Michael Ledeen reports that the Iranian dissident Ayatollah Hossein Boroujerdi is out of prison. He has been held in miserable conditions for a decade.
Ayatollah Boroujerdi advocates toleration of all religious (and non-religious) beliefs and opposes the involvement of religious leaders in politics. He has repeatedly criticized the fundamentalist doctrines of the Iranian theocratic state and spoken out against anti-Semitism. In 2010 he sent Hanukkah greetings to the Jews of the world, saying “any religious belief that brings us closer to the Source (God) is the truth.”
The Iranians likely would have executed him but for the fact that he is so beloved by the people. In lieu of execution, the regime tortures him.
According to Ledeen, Boroujerdi won’t be out for long. Iran’s normal practice, he says, is to release prisoners for a few weeks at a time, so that everyone can see the miserable state to which they have been reduced. Then, it drags them back to jail.
Nonetheless, