Must Read: Iran Quake Victims Blame Islamic Regime for Devastation
By Dale Hurd, CBN News Sr. Reporter
Jan 7, 2004, 23:45
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The Supreme National Security Council is now considering moving the capital from Tehran to the ancient capital of Isfahan.
The international response to the recent devastating earthquake in Iran is winding down. But the political fallout inside Iran continues. The quake is having a small seismic impact on Iran's already volatile political scene.
When Iran's supreme leader, the Ayatholla Khamenei, visited Bam, he was reportedly there for no more than an hour, and surrounded by rings of bodyguards. According to a report in National Review magazine, that did not protect the nation's spiritual leader from being heckled by angry victims, who accused the islamic regime of knowing about the seismic danger and not warning the people.
By contrast, American aid workers were reportedly mobbed by adoring crowds at the airport, who begged them to stay in Iran. It is another piece of evidence to support claims that Iran's people are more supportive of America than their own leaders.
National Review says the Iranian National Seismological Center had provided the regime with data showing that Bam was due for a quake and should have been evacuated. But the Mullahs reportedly believed the 12th Imam, who is "invisible," would protect the city.
Residents are also angry that the nation's hardline leaders will not accept earthquake aid from Israel. Israel offered, even though some Iranian leaders have threatened to nuke the Jewish state.
The Supreme National Security Council is now considering moving the capital from Tehran to the ancient capital of Isfahan. Tehran is on a major seismological fault, and has a population of more than 12 million people. About 100,000 Iranians have been killed in 11 earthquakes during the past 50 years. One seismologist said the only seismologically safe places in Iran are in the uninhabitable central desert. |
