(New York Post) Amir Taheri - With his speech at the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Tehran, Egypt's new president, Muhammad Morsi, drew a line in the sand against Iran. First, the Egyptian leader took care not to allow any hint of anti-Americanism. Next, he asserted that the uprising in Syria is "an extension of the Arab Spring" - not "an American-Zionist conspiracy," as Khamenei claims - and threw Egypt's support behind the uprising. To Khomeini-Khamenei Shiites, Sunni Muslims are "deviants," partly because they venerate the first caliphs of Islam - Abu-Bakr, Omar and Osman. In the Khomeinist version, all three betrayed the Prophet by preventing his cousin Ali from succeeding him. Morsi in his speech saluted "the Prophet and his successors," naming the first caliphs, one by one. The sound of those three names would send shockwaves down the spine of any mullah who has one. Not surprisingly, Tehran television interrupted its live broadcast of Morsi's address with a gas-company ad.
2012-08-31 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive