The secretary-general of the Hezbollah-Iran organization, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer Kharrazi, who is an elite member of Iran's Islamic regime,[1] recently published an article on the organization's website discussing the need to reestablish "Greater Iran," stretching from Palestine to Afghanistan and based on the pre-Islamic Persian Empire,[2] as a preparatory stage for the coming of the Mahdi – the Hidden Imam (the Shi'ite Messiah). In his article, Ayatollah Kharrazi stresses Iran's superiority over the Arabs and the other peoples in the region.
Ayatollah Kharrazi sets out in detail Hezbollah-Iran's manifesto.[3] The first stage involves the establishment of Greater Iran on the territory of the ancient Persian Empire; it will include the various ethnic groups and peoples in the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Afghanistan, and create a union of Islamic states, led by Iran. The unification of the states and peoples of these regions into Greater Iran will not be carried out by military occupation, he says, but peaceably, as in the case of the European Union.[4]
In subsequent stages, he writes, the Iranian Empire will face the transregional unions that belong to the 'arrogance' – i.e. the U.S. and Russia – and will unify the oppressed (mustazafin) into a global village to stand against the arrogant, in advance of the establishment of a global government headed by the Mahdi.
Ayatollah Kharrazi also discusses the question of why the Koran appeared in Arabic, not in Persian, and why the figures holy to Shi'ite Muslims, i.e. the Prophet himself and the Twelve Imams, were all Arabs, not Persians – in a way that reveals his hostility and arrogance towards the Arabs.
In his article, Ayatollah Kharrazi goes beyond the traditional Islamic-Shi'ite values of the Islamic Republic of Iran – chiefly, velayat-e faqih, or "rule of the jurisprudent," and belief in the messianic deliverance of the Shi'ia by the Hidden Imam (Mahdi) – and lays out the foundations of Greater Iran based on pre-Islamic Iranian-Persian nationalism and on pre-Islamic Persian empires, defining all the peoples who lived in those lands as Iranians.
Following are excerpts from his article: [5]
Arabic – An Inferior Language; Arabs – The Greatest Infidels
Ayatollah Kharrazi first discusses the superiority of the Persian people, language, and culture relative to the ignorance of the Arabs during the jahiliyya (i.e. pre-Islamic period), explaining: "...The Koran was given in Arabic, [of all languages], not because of [Arabic's] superiority and its preferred status over the other languages, but in order to inspire the Jahili Arabs who were without religion, [and] who had nothing [of worth] except the Arabic language, so that they could know the wonders of the Koran in the poorest of the world's languages [i.e. Arabic].
"[Likewise,] Ahl Al-Bayt [members of the Prophet Muhammad's family]... from Abraham to the Mahdi, appeared in Arab society [of all societies], so that the wondrous existence [of Ahl Al-Bayt and the Koran] would be revealed... [even] to the greatest contrarians on earth, the hypocrites [munafekin] and the great infidels among them... And the greatest infidels and the biggest hypocrites [on earth] are the Arabs.
"Persian is the most superior language of the dwellers of Paradise, while Arabic is the most inferior of their languages – and if this were not so, Persian would not have been designated by the Prophet Muhammad as the language of love and [the language] in which the truths of the Koran are explained..."
Iran – The Homeland of Islam and of Muslims Worldwide
"Ahl Al-Bayt's full cooperation with [the four] early Righteous Caliphs, with the Ummayad caliphs and with the Abbassid caliphs in the conquest of Iran; the eastward and westward spread from Iran in the days of 'Ali [the first imam in the Shi'a], and the revered appearance of Hassan and Hussein [the second and third imams in the Shi'a], which are among [the foundations] of the Iranians' belief... as well as the Iranians' recruitment by Ahl Al-Bayt to play such an impressive role in the Islamic empire in the region at that time... – [all these] are a sign that Iran is the homeland of Islam and of Muslims across the world, and of all the peoples and nations of [the monotheistic] religions as well as the other nations... [Just like] 'Lesser Iran' is [homeland] to those who emigrated to the rest of the regions of the world, [so all the nations in these regions] must be likewise defined... geographically and territorially, as part of 'Greater Iran.'"
