Iranian Foreign Ministry Blames BBC and VOA for Violence in the Country

June 22, 2009 (LPAC)—Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan Qashqavi pinned the blame for the recent post-election turmoil across the country on U.S. and British media outlets. "Voice of America (VOA) and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) are state-funded channels and not privately run. Their budgets are ratified in the U.S. Congress, as well as the British Parliament. The two channels serve as mouthpieces of their respective governments," Qashqavi stated on Saturday.

He noted that the two news outlets seek to stir up ethnic discord across Iran in the hope of fomenting the country's disintegration.

What Qashqavi failed to mention is that, while the VOA has no correspondents inside Iran, the BBC has had almost exclusive access to the streets of the country's capital, manipulating and falsifying the information going abroad.

"Any sort of contact with the said channels either through e-mail or telephone runs against national Iranian sovereignty and is considered as an act of enmity towards the Iranian nation. The channels act as command posts engineering the ongoing post- election riots," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman noted.

The BBC, in its television broadcasts and website, has created a post where Iranians and others inside Iran can send reports and pictures of the riots and information on where these riots are taking place.

Iranian Security Find Direct Link to London

June 22, 2009 (LPAC))—Iranian security officials say they have found a direct connection between London and the violence that has emerged in the past two days in Iran. Iranian security officials reported Saturday that they have identified and arrested a large number of Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) members who were involved in recent riots in Iran's capital. The website of the Iranian television channel Press TV reported today, that according to the security officials, the arrested members had confessed that they were extensively trained in Iraq's Camp Ashraf to create post-election mayhem in the country.

They also revealed that they have been given directions by the MKO command post in Britain. Street protests broke out after defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi rejected President Ahmadinejad's decisive win in the June 12 election. His supporters have staged a series of illegal rallies ever since.

Iran's deputy police commander warned on Saturday against the mass gatherings, asserting that those who engage in any such actions would be severely reprimanded.

Press TV states that on Saturday, MKO leader Maryam Rajavi had supported the recent wave of street violence in Iran during a Saturday address to supporters in Paris.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki Attacks Britain

June 22, 2009 (LPAC)—In the most direct and detailed attack on the British Empire by an Iranian official, following Iranian supreme religious leader Ali Khamenei's description of Britain as the greatest evil in his Friday prayer sermon two days ago, Foreign Minister Manushehr Mottaki blasted the British on several accounts: 1. Training terrorists to launch attacks inside Iran, 2. Involvement in the current destabilization following the election, 3. Spreading disinformation, and 4. Playing a historical role as the main enemy of the Iranian nation and its neighbors, including helping to increase drug production in Afghanistan. Mottaki was speaking in a briefing he gave at the Foreign Ministry to foreign diplomats. Here is a translation of quotes and paraphrases as reported on the Iranian Arabic-language television channel Al-Alam:

Foreign Minister Mottaki accused Britain today of playing the role of the saboteur in the current events in Iran, confirming that the British occupation forces in Iraq have been training special individuals to carry out bombings inside Iran.

Mottaki said: The recent period witnessed the flow of persons from Britain to Iran to directly influence the course of events.

Mottaki called on Britain to forget the slogan, The Empire on whom the sun never sets, reminding Britain that it was the one who planted the Israeli entity in the region, played a key role in the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and took over the administration of drug production in Afghanistan.

He stated that France, Britain, and Germany are risking their nations' interests by interfering in Iranian domestic affairs, and said: We regret that some stances are not fitting the peoples of some nations, including France, which has supported the separatists and conspirators against the Islamic revolution, and had also supported Saddam Hussein in his war (against Iran).

He added: The westerners are trying to impose their conditions and descriptions of democracy on other countries, referring to the different colored revolutions, that he meant should be analyzed by experts to find out who is standing behind them, adding that there are countries that, if they don't reach their goals this way, would resort to physical liquidation.

Taking on Britain directly, Mottaki said: Britain was the cause of insurrection, disputes, and conflicts in Iran in the past decades. They also supported Saddam in his war against Iran, and joined the United States to occupy Iraq without any legal justification.

Mottaki said: London trained specific individuals in Basrah (southern Iraq) to carry out bombings in Iran, and the British forces in Afghanistan supported the production of drugs which led to the increase of production manifold.

Mottaki also pointed to Britain's threats against Iran concerning Iran's nuclear program through its role in the 5 + 1 group. He also accusing Britain of playing a key media, spying, and official role in the recent elections in Iran. He explained that the first step the British undertook was to encourage people to boycott the elections. Many people came from Britain to affect the course of events in the country. Britain has to realize that its interference in other nations' affairs is contributing to the increasing hostility against it.

Iranians Intensify Attack on the British

June 22, 2009 (LPAC)—Iranian officials and state-run mass media have intensified their attack on Britain as the source of the crisis and destabilization in recent days, including terrorist attacks, riots, and media disinformation campaigns. This has put the spotlight more intensively than ever in the region, on what Lyndon LaRouche has been pointing to as the source of historical and current evils, the British Empire.

Iranian officials have declared that Britain has been the source of terrorist groups such as the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), who have been running terror operations from a command room in London. Iranian Arabic language television channel Al-Alam interviewed arrested MKO terrorists who confirmed that they were receiving instructions from London. Al-Alam also played a phone conversation between a woman (Persian speaking) giving instructions to one of the leaders of the rioters in Tehran on what to do (attacking Baseej headquarters, burning buses and gas stations) and where to attack in the city, and how these attacks would be videotaped and sent to her, so she can send the material to Reuters and the CNN.

It is obvious from the reports on the ground in Tehran, that the call made by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to stop the demonstrations was accepted by the opposition reformist candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi. The footage shown in international media channels clearly shows that the rioters are small groups of 50-100 individuals whose main activity is to burn buildings, buses, and cars. These are the ones that are clearly directed from London. The British Broadcasting Corporation is spreading false information that the wife of Mousavi is leading these riots from her Facebook site.

Iranian parliamentarians are complaining about the appearance of plainclothesmen pretending to be pro-government security or Baseej militias. The same could also be foreign-controlled elements who can carry out sabotage and terror activities, muddying the waters in the internal conflict.