AFP: The Iranian press on Thursday derided US President George W. Bush’s re-election as a victory for violence on the 25th anniversary of the storming of the former American embassy in Tehran. AFP
TEHRAN – The Iranian press on Thursday derided US President George W. Bush’s re-election as a victory for violence on the 25th anniversary of the storming of the former American embassy in Tehran.
“Bush’s victory proves that Americans themselves naturally lean towards violence,” the Siassat Rouz (Politics of the Day) newspaper charged.
“The United States is intrinsically opposed to the Islamic republic on matters such as Israel, the Middle East peace process, nuclear technology, human rights and democracy.”
The paper also said it expected “new hostile measures and new accusations from the United States”.
The United States and its top ally in the Middle East Israel both accuse Tehran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, with Washington wanting to bring the Islamic republic before the UN Security Council to face sanctions.
During his previous mandate, Bush included Iran, along with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and North Korea, in his “axis of evil”.
Ressalat (Mission) predicted a worse-case scenario which would see a “policy of violence disregarding international principles and European alliances”.
The reformist Shargh (East) newspaper said that “The American people have re-elected a man who not only has enemies in Iran and Afghanistan, but also in Iran, France, Germany and even England.”
Reformist paper Etemad (Conference) said Bush as “elected with the help of (Osama) bin Laden”, referring to the important role played by anti-terrorist action in the election, adding that the conservative Washington administration now had another four years to implement its “security doctrine”.
The spokesman for parliament’s influential Foreign Affairs Committee called for a change in policy.
“We hope that Bush will over the next four years reconsider the errors made during the last four, and that he will lead his country on the international stage according to the laws of reason,” moderate conservative MP Kazem Jalili told AFP.
Other Iranian leaders refrained from making any declarations, perhaps in anticipation of Friday prayers, due unusually to be led by the Supreme Guide Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
With cries of “Death to America” Iran on Wednesday began celebrating the hostage-taking of 52 Americans at the former American embassy in Tehran on November 4, 1979, in the early days of the Islamic revolution.
The hostages were held for 444 days, a drama which led to the severing of diplomatic ties in 1980.
