Iran from the truth

In the wake of the destruction of the Golden Dome in Samarra, Iran, who can always be counted on to be the voice of reason in the region, blamed this atrocious act on..., wait for it, the United States and Israel.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed the United States and Israel yesterday for the blowing up of a Shi'ite shrine's golden dome in Iraq, and offered Iran's help in rebuilding the dome.
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"They invade the shrine and bomb there because they oppose God and justice," Ahmadinejad said, referring to the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq. These passive activities are the acts of a group of defeated Zionists and occupiers who intended to hit our emotions," the president said in a speech broadcast on state television.

Iran's foreign minister joined in on the fun.

Iran's foreign minister denounced the United States for creating terror groups like Al-Qaeda and reaffirmed Tehran's support for a united Iraq following escalating violence there between Shiite and Sunni Muslims, AFP reported.

Manouchehr Mottaki, reacting to Wednesday's bombing of a key Shiite mosque in the Iraqi city of Samarra, said "some hands" were working to stoke ethnic and religious unrest "not only in Iraq but in the Islamic world".
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Mottaki also sharply criticised the United States for its role in the current global terrorism crisis, suggesting that it had a hand in creating today's extremists with its cold war support of militant Muslim groups.

"Unfortunately, our region is affected by terrorist groups like the Taliban, like Al-Qaeda, but the main question is, who was the cause of the establishment of such groups in our region?" he said.

"They have offered specifically, the United States, all their support, and then they have started to fight with them."

It does sound especially nutty, but I think there's a somewhat rational reason for making this statement.

These attacks were most likely committed by Zarqawi and Al Qaeda in Iraq, seeking to provoke a sectarian civil war.

Iran is a Shiite nation, and reveres this mosque as well. Iran is the chief supporter of terrorism in the world, but Iran would not countenance destroying the Golden Dome.

So, Iran is quick to blame the US and Israel so Iran won't have to answer the uncomfortable question of why Iran is supporting the people who did destroy the dome.

Zarqawi has been in and out if Iran, and as Dan Darling writes in a recent Weekly Standard article, Iran is most likely harboring senior Al Qaeda officials.

"Iran continues to host senior al Qaeda leaders who are wanted for murdering Americans and other victims in the 1998 East Africa Embassy bombings. We have called repeatedly for these terrorists to be handed over to states that will prosecute them and bring them to justice. We believe that some al Qaeda members and those from like-minded extremist groups continue to use Iran as a safe haven and as a hub to facilitate their operations."

So said a high State Department official in a speech in Washington on November 30. The assertions by Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns were nothing new. Though often overlooked, they have been the position of the U.S. government for some time. As discussion of Iran's nuclear program and its hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad intensifies, Iranian aid to al Qaeda should not be allowed to drop off the radar screen.

Hence, Iran probably doesn't want to have to explain to its Shiite population why it has been supporting the nutbars that blew up one of Shiites' most revered sites.

Turn the peoples' anger on the United States and Israel. Pay no attention to the aid to Al Qaeda over here.