Members of Iran's Ministry
of Culture and Islamic Guidance listen
intently as Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Seyyed Khamenei tasks them
with a vital mission: to produce books, films, video games capable
of turning back the cultural tide of the West. Are they up to it?
Supreme Leader Warns of Western Cultural Invasion (Kayhan, Iran)
Are there 'hundreds' of media outlets across the world specifically
targeting Iranians for a form of brainwashing - Western style? With his
government engaged in the highest level talks with the West in a generation, Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei is exhorting Iran's Ministry of Culture
and Islamic Guidance to oppose the rising appeal of the West by focusing on 'producing
appealing books and films, designing video games, and developing attractive and
meaningful toys.' Oddly, Khamenei refers to the expression 'Yes We Can' - an apparent reference to President Obama.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei is calling on his Ministry of Culture to help creat books, films and video games good enough to oppose those produced in the West and to 'keep up' with the 'new Islamic civilization.' The question is - are Ministry's people up to the task?
TEHRAN:
On Tuesday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, called
for wise action against the ongoing cultural onslaught, and warned that
imported video games and toys promote a Western lifestyle.
"This
issue (cultural invasion) must be dealt with creatively, and in this effort, Islamic
Republic of Iran Broadcasting and the Ministry
of Culture and Islamic Guidance shoulder very heavy responsibility," said
Ayatollah Khamenei, during a meeting with members of the Supreme Council of the
Cultural Revolution.
The
Leader urged the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance to focus on producing
appealing books and films, designing video games, and developing attractive and
meaningful toys.
Ayatollah
Khamenei said that video games and toys imported from abroad are affecting
Iran's young people by promoting a Western lifestyle and behavior.
The
Leader said at a minimum, "hundreds" of media outlets across the
world are seek specifically to "influence the mindset and behavior of the
Iranian nation."
Ayatollah
Khamenei said the culture of "Yes We Can" should prevail in Iranian
society, and its momentum in science and technology should continue.
The
leader said that the existing momentum in science and technology must be kept
alive in order to enable the country to ascend the peaks of knowledge and
progress, and in order to keep up with the new Islamic civilization.
The
Leader said the Supreme Council for Cultural Revolution is expected to bolster
culture in society and upgrade it to its proper status.
Final Deal Must
Include Enrichment
Also
on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman MarziehAfkham said a final nuclear agreement with the world powers
must include the country's right to uranium enrichment and enshrine removal of
the "tyrannical and unacceptable" sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Afkham said that according to the interim
agreement reached in Geneva on Nov. 24, a comprehensive deal would encompass
removing all sanctions, whether they be multilateral, unilateral, or those stemming
from the U.N. Security Council.
Afkham said that the collapse of the sanctions
regime has already begun, and that recent remarks by a number of U.S. lawmakers
about imposing new sanctions against Iran are "psychological"
warfare.
"We
hope that in the course of implementing the interim deal and in the final
stage, the issue of sanctions will be resolved," she said, adding that "for
this reason, Iran's negotiating team is working to have all sanctions removed, and
to secure a peaceful nuclear program and enrichment activity."
Foreign
Minister Muhammad-JavadZarif
said earlier that if the U.S. Congress passes new sanctions - even if they don't
take effect for six months, the Geneva nuclear deal would be dead.
Russian
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was due in Tehran
Tuesday evening for talks that officials say will focus on bilateral ties, a nuclear
deal, and plans for a Syria peace conference.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
According
to Iran's Foreign Ministry, in meetings scheduled for Wednesday, Lavrov will hold talks with President Hassan Rouhani and his Foreign Minister Zarif.
Afkham told reporters that Lavrov's
visit was in line with the close cooperation between Tehran and Moscow, and
that "bilateral, regional and international issues" would be
discussed. Afkham added that the crisis in Syria -
which is closely allied to both Iran and Russia, would also be discussed.
"During
this trip, there will be talks on Syria, in particular the Geneva peace
conference," she said, referring to a Russian-U.S. initiated forum seeking
to end the Syria war, which has claimed some 126,000 lives since the conflict
erupted nearly three years ago. "Both countries believe in diplomacy and
oppose the use of force in Syria," Afkham added.
Rouhani said last week the forum should lay the
groundwork for "absolutely free" elections. "The ground should
be prepared for holding an absolutely free election without preconditions,"
he said, while calling for the "complete expulsion of the terrorists from
Syria" - a reference to the insurgents seeking Assad's ouster.
Iran Will Never
Recognize Israel
Afkham dismissed an offer from the occupying
regime's president to meet Rouhani as a propaganda
ploy for easing Zionist isolation after the nuclear accord between Tehran and
world powers.
"This
propaganda to help the regime out of isolation will prove fruitless," she
said.
Asked
on Sunday about a possible meeting with Rouhani,
Peres said: "Why not? I don't have enemies. It's not a question of
personalities but of policies. ... The aim is to transform enemies into
friends," said Peres, whose role as president of the occupying regime is
symbolic and ceremonial.
Afkham said her country would never recognize
the Zionist regime or change its stand. "There has not been, nor will
there ever be, any change on Iran's stance and views regarding the Zionist
regime," Afkham said.
"Iran
does not recognize Israel. Our position regarding this oppressive and occupationist regime - which is completely illegitimate and
was created to occupy Palestinian lands - is clear," she added.
