Iran takes further step to theocracy; 9 Kurds executed

          
          5/27/2011
          Article - Untitled Article
          Publication: Guardian 1821-2000; Date: Sep 14, 1979; Section: None; Page: 8
          Draft constitution invests
          supreme powers in Khomeini
          Iran takes further
          1ëjj to theocracy
          From Liz Thurgood
          in Tehran
          iran has taken another step
          tow rds a Government of theo-
          logians by investing supreme
          religious 1 and by implication
          political, authority in Ayatollah
          Khomeini.,
          The decision, contained in
          article five of the country 's
          draft Constitution, was
          announced yesterday Of the 65
          council memhers present, only
          eight opposed the move and
          tour abstained.
          The article paved the way
          for legalisiug the position of
          Ayaioilah Khomeini as inn's
          Bead of SValt , Should the
          lion Sa lt vacant, a council of
          - - - C - -
          NINE more people were cxc-
          euted in Jran yesterday, for
          olfences —Including heroin
          smuggling and sodomy the
          executions took place In cen-
          tral Hamedam Province, the
          North-eastern town of Gone
          bad-Kavus, the •Kurdlsh city
          of Sanandaj, aM L b 1 .. tan of
          Baneh.—Reuter ,
          )imit on the pDsition has been
          set.
          Article five, as stated: “Dur-
          ing the absence of Imarn
          Mehcti. the command and ret-
          gious Leadership of the Islamic
          republic of Iran ‘will be
          entrusted to r—lTJst. enligh-
          tened. courageous. arid wise
          man who has been recognised
          and. accepted by the majority
          of the peopLe.
          “In cases where one person
          does not (command) such a
          majority, a council of qualified
          jurisprudents fulfilling the
          above conditions will be
          formed. The members of the
          council will be determined by
          law.”
          _______ According to an expert of
          Islamic law: “Article five
          gives the country's leader
          supreme religious authority
          and virtually uncontested sup
          port in dealing with State m M-
          ters.” Another dcscrib.ed the
          position as “unprecedented in
          the Shi'it.e Moslem religious
          hierarchy.”
          clergymen would be authorised
          to take over.
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          5/27/2011
          Article - Untitled Article
          The announcement supported The new position has drawn
          recent leaks from the Council little erifteism. Only Mr Rarna-
          of Experts (Maj1is-e4Chebpe tollah Moghaddam-Maraghaic,
          gan), that supreme power In one of 18 secular experts has
          Iran would be invested not in pointed out the possible pit'faHs.
          a President or Prime Minister, “How can we be sure in the
          but in a higher body of theolo- future that we will have a
          glans. National sovereignty was leader like Imam Khomeini? ”
          also expected to be switched
          from the people to Allah. dra-
          matiea].lv lowering the status
          of the Iranian Parliament as a
          legislatory body.
          The new post (Vetayat-e-
          Fa liih), was seen as an Inte-
          gral part of the Shi'ite Moslem
          faith embraced by the majority
          of Iran 's 35 million people , The original copy of the 151-
          The Velayat-e-Fagblh is not an articled, draft constitution, re-
          elected pobitlon — the leader leased In Junc, contained no
          emerges through a national mention of y e s t e r d a y ‘s
          network of mosques and theo- announcement. The Imam
          logical schools — and no time Mehdl, revered as the bidden
          Imam (leader), disappeared at
          the age of seven in the early
          part of the ninth century. It is
          believed that he will return in
          the last days of the world as a
          saviour-like flgure.
          On paper, the Velayat-e-
          Faghih gives the country's
          leader absolute powers, more
          wide-ranging th*n the Shah's.
          were. But in practice. much w i n
          depend on the will of Iranians
          to make the new system work
          democratically.
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