Friday Prayers across Iran: Arbaeen and America
(Tehran's Friday prayers. Arash Mirsepasi/YJC)
This week’s Friday prayers across Iran addressed the annual march of Arbaeen, the Shia procession taking place in Iraq, and US’ elections.
In Tehran, Mohammad Emami-Kashani, sermonizer of Tehran’s Friday prayers, hailed turnout in this year’s march of Arbaeen, calling it a response to Imperialism and its crimes.
Besides millions of Iraqi Shias, hundreds of thousands of Iranians have traveled to Iraq since last week, walking towards the holy city of Karbala in southern Iraq to commemorate the 40th day after the death of Imam Hussein, the third Shia Imam, on the day of Ashura in 680 AD.
Meanwhile in Isfahan, Ayatollah Mahdavi called the march of Arbaeen “the key to survival of Iran and the Islamic Republic” and “a symbol of … anti-imperialism”.
Friday prayers’ leaders across the country followed the official line of downplaying the impact of US presidential election results on Iranian affairs. “As the Supreme Leader has said, we do not care who becomes the US president. The important thing is to see what they did and are doing against Islamic countries” said Mohammad-Emami Kashani in Tehran. In Qazvin, northwest of Tehran, Hojjatoleslam Ghabel, this week’s Friday prayers’ leader of the city, called the 2016 US presidential election a total show of “degeneracy, villainy and wickedness” in which American citizens voted candidates who could not defend themselves against charges of corruption.
In the meantime, in Mashhad, Ahmad Alamolhoda criticized the European Union’s efforts to open a permanent office in Tehran. Without giving any details, Alamolhoda spoke of a ten-article document drafted by an unspecific organization, probably the EU, which seeks compromise all domestic and diplomatic red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran: from FATF, to guaranteeing energy security for the West, to ceasing support of Hezbollah, and putting a lid on Iran’s missile program. Iran’s foreign ministry has agreed with the content of this document, Alamolhoda claimed, only to be stopped by the judiciary from any further progress.