“It’s not every day that a nation gets to see the empathetic side of its political leadership,” said Professor Yuhav Somgall, who studies the Islamic Republic.
Isfahan, May 9 – Imprisoned Iranians being held for trying to defend human and civil rights in their country are moved by the Supreme Leader’s sudden interest in the welfare of African-Americans, say the activists’ representatives.
Amid the riots and continuing racial tensions in Baltimore, a representative of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took to Twitter with messages scolding the US for its treatment of colored people. As a result, the hundreds of activists jailed for working to secure various freedoms the West takes for granted said they were genuinely touched by the leader’s remarks.
“It’s ridiculous that even though US President is black, still such crimes against US blacks continue to occur,” tweeted the Supreme Leader, whose government and police routinely arrest and torture people for expressing dissent. Many of those arrested said they had no idea Khamenei was such a sensitive, empathetic person.
“I’ve been held for eight months without trial, ostensibly for insulting the regime,” said Ali Jafavidi. “I’ve been subjected to physical torture, threats to my family, baseless accusations of sedition, and inhumane psychological pressure, all in the name of silencing those who dare to imply the current leadership is not Allah’s gift to Iran. But you know, I’m just touched that the man behind all this abuse might actually have a caring heart after all.”
Shirin Ghassabian, who filmed security forces brutally arresting the elderly mother of a dissident, has been regularly subjected to beating, rape, starvation, and isolation, but found herself soften somewhat when she heard of Khamenei’s tweets. “I might have an incomplete picture of the man,” she admitted through swollen, bloody lips and a now-toothless mouth.
“It’s not every day that a nation gets to see the empathetic side of its political leadership,” said Professor Yuhav Somgall, who studies the Islamic Republic. “Especially when heightened tensions over the country’s nuclear ambitions and its involvement in multiple proxy wars would normally invite expressions of toughness and resolve, not sensitivity to the plight of the American black. In a way it’s refreshing.”
The feelings of pleasant surprise have by no means been restricted to human rights activists in Iran itself. “We welcome the Ayatollah’s heartfelt concern for generations of American persons of color,” said Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth. “Our measure of the man and his regime may have to shift in light of this new series of tweets that are simply touching. Almost poetic.”
Not everyone, however, is pleased with the Supreme Leader’s tweets, notably the heads of Iran’s rivals in the region, notably Saudi Arabia. “It is disingenuous for Khamenei to be expressing solidarity with American blacks and pointedly omitting the everyday degradation and oppression suffered by our Palestinian brethren under brutal Zionist occupation,” said a spokesman for King Salman. “He used to invoke their plight daily. now it appears he has bigger fish to fry, even though the population about which he seems so worried is primarily composed of infidels and criminals,” said the spokesman, whose government and its Arabian Gulf allies exploit blacks and other immigrants as slave labor.
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