Khamenei, stop the killing!

The cost of Freedom for the Iranian people. Khamenei, stop the killing!                           

As the world watches on national television, Iranians on the streets of Iran are protesting against the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, and his order to shoot to kill people of Iran.

As a devout Muslim and follower of the Twelve Imams of Shiah, as an educated Iranian and as one who  survived the 1978 Iranian  revolution as a child, I and my NGO, Iranfuture.org,  have a moral obligation to the Iranian people.    

We urge the Supreme leader to stop the killing of innocents and excusing the crime for religious reasons.  There are no religious laws being broken and all the mullahs in the world cannot declare enough Fatwas to justify the murder of Iranian protestors.  The government of Iran has been shutting down all national television and using exactly the same tactics the Shah of Iran used against protesters three decades ago.  

Khamenei, a benefactor of 1978 revolution, will use the Shah’s brutal tactics to preserve power for as long as he can.   Opening fire on the youth protestors and blaming it on someone else is an ignorant political ploy that may have served previous dictators in the history of Iran but it will not fool anyone as a religious reasons coming from a so-called Ayatollah.  Khamenei, who compares himself to Ali, the First Imam of Shiah, ignores the core value of Islam that says, “You cannot and shall not kill anyone except in defense of Islam.” Khamenei misinterprets and misuses the power of the Koran for political reasons.  Protestors on the street are not asking for religious change in Iran. They are demanding their right to vote in an honest election and for their right to freedom.  

As Ayatollah Montazeri, who lived under house arrest for many years, indicated in his message to the armed forces of Iran, The fact that you just had an order to shoot, is not a good enough excuse for a Muslim to shoot another.  Khamenei may consider himself an Ayatollah, but his behavior is more similar to that of dictators without morals.  Shah created one Black Friday in Iran’s history. For the past several days, Iran has witnessed a daily succession of Black Fridays.   Today, a girl just walking down the street in Tehran was shot to death, live on Twitter, The sniper attacks against Iranians and the ruthless Bassij and Sepah may be providing excuses for their leader but they and Khamenei should remember that when history’s pages turn, there is very little any government can do against an enraged population.  The IRI government must understand that the corruption of Rafsanjani and his ilk that does not justify killing innocent protesting youth and university students.   

Reports from Iran are that as many as 150 people have been killed in the past few days.  Iranfuture.org’s message to Khamenei is:  You are not sinless and cannot justify your lust for power as the will of God and you cannot wash the blood of innocents from your hands, no matter how much you try.   Stop the shooting, and allow the peaceful protestors to state their rights.  If the will of the people is for you to step down, do so, but do not imagine for a second that you can still wear the garb of Prophet Mohammad with the blood of innocents on you soul. After all, as you indicated in Friday Prayers on June 19, 2009, you have nothing to give to people but a paralyzed body.  Do not make the same mistakes the Shah did!   He wasn’t an Ayatollah. You are and will pay a hefty price in the after life for demeaning your position in this one.     

We are mourning our brothers and sisters in Iran. In their honor, we are giving our hand to Iranians inside Iran and bow to their courage. We will use our media connections and Intel to help them in any way possible. We will distribute this letter among Iranians inside and outside Iran and we ask the Ayatollahs of Qom to put aside their differences and issue a Fatwa that forces the Supreme Leader and anti protest forces to stop the killing of innocent.    

If the Ayatollahs of Qom decide to take a silent vow on this matter, we wish to warn them that they have a religious and humane responsibility to take a stand against the ongoing atrocity. Sooner or later, there will be a day when they have to face God and answer for their crimes against innocent people.  The killing of Iranian protestors is not justified for religious reasons.

Ghazal Omid,  Shiah Islam Scholar, founder of Iranfuture.org

June 20, 2009