic when he speaks to an irrational person - after all, he is irrational. Irrational means thuggish. It means somebody who speaks nonsense. This is a fact which we have become aware of through our involvement in different global issues. We understand who our opposing side is and how he should be confronted. I have written down a few things to discuss with you dear brothers and sisters and the entire Iranian nation. Of course, these statements are addressed to the people of Iran. When they speak, when the American president speaks, when his companions and followers speak, they want to mislead public opinion -public opinion in the world, in the region or if they can, in our country. At the moment, I do not want to speak about public opinion in the world. The global media network, which is under the domination of the Zionists and the Americans, either does not reflect our statements or it reflects them in an incomplete or distorted way. Therefore, I speak to the people of Iran. The power of the Islamic Republic has nothing to do with public opinion in the world. The Islamic Republic has not gained its power and it has not achieved dignity and glory with the help of public opinion in the world. It has achieved these things with the help of the people of Iran. The firm and solid foundation which the Iranian nation has built and the news of which is quickly spreading throughout the world is based on the Iranian nation itself. I speak to the people of Iran. I will not address other nations, but they can listen if they want to. They can reflect on my statements or not reflect on them. But the people of Iran should know about these things. Therefore, the first point is that they are unreasonable. They speak without believing in what they say and their words and actions are different. The second point is that they have raised the issue of negotiations. They say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Iranian officials should come to us so that we can sit and negotiate.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" The same unreasonable behavior can be seen in their offer of negotiations. Their purpose is not to solve the problems and resolves the issues - I will explain this later. Their purpose is creating hype. They want to say to Muslim nations, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"This was the Islamic Republic with all that intense determination and resistance. But finally, it had to negotiate with us. Even the Iranian nation ended up like this. What can you do?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" They need negotiations in order to suppress countries which have just gained power, in which the breeze of Islamic Awakening has blown, countries which feel they have dignity because of Islam. They want to make these countries hopeless. Since the beginning of the Revolution, this was one of their goals. Since the beginning of the Revolution, one of their goals was to drag Iran to the negotiating table and make it deal with it. One of their goals was to gain the opportunity to say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Did you see that finally Iran - which claimed to be independent and courageous and which claimed that it has stood up against us - was forced to come and sit at the negotiating table?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Today, they pursue the same goal. This is an important issue. When the purpose of negotiations is not resolving the main issues and when the purpose of negotiations is creating hype, it is clear that the opposing side, the Islamic Republic, is not naïve and it has not closed its eyes. It understands what your goal is. Therefore, it responds on the basis of your intentions. The third point is that in the eyes of the Americans and powers which seek domination, the true meaning of negotiations is accepting what they say at the negotiating table. This is their goal of negotiations. They say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Let us sit and talk so that you come to the conclusion that you should accept what you would not accept before.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" They say in their propaganda about negotiations - you may have heard about it - that they should directly negotiate with Iran and they cause a stir and create hype about it. Even the statements they made today clearly conveyed the message that they want to convince Iran to stop enriching uranium and producing nuclear energy. This is their goal. They do not say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Let us sit and negotiate so that Iran can give its own reasons and so that we stop pressuring them, imposing sanctions on them and interfering in political and security issues.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" Rather, they say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"We should negotiate so that Iran accepts what we say.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" This kind of negotiation does not serve any purpose. It will not reach any results. Even if Iran accepts to negotiate and even if our officials sit and negotiate with the Americans, what kind of negotiations is it when their goal is this [making Iran surrender]? It is obvious that Iran will not give up its rights. During negotiations, whenever they see that the opposing side speaks reasonably and they have nothing to say against Iran, they break off negotiations. Then, they say that Iran does not want to negotiate. Political networks as well as news networks are under their control and they broadcast propaganda. We have experienced this. During the past 15 years, two or three times the Americans sent a message about a specific issue. They insisted that there is a very important and a very critical issue and that we should sit and talk with them. Well, executive officials - usually one or two people - went to a certain place and spoke to them. As soon as these officials made their rational statements and the Americans found out that they have no response, the negotiations were broken off unilaterally. Of course, they achieved their propaganda purposes. This is our experience. Well, it is wrong to test something which has been already tested. The fourth point is that they pretend in their propaganda that if Iran sits at the negotiating table and negotiates with America, sanctions will be lifted. This is a lie too. Their goal is to make the people of Iran become eager to negotiate with America by promising to lift sanctions. They think that the people of Iran are exhausted by the sanctions and are frustrated. They think that everything is in a mess and that they can tell us, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Well, come and negotiate with us so that we lift the sanctions.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" They think this will cause the entire Iranian nation to ask them to negotiate. This is also one of their irrational and deceptive statements and it is a tool for bullying. First, as I said, when they ask us to negotiate with them, they do not really mean fair and rational negotiations. Negotiations mean that we should accept what they say and surrender so that they lift the sanctions. If the Iranian nation wanted to surrender, they would not have carried out a revolution. America was dominant over the issues of Iran and it did what it liked. The Iranian people carried out a revolution in order to free themselves from the yoke of America. Now should they surrender to you again? This is the first problem with their offer of negotiations. Another problem is that the sanctions will not be lifted with negotiations. I would tell you that the purpose of sanctions is something else. The purpose of sanctions is exhausting the people of Iran and separating them from the Islamic Republic. Even if negotiations are conducted but our people stay present on the scene and stand up for their rights, sanctions will continue. What will the Iranian nation do to counter this wrong idea that the enemies have? There is an idea in the minds of the opposing sides. Let us elaborate and analyze this idea. They say, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"The Islamic Republic relies on the people. If we manage to separate the people from the Islamic Republic, the power to resist will be taken away from the Islamic Republic.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" This is how the opposing side thinks. Well, this idea has two parts. The first part, that the Islamic Republic relies on the people, is accurate. There is no source of support for the Islamic Republic except the people. The people are the fortifications that protect the country and the Islamic Revolution. The second part, that they thought they can bring the people to their knees by imposing sanctions and bullying them on international, commercial and other such issues, is false. If they think that they can take away this source of support from the Islamic Republic, they are wrong. The Iranian nation will think of some ways to counter what the enemy wants to do. The Iranian nation is looking for economic blossoming, economic progress and complete prosperity. But it does not want to achieve this goal by being humiliated before the enemy. It wants to achieve this goal with its own capabilities, courage, advancements and with the capabilities of the youth. It does not want to achieve this with anything else. There is no doubt that sanctions exert pressures on the people and bother them. But there are two ways to approach these pressures. Weak nations surrender to the enemy when he exerts pressures and they bow and show regret before him. But a brave nation, like the Iranian nation, tries to use its own capabilities as soon as it sees that the enemy is exerting pressures and it tries to pass through the danger zone. And our nation will definitely do this. We have 30 years of experience in this regard. There are certain countries in the region which have been under the domination of America for more than 30 years. The governments in these countries have been servants of America. They have been obedient to America and they have been taking orders from it. What is their position? The Iranian nation has been putting up a resistance against America for more than 30 years. What is the position of the Iranian nation? In the face of 30 years of pressures by America, the Iranian nation has reached such a position - in terms of scientific, economic and cultural progress and in terms of international dignity, political influence and political power - that the people and government officials during the time of Pahlavi and Qajar regimes could not even dream of. We have experienced this. We have tested this. We have stood up against the pressures of America for 30 years. We have such a position. But there are nations which have been under the domination of America for 30 years and they are behind other countries to a great extent. We did not suffer a loss as a result of resisting. Resistance revives the inner strength of a nation. It makes it active. The sanctions which they impose will be helpful to the Iranian nation. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor and grace, sanctions will help the Iranian nation achieve growth and blossoming. This is an important point. Well, you saw what the people did in the rallies. We cannot say that the people have no complaints about the high prices and the existing problems. Prices are high and there are certain economic problems and the people, particularly underprivileged people, feel them. But this did not make the people separate themselves from the Islamic Republic. The people know that the Islamic Republic, dear and powerful Islam and the officials who are committed to Islam, are the powerful hands which can solve the problems. They can solve the problems. Surrendering to the enemies will not solve any problems. The last point is that unlike American politicians, we are reasonable. Our officials are reasonable. Our people are reasonable. We accept rational statements and rational actions. If the Americans show that they will not bully us any more, if they show that they will not commit evil deeds, if they show that they will not say and do irrational things, if they show that they will respect the rights of the Iranian nation, if they show that they will not fuel the fire of discord in the country, if they show that they will not interfere in the internal affairs of Iran - like the interference by supporting those who started the fitna in 1388 - then they will see that the Islamic Republic is benevolent and the people are reasonable. In the fitna of the year 1388, they supported those who started the fitna and they put social networks at the service of these people. In those days, a social network wanted to close down in order to fix some technical problems. They asked the network not to close down so that they could exert influence over the fitna. If they stop doing these things, then they will see that the Islamic Republic is well-wishing. The only way to establish relations with the Islamic Republic is this and there is no other way. They can establish relations with the Islamic Republic in such a way. The Americans should prove that they have good will. They should prove that they are not after bullying. If they prove this, then they will see that the Iranian nation will make an appropriate response. If they do not commit evil deeds, if they do not interfere, if they do not bully and if they acknowledge the rights of the Iranian nation, then an appropriate response will be given by the Iranian nation. I would like to