Iran lawmakers call for vice-president’s resignation
Published: Sunday, November 16, 2008
16:06GMT—11:06AM/EST
MASHAEI – KORAN – RESIGNATION – CEREMONY
Washington, 16 November (IranVNC)—Iran’s Vice President for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, has again come under fire by Majlis [parliament] deputies, following a ceremony last week which was deemed insulting to the Koran, Islam’s holy book.
The international conference, attended by Mashaei on 8 November in Tehran, was on foreign investment in Iran’s tourism industry.
During the opening ceremony, a girl dressed in traditional clothing brought the Koran to the narrator on a tray, while 10 other girls were beating on a daf, a traditional frame drum. Some of Iran’s media described the ceremony as a “dance”.
Mehdi Jahangari, the ministry’s deputy for investments and organizer of the ceremony, resigned on Saturday. He defended his actions by saying that bringing the Koran on a tray is a “tradition in western Iran and is respected by the people”, Fars News reports.
Lawmakers are now demanding that Mashaei be sacked. Mashaei came under fire by the Majlis last August after he said that Iran was a friend of all people of the world, including the people of Israel. The Islamic Republic does not recognize the State of Israel.
Mohammad Karamirad, a deputy from the western Kermanshah Province, was quoted today by the Fars News Agency as saying: “While apologizing to the people, Mashaei must step down from this position … so that we will never witness such events in the Principle-ist government,” Karamirad was quoted by Fars as saying today.
In a letter to Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the head of the Islamic Coalition Front, Mohammad-Nabbi Habibi, also criticized last week’s ceremony.
“Violation of the sanctity [of the Koran] in the presence of your Excellency’s deputy and under his management … causes deep regret for every Muslim,” Habibi was quoted by Reuters as saying.
The head of the Majlis Koran bloc, Laleh Eftekhari, said that “insulting” the recitation and delivery of the Koran at that ceremony was “unprecedented in [Iran’s] history”, the Hayat news agency reports.
“If Rahim Mashaei remains in his governmental post, we will probably be witness to similar actions that will make the situation worse than it is now,” Eftekhari wrote.
This latest saga has given fuel to Ahmadinejad’s opponents, who are growing increasingly critical of the president’s policies, ahead of the presidential election next June, when he is expected to run for a second term.
Sources: Fars News Agency, Hayat news agency, Reuters
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