Kharrazi now enumerates further facts that, in his opinion, prove that Greater Iran is the true homeland of the Muslims: "The transfer [of the center of the Shi'ite spiritual world] from [the city of] Najaf [in Iraq] to [the city of] Qom [in Iran]; the emergence of the Shi'ite regime of velayat-e faqih [i.e., the 'rule of the jurisprudent,'] from Qom in Iran...; the export of the banner of the Islamic revolution and the bringing together of the factions of Islam based on love for Ahl Al-Bayt; Wahhabism's current political-military link to the oppositional and satanic U.S. and British regimes, as well as [Wahhabism's] penetration of the Arab and even the Islamic world; the emergence of an axis of resistance, of truth against lies, and religion against anti-religion – centered around the resistance of Iran under velayat-e faqih to Zionist Judaism – and the undoubted importance of [the decree] of Imam [Ayatollah] Khomeini and of the leader of the Islamic revolution today [i.e. Ali Khamenei] that Israel must be annihilated – all these are evidence of a reality in which 'Greater Iran' is the homeland of the Muslims... [and of] all other peoples. Moreover, [Greater Iran] is the one fighting the cancerous growths of Wahhabism, Ba'thism, pan-Arabism, and Israel, which have emerged on its borders, in order to remove them or destroy them."
The Very Existence of the Iranian Regime is Contingent upon the Elimination of Israel
"The very existence of our velayat-e faqih regime is contingent upon the elimination of the corrupt 'factions'[6] mentioned above [i.e. Wahhabism, Ba'thism, pan-Arabism, and Israel] and on the elimination of Israel; and it falls to our oppressed nation within Lesser Iran, and to it alone, to pay any political, military, economic, or social price in the struggle to eliminate and destroy [these 'factions'] and their homeland – Israel."
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Here Ayatollah Kharrazi adds several additional fundamental principles:
"1. Your being Arab, Azeri, Kurd, Baluchi, Luri, Turkmen, Persian, Tajik, Caucasian, Afghan, or anything else [is of no significance]. None of these [in themselves] are considered Iranian, because Iran is the sum total of the abovementioned peoples. The [nation]-states of the above peoples, which today border Iran, are actually territory that was severed from the state [that is, from Greater Iran] – a separation that was the result of a scheme by the other religions or by the historical plunderers due to the weakness of Iran's rulers at that time.[7]
"The fact that a small part of these peoples live today within Lesser Iran indicates that they might exist [again] in harmony as part of Greater Iran; for the need to return the peoples to the bosom of their true mother[land, Greater Iran], has already been mentioned above... For the same reason, the Arabism of all the Arabs in the Arab world today means that they are Iranians – just as the Lurism of all the Luris, the Turkmenism of all the Turkmen, the Baluchism of all the Baluchis, the Turkishness of all the Turks... and the Caucasianism of all the Caucasians means that they are Iranians.
"2. The payment being made solely by the Iranian nation, its government, and its leaders to cover the expenses of the struggle against America and Israel is derived from our nationhood and our Iranianness – just as our nationhood and our Iranianness also obligate us to accept the [principle] of velayat-e faqih and the rule of the Ahl Al-Bayt. Accordingly, just as the Iranian nation cannot tolerate part of Khozestan being separated from it... and is [therefore] working to defend it from the oppressing world of the arrogance, [the Iranian nation] must defray the costs of the wars being fought by the Iranian nation of Lebanon and by the Iranian nation of Palestine – [since these nations] lived under Iranian rule centuries ago.[8]
"Of course, [these peoples in Lebanon and Palestine] must know that they are not considered [fully] Iranian, but that their peoples' identification with Iran [is based on their once having been] part of Greater Iran. Thus they were once defined, and thus they must [continue] to be defined. Likewise, it must be known that the strategy of Hezbollah[-Iran] and of its future governments is not only [a strategy] of struggle against demands by some of the abovementioned peoples who are [fighting for] independence from Lesser Iran, but [is also a strategy] of returning all these peoples to the bosom of the homeland and establishing a Greater Iran.
"3. The return of the Iranian peoples to their homeland, Greater Iran, constitutes in effect the restoration and reattachment of limbs amputated from the original body. It is absolutely impossible for this to be accomplished by military force, as former attempts have shown; instead, all political, propaganda, cultural, social, and even economic means must be used, so that the era of return will be achieved in the best, friendliest, and safest way – as the Europeans and the Americans did and continue to do to establish the unity of their states [that is, the European Union and the United States of America].
"4. In order to attain the maximal relationship [among these peoples], there is [also] a need... to reorganize and reclassify all the Iranian groups of peoples and tribes – not just to renew past genetic and cultural ties between the peoples that were separated from Iran and those within the borders of today's Lesser Iran.
"Any confederate or federal regime of any kind with a capital outside the borders of today's Lesser Iran must be avoided. There is also a need not only to build cadres and human resources, but [also] to found a movement for a spontaneous [self-motivated] return to today's Lesser Iran by the peoples separated from Greater Iran. Rehabilitation, modernization, and the conquest of all the peaks of religious and national knowledge are not the only [religious] requirements incumbent upon the individual; the inclusion of the states of the abovementioned peoples under the regional unity [of Greater Iran] is also essential, in order for them to be ultimately incorporated [into Greater Iran]. It is [also] necessary to regain the lands that were cut off [from Greater Iran] by means of engaging and speaking with today's global superpowers."
Based on the above principles, Kharrazi states that "establishing Greater Iran will also have other ramifications:
"1. It will create a proportional balance between the population and territory [of Greater Iran] and the population and territory of the [regions controlled by] the Western arrogance [i.e., the U.S.] and the Eastern arrogance [i.e., Russia].
"2. It will be a forceful presence in the Security Council and all other international organizations.
"3. It will create the maximal proximity between the borders of the area under the rule [of the jurisprudent] and the political and geographical boundaries of the regions controlled by the arrogance.
"4. It will [assist] the countries on the front of the struggle with the arrogance, and spare them the need to bear the cost [of this struggle].
"5. It will maximize the production areas, the jurisdiction and the revenues of Iran and the region under the rule of the jurisprudent, and will transform the Shi'ite Crescent into a trapezoid under the rule of the jurisprudent.
"6. It will redress the complaint [of Iranians] who object to the fact that 'Lesser Iran' must bear the cost of the struggle to eliminate Israel [relying] solely on its own resources. Establishing Greater Iran will [make it easier] to bear these costs."[9]
The author concludes by spelling out the connection between his territorial-national perceptions and the Shi'ite belief in the coming of the Mahdi:
"This strategic perception of Hezbollah[-Iran] constitutes a preliminary step towards establishing a union of Islamic states, which in turn is a preliminary step towards establishing a global village of the oppressed [as opposed to the 'world of the arrogance']. This in turn will herald the establishment of a global government under the rule of the Mahdi. Thus, the establishment of Greater Iran is undoubtedly a necessity for pleasing the Mahdi, and the Period of Anticipation[10] will not end unless we implement the four principles listed above."
[1] Kharrazi is brother-in-law to Mas'oud Khamenei, son of Iranian Supreme Leader 'Ali Khamenei, and also the brother of Sadeq Kharrazi, former Iranian Ambassador to France and current director of the Iran Diplomacy website.
[2] The "Persian Empire" is a general term for all of the dynasties that ruled in the region between the 7th century BCE until the Islamic conquest in the 7th century CE, including the Achaemenid dynasty to which Cyrus the Great belonged, as well as the Sassanid and Parthian dynasties.
[3] In the June 2009 presidential elections, Hezbollah-Iran did not support Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, claiming that only clerics should be allowed to hold the office of president. Parsine.com (Iran), May 16, 2010.
[4] Ayatollah Kharrazi also refers to the U.S. as another example of union by peaceful means, not military force.
[5] Hizbullah-Iran website (Iran), May 15, 2010.
[6] The author is using a term from the time of the Prophet Muhammad, in early Islam, to define the opposition.
[7] The author is referring to the weakness of the kings of the Qajar dynasty (1796-1925), who lost the Caucasus and Central Asia (including Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Georgia, Armenia and Nakhchivan) to Czarist Russia in two humiliating treaties: The Treaty of Golestan in 1813 and the Treaty of Turkemenchay in 1828.
[8] Here the author incorporates into the history of Islamic Iran areas and peoples who were part of pre-Islamic Persian empires. He thus grants "Iranianness" dimensions beyond those of Islam which are based on the notion of ancient Iranian territories and ethnic nationality.
[9] Note that this contradicts article 4 on the list, which promises that Greater Iran will spare other countries from bearing the cost of the struggle. The author apparently wants to appease the "domestic opposition" opposed to the heavy political and economic price of Iran's struggle against Israel.
[10] According to the Shi'ite belief, we are currently living in the Period of Entezar, i.e., anticipation for the coming of the Mahdi, which will end with his arrival.