say a few things about the internal issues of our country. This is an important issue. An event took place in the Majlis. It was a bad and inappropriate event. It made both the people and our elites unhappy. I became upset for two reasons. The first is the fact that the event itself happened and the second is the fact that the people are unhappy about this issue. In this event, the head of a certain branch made an accusation against the other two branches on the basis of an unproven allegation which had not even been considered by a court of law. This course of action was bad and inappropriate. These acts are against sharia and the law and they are immoral. They violate the basic rights of the people. One of the basic rights of the people is living in peace and in psychological and moral security. If a person is accused of corruption, one cannot accuse other people on the basis of this accusation. Even if he is found guilty - let alone the current case in which the accused has not been found guilty, he has not been summoned by the court and he has not come to trial - one should not accuse others. Accusing other people, the Majlis and the judiciary branch on the basis of an accusation that has been leveled against another person is an appropriate course of action. It is a wrong course of action. For the time being, I offer a piece of advice. This behavior is not appropriate for the Islamic Republic. On the other hand, the questioning [of the minister] in the Majlis was a wrong course of action. Questioning should serve a certain purpose. What is the purpose of questioning a minister - a few months before the end of this administration\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s term - over an issue which is not related to the minister? Why did they do this? I have heard that inside the Majlis, a number of people said inappropriate things. This course of action was also wrong. All these events are inappropriate for the Islamic Republic. Neither that accusation, nor that behavior, nor that questioning was appropriate. The things which the honorable Speaker of the Majlis said in his own defense were excessive. It was not necessary to do that. We are all brothers. When there is a common enemy in front of us and when we see plots, what should we do? Until today, the officials have always stayed by one another\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s side. Now, too, they should act like this. They should always act like this. I have always supported the officials of the three branches and the officials of the country. I will continue to support each person who has a responsibility. I will help him. But I do not like these acts. This kind of behavior is not in line with the oaths they take and with the promises they make. Take a look at the greatness of the people. These people deserve to be treated in a different way. Today, the officials should focus all their efforts on solving economic problems. Three or four years ago, during a speech which I delivered in the beginning of the year, I explicitly said to the people and the officials that the plot of the enemies of the Iranian nation would be to focus - more than everything else - on our economic issues. Well, you see that the enemies did this. Both the executive branch and the Majlis should focus all their efforts and all their attention on pursuing accurate economic policies. A few years ago, I wrote a letter to the heads of the three branches of government about combating economic corruption. You should combat economic corruption. This problem is not solved by speaking about it. You should combat economic corruption in practice. You repeatedly speak about economic corruption. When did you combat economic corruption? What was done in practice? What did you do in practice? These issues make one distressed. Now that the enemies have increased their hostility, I expect the officials to strengthen their friendship. Piety, piety, piety! We expect the officials to focus all their efforts on solving the problems of the people by exercising patience, by suppressing unrestrained emotions and by taking the issues of the country into consideration. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, this benevolent piece of advice will draw the attention of the officials, particularly high-ranking officials. They should be committed to this issue. I should add another point. The things that I said today and the complaints I made against a number of officials should not make some people shout slogans against such and such people. I am against this course of action. Some people label a certain person as anti-wilayat, anti-insight and anti-whatever. Then they shout slogans against him and create disruption in the Majlis. I am against these moves. I would like to speak openly about these issues. I am against the kind of events which happened in Qom. I am against the kind of events which happened at Imam Khomeini\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s (r.a.) holy shrine. I asked the officials many times to prevent these things. Those who do such things - if they are really hezbollahi and religious - should stop doing them. You can see that we consider these moves as harmful to the country. We do not benefit from them. It is not helpful to set out to shout slogans against such and such people by releasing emotions. These slogans will not solve any problems. Keep this anger and these emotions for the time when it is necessary to express them. During the Sacred Defense Era, if basijis had decided to act at will, then the country would have been destroyed. Discipline and social order are necessary and it is necessary to take certain things into consideration. If these people do not pay any attention to these principles, then they should be treated in a different way. But those who pay attention to these principles and who believe they should not move against sharia, should take care not to make such moves. Thankfully the people of Iran have insight. I would tell you dear youth that the day when we are gone and you are in charge, the situation of the Iranian nation will be much better in terms of material and spiritual prosperity. The Iranian nation is moving towards light. There are bright prospects for us. We should watch our behavior. We should ask Allah the Exalted to help us. We should ask the immaculate souls of our martyrs and the immaculate soul of our magnanimous Imam (r.a.) to help us. By Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s favor, you and I will benefit from the prayers of the Imam of the Age (may our souls be sacrificed for his sake). Greetings be upon you and Allah\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s mercy and blessings. http://english.khamenei.ir//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1744&Itemid=4

[24 Mar 2013] Turkey makes up with PKK at a heavy price to the region - English

While a 94-year old Nelson Mandela lay critical in his hospital bed. British National Party leader Nick Griffin\'s comments on twitter, calling Mandela a murdering old terrorist caused an outcry across the country. Today Nelson Mandela is hailed a hero in Britain, where a statue of him stands tall outside parliament. But that has not always been the case. And Nick Griffin\'s comments reflect exactly the opinion Britain had towards Mandela at the height of the South African struggle against apartheid.

These long queues of vehicles outside the CNG station in the Pakistani capital Islamabad is a grim reminder that the country is in the midst of sever energy crises. Pakistan is exploring several options to meet its future energy needs. One of them is to import natural gas from neighboring Iran. Iran has completed work on its side of the border. However, Pakistan has yet to lay the pipeline on its side. The delay has prompted one of Pakistan\'s senior lawyers to seek the intervention of the Supreme Court to ensure the timely completion of the project.

Iran says it\'s ready to negotiate a comprehensive and final deal on its nuclear energy program. The preliminary accord, which was reached on Sunday, meant to lay the foundations for a comprehensive agreement later this year. Zarif was speaking at Tehran\'s Mehrabad Airport upon arrival back home from Geneva. He said the Iranian nation showed that no one can talk to them through pressure. Zarif also said Tehran\'s right to uranium enrichment is enshrined in the nuclear deal. Based on the interim deal, Iran has agreed to limit the level of its enrichment activities for the next six months in exchange for the easing of sanctions. The foreign minister was given a heroic welcome by the people who\'d gathered at the airport several hours before his arrival.

The UN secretary-general has deplored the use of chemical weapons in Syria and has called on the international community to sanction those responsible for the chemical attacks. Ban Ki-moon\'s statement came a day after a UN report concluded that banned chemical weapons were used at least five times before Damascus agreed to dismantle its arsenal. However, the report did not lay blame for the attacks. The report said evidence indicated chemical weapons were probably used in Khan al-Assal outside Aleppo on March 19 against soldiers and civilians. The government and opposition accused each other of using chemical weapons at Khan al-Assal, and the report said none of the parties in Syria denied their use in the village. Swedish expert Ake Sellstrom, who led the UN investigation team that compiled the report, reminded reporters that the mandate did not allow him to point the finger at anyone.

China has warned the United States to be cautious in its words and actions with regard to territorial disputes involving China and its neighbors. The Chinese Foreign Ministry warning comes amid a diplomatic wrangle over Beijing\\\'s newly announced air defense zone in the East China Sea. Before this, Washington had warned Beijing against imposing an air defense zone over both the South China Sea and East China Sea. US State Secretary John Kerry said recently that Washington would help its regional allies in protecting their territorial waters. China and its neighbors lay similar claims to parts of the strategic and resource-rich seas. The development comes days after Chinese fighter jets chased the US and Japanese military aircraft inside China\\\'s newly declared Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea. Chinese defense authorities say they have sent more fighter jets to the zone. The Chinese air force described the mission as a defensive measure in line with international law. China says foreign aircraft passing through the airspace, including passenger planes, will have to identify themselves to Chinese authorities. The zone includes the skies over islands at the heart of a territorial dispute between Japan and China. China is also locked in territorial rows with the Philippines over wide swathes of the South China Sea and has said it might set up a similar zone there. Senior Chinese officials have repeatedly called on Washington not to take sides over the issue.

Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino who is in Tehran on an official visit has met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. During the meeting, President Rouhani said the level of relations between Iran and Italy is below expectation and all available capacities must be used to expand it. President Rouhani added that Italy has acted as an important partner in its relations with Iran and expressed happiness about Rome\'s willingness to expand ties with Tehran. He added that cooperation between the two sides can lay the foundation of mutual trust between Iran and Europe. Emma Bonino for her part said that Italy\'s interests lie in expanding and developing ties with Iran. She added that Rome is eager to expand relations with Tehran in economic, industrial, energy, tourism and scientific fields.

[21 May 2014] Iran and Russia have stressed the need to promote bilateral cooperation - English

Aisha El-Mekki’s mother didn’t believe in ‘sparing the rod’. She also had a deep respect for teachers, nuns and other authority figures; a respect that never trickled down to her youngest daughter. Discipline was real in the El-Mekki household, so from an early age she and her older sister formed an alliance. They promised not to tell on each other. Sometimes El-Mekki even took a beating for her sister. When she was in first grade, the two were sent away to a private, all-white boarding school. In third grade, El-Mekki was expelled. “As a child, if I got backed into a wall, I would refuse to do whatever you wanted me to do because you were trying to force me.” Upon returning to her home in Philadelphia, El-Mekki’s mother – who worked until five everyday – enrolled her daughter in the neighborhood school. It was around this time that El-Mekki met her best friend, Shakora. The two began spending afternoons together, deepening their friendship and getting into trouble. “One time I was on a bus. It was a Friday afternoon. The bus driver said my pass had expired; that I had to get a transfer…so he gave me a transfer while waiting for the next bus and the next bus was late. We waited for a while. There was a crowd of people by the time the bus came. [The next bus driver] said that my pass had expired and that I needed to get off the bus. Well I didn’t have any more money, so I said, ‘I paid my fare and I will ride.’ This man decided that he was going to send a message. So he stopped a police car and told them that I refused to pay. The police emptied the bus and told the driver to drive to the police station with just me on it….so he drives this empty bus to the police station and they arrested me. And this just infuriated me. My mother had to be called and of course she was just livid….she had to end up getting a lawyer, and had to go court, miss time from work…and eventually it was resolved but I mean they charged me. I had a record. It was ridiculous. That was my first incident with what I consider police brutality…and how they can escalate a situation unnecessarily.” Three years later, El Mekki graduated from an all-girls Catholic high school. It was at this point that she began to question the Trinity. She didn’t want to leave the church; she believed she would go to hell if she did. Still, the questions remained. So she kept her eyes open. After college, El-Mekki decided she wanted to become a social worker. She learned about a group called the Black Panther Party that was organizing programs for the needy. “When I heard about these people feeding children – and I worked on the midnight shift – I said, ‘you know what? I’m gonna go up there’. And there were tables and tables of children being fed cereal and toast, and I was really amazed. People were doing this out of the bottom of their hearts. They weren’t getting paid for it. But they wanted to make sure the children were getting a decent breakfast.” El-Mekki joined the group. At the same time, her religious search continued. “I had an aunt that was Muslim. I used to visit her. She was not aggressive, she was not pushy, she was not trying to convert me. Anytime I had a question, she would answer. Her husband was very nice. And I liked the way her family was so calm. It was so peaceful. And so I would go visit her often. During that time I was in the Black Panther Party, and she didn’t disapprove. Everybody else in my family said, ‘Here she goes again, doing something off the beaten path.’ But not aunt Mariam. One time when we knew that there was going to be a police raid, and we were trying to get the children out because I didn’t want the children to be there. And she just told me to bring them to her house. You know? And I just admired her. I just said wow, if her religion supports revolutionary acts like that, then I want to hear more about it. So she would always be listening to Shaheed Malcolm’s albums. She owned every word he ever said. And she’d often have his records on when I’d go over there. And she gave me his book to read because I was always asking questions about him. And that was like the answer to my prayer. You know? The part where he said that our religion doesn’t teach us to be aggressive, but if you lay a hand on me, then I can send you to the cemetery. And I said, ‘I can do that. That is the religion that I need.’ You know, that allows me to defend myself. That doesn’t encourage me to just constantly turn the other cheek. Nobody else is turning the other cheek. They’re turning the other side of their hand. And so i decided you know what, that’s when I decided Islam was for me because it allowed me to be religious and at the same time, be revolutionary.” innerrevolutions.net