Iranian professors: VP morally reprehensible
Iranian academics condemn remarks by Iranian VP that blamed Zionists, Talmud for global drug trade, genocide
A group of eight Iranian academics have issued a statement in which they “categorically” condemned recent anti-Semitic remarks made by Iranian Vice President Mohammad-Reza Rahimi, who said that the Israelis were responsible for the global drug trafficking.
Last Tuesday, during a speech at an anti-drug conference in Tehran, Rahimi blamed the Talmud for the expansion of illegal drugs around the world, saying the "Zionists" were responsible for the world's major drug trade. "If one seeks what lies behind all forms of corruption, there is the repugnant face of Zionists. This is the same case for the narcotics trade ... whose primary operator is the Zionist regime," he said.
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"These are baseless allegations, that contradict the interests of the Iranian people and government," wrote the professors in a letter published Sunday.
"It is shameful that these individuals persistently ignore their duties to the people of Iran and become conduits of propagating tired conspiracy theories emanating from idiotic minds," the professors wrote.
"Ignores his duty for the Iranian people." Vice President Rahimi (Photo: Reuters)
The professors, identified with the Iranian reformist movement, further said that “such allegations are certain to add to the risk of crippling embargos and increase the threat of military attack on Iran.”
The authors said that the “overwhelming majority” of Iranians had “made it clear that they do not recognize the present government of Iran and its functionaries as their representatives in the international arena.”
The letter was signed by Professor Ardeshir Amir Arjomand from Shahid Beheshti University; Professor Hamid Dabashi from Columbia University; Nader Hashemi, an assistant professor at the University of Denver; Mohsen Kadivar, a visiting professor at Duke University; Professor Ali Mirsepasi from New York University; Professor Mansoor Moaddel from the University of Michigan; Professor Ahmad Sadri from Lake Forest College; and Professor Mahmoud Sadri from Texas Woman’s University
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