topic by
John Calvin
11/21/2001 (19:44)

eirut, Nov 21, IRNA -- Mohammad-Ali Sobhani, Iran's ambassador to

Beirut, termed President Khatami's recent statements in the United

Nations the covenant of oppressed nations.

http://www.irna.com/newshtm/eng/30003502.htm

Full text of President Khatami's speech at the
United Nations General Assembly

http://persia.org/khatami/s_espeech.html

In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful

The light of human existence has been kindled with man's longing for salvation. The essence of the message of Divine Prophets and the content of the teachings of prominent sages have been primarily aimed at human salvation. Painful in the observable arena of human history is the deprivation and abject misery of human beings; the deprivation of women, men and children enslaved by the whims of the ruling powers; and ill-fate rulers themselves deprived of compassion and sympathy with their own nation. Hence, virtuous rule and good governance has but been evanescent in human history. Ironically, much too often will and freedom of thought have been frustrated and liberty suffocated in the name of salvation, and much too often salvation has been portrayed as disposing of any and all restraints on the insatiable human desires. Reason and love has thus been sacrificed at the altar of the whim. At times, liberty have been trampled in the name of justice, and yet at other times justice has been obliterated in the name of freedom. The result has been the age old deprivation of humanity from both justice in liberty and liberty in justice. It is only a few centuries since genuine knowledge was construed as the source of power, rather than an agent of its control. Ever since, knowledge has, instead of serving human salvation and instead of exalting human character, been used as an instrument in the hands of those whose only object was to advance their narrow utilitarian self-interest. Despite its magnificent progress, humanity has suffered massively over these centuries form discrimination and anguish. Survivors are still among us who testify to the incalculable destruction caused by the two World Wars ... and ... despite the birth of the United Nations - a positive achievement for mankind - true peace based of justice remains a scarcity. Particularly desperate is the situation of the countries in the underdeveloped world, where so many still suffer form famine, illiteracy and disease and some remain at the mercy of rulers who do not even take the trouble of pretending respect for democratic standards or enjoying popular support. So often do they attempt to fill the absence of popular support by dependence on powers, whose sole purpose is the pursuit of domination and self interest. Oppressive and dependent governments deny their people the opportunity to experience democracy. By perpetuation intimidation and terror in the society, they promote a culture of violence which inadvertently leads their opponents to resort to the same. Powers that breed and nurture such regimes could therefore not escape blame. Primarily responsible here, are those powers whose intelligence services take pride in their dark record of overthrowing popular governments and supporting unpopular ones. This image of our world is indeed grim and repulsive. Until the day that the wise and the learned wrest the reins of power form the unwise and the capricious, this image can not, all at once, be transformed. Nonetheless, in my opinion, beyond the darkness and doom, genuine beauty can still be discerned in the deeper layers of history. And, I can assert with certitude that, one the whole, human life has blossomed spiritually materially. Anti-colonial struggles and independence movements of many nations in this century exemplify this blossoming and progress. The collapse of the bipolar world order in the final decade of this century, and the swift march of the world towards diversity coupled with renewed assertion of identity in the international arena by nations demanding equality are other significant achievements in this direction. The fantasy of a unipolar world ruled by a single super-power is but an illusion, indicating the failure of its holders to keep pace with history. And, I am confident, that powerful nations such as the American people, will not accept that their good name, potentials and national prestige be exploited for the advancement of the dream of a unipolar world by the politicians, motivated by the short-sighted material and factional interests of a few. The evolution of public opinion in the West is support of peaceful relations on the basis of mutual respect testifies to this assertion......