The AP is broadcasting only half of Iran’s ruler, Ayatollah Khameini, in this short wire service story that, unsurprisingly, is not being picked up and distributed widely. At least, not as widely as the AP’s Rosh Hashanah story, which can’t carry the details of the Jewish New Year without contrasting them with the Palestinian hardships in Gaza.
Here’s the angle the AP is taking from the speech:
Khamenei: Iran won’t let Palestinians be alone
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that Iran will stand beside the Hamas government in Gaza and that Israel is weakening and on the path to eventual destruction, state television reported.Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters, called Hamas’ prime minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, a “mujahed”, or holy warrior, saying “the Iranian nation will never let you be alone.”
Khamenei said Israel “has weakened day by day … Today, officials of the Zionist regime acknowledge that they are moving towards weakness, destruction and defeat,” according to state television.
“Definitely, the world of Islam will see that day and hope the existing generation of the Palestinian people will watch the day Palestine is at the disposal of the Palestinian people, in the hands of the landlords,” he said at prayers marking the Islamic Eid al-Fitr holiday that ends the holy month of Ramadan.
And here’s what else he said, that is not being broadcast widely.
Supreme Leader: Muslim world unity to foil enemies’ offensives
Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei here on Wednesday called for unity in the world of Islam, saying it is the only way to confront enemies’ all-out offensives.“Unity in the world of Islam is the only way to counter enemies’ all-out offensives. Since they feel helpless in the face of huge movement of Islamic awakening, enemies resort to discord through lies and deception,” said Ayatollah Khamenei in his `Eid-ul-Fitr’ (Feast of Fast Breaking) sermons at Tehran’s Musalla (Grand Prayers Ground) on Wednesday.
Iran has no intention of stopping work on its uranium enrichment, as these are the words of a leader who sees himself at war with the non-Muslim world.
You would think the AP would find these words at least as newsworthy as the Iranian leader’s commitment to the Palestinians.
Apparently not.