Iran’s Friday Prayers: Economy and intelligence

Friday prayers across the country covered a diverse range of issues, from economic problems to the issue of ‘cultural invasion’ by the West and regional tensions.

In Tehran, Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani called for alliance of the Muslim World against what he called “mercenary states”. “The Muslim World should rise against ISIS and takfiris, and push back their evil leaders,” he said. Emami Kashani also slammed Saudi Arabia for spending money on groups which are “controlled by the Zionists” and ‘supported by the Americans’.

In Mashhad, Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda once again warned about cultural and economic degradation. “As soon as the gates of the country opened to the West, foreign corporations entered and began to target our ‘resistance economy’” he said. “A modeling company is among them … in two months, fashion houses have become widespread.”

Mashhad’s Friday prayers’ leader also told the congregation that ‘global imperialism’ will not relent until [Iran’s] revolutionary movement stops. “One day, the war front was at our own borders, [but] today, it’s at the Mediterranean coast … picture of the Supreme Leader is flaunted fifty meters away from the Israeli border. Imperialism is trying to stop this movement in different ways,” he added.

In Isfahan, the Friday prayers’ sermonizer Ayatollah Yousef Tabatabaeinejad focused on economic woes. He strongly criticized indiscriminate import of good, particularly those with domestic duplicates, calling the importers “traitors” who assist the enemy during the war. Tabatabaeinejad once again complained about the high interest rates of Iranian banks, a subject of much debate and controversy. “As long as there are such interest rates, ‘resistance economy’ will not materialize,” he said.

In Ardabil, Azerbaijan, leader of the Friday prayers Ayatollah Seyyed Hassan Ameli praised the intelligence forces for their success. “In the world’s most turbulent region, surrounded by foreign armies and the most violent terrorists, we have the highest level of security,” he said. Ameli also thanked the intelligence forces for neutralizing “the most complicated plots by dangerous intelligence services like CIA and Mossad.”

“There would be a bloodbath in Iran if the Ministry of Intelligence did not foil these plots,” he said.