He added that physical and psychological damages “inflicted on each individual of the Iranian nation in the 2nd and 3rd imposed wars, from child killings and war crimes in Minab and Lamerd to attacks on medical centres, is each a legal file that must be pursued in both domestic and international courts.”
He further stated that from the “murder” of newborns and the elderly to the assassination of his father and predecessor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “each is a file among thousands of major legal cases that must be earnestly pursued in domestic and international courts”.
“What is definite is that these criminals must be seized by the collar and brought to justice for their criminal deeds,” he asserted.
Never in my life could I have expected to agree with the Iranian government. But, on this specific issue? I do. There needs to be accountability for this.
I’ll take ten Mojtaba Khameneis over one Pete Hegseth. Hell, I’ll take a Khamenei over Keir Starmer, at this point.
Of course, he’s little more than a figurehead under the current Iranian government, given that their Parliament can’t safely convene and their military is fully operating via the Mosaic Strategy of decentralized retaliation against ongoing US/Israeli bombardment. I’m not sure why people have decided he’s a bad leader, given that he hasn’t made any meaningful leadership decisions since taking office.
But I guess he’s Muslim and unseasonably tan, so that’s enough to make him a bad guy.
I’d take a khamenei ruling under current day British law over keir starmer ruling under the current day judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran though. Be careful what you wish for.
Probably something to do with the fact that he was in a position to become the leader of such a repressive government to begin with. Maybe he will break with past policies and be a champion for women’s rights and LGBTQ+ causes, but if someone was already tipped to take over the reigns of such a government, I assume vetting processes mean he’s generally onboard with what the government was doing beforehand unless I see them taking actions that show otherwise. At this point, who knows how he’ll be, as he’s been set up with something of a PR softball in responding to an aggressive war lead by Israel and the US. Postwar, we’ll see how he shakes out domestically.
That said, I’m still hoping the Iranians just trounce their enemies in this conflict. Whether he’ll ultimately represent an improvement for the Iranian people over his predecessor or not has nothing to do with the fact that he’s on the right side of the current conflict and crushing it at the moment.
I think it’s a trap to think of countries which haven’t been allowed to thrive by basically the entire west as failing on values that they virtually never think about. Is it really that surprising that sanctions lead to regression or stagnation on civil rights of minority groups? They have been under sanctions since 1979. In 1979 how did our LGBTQ+ representation look?
I’ll be the first to accept that Iran, just like Cuba and any other country under long term sanctions from the US for refusing to kowtow to US demands, is essentially crippled from the start and unable to function as well as they could have without that ongoing interference. However, that doesn’t negate things that they’ve done on their own, like harsh repression of protests or that lady who was sentenced to being whipped for singing a song without wearing a hijab the other day.
I’m basically saying that my view of him is like my view of whoever wound up being Putin’s handpicked successor would be. I find them suspect by virtue of passing the screening process to even wind up in that position to begin with, and that will only change if they start taking actions that are at odds with their predecessors’ once in power. If his other positions turn out to be even half as good as his stance against Israel and the US in the current war on Iran has been, I will be happy to realize that my suspicions were unfounded. At the same time, just because they’re in the right on this specific topic doesn’t mean they are flawless in other aspects. Like, the founder of the Westboro Baptist Church was surprisingly progressive for civil rights for African Americans for a white guy in Kansas in the 1960s, but you won’t catch me singing Fred Phelps’ praises in light of all the other heinous stuff he’s done in his life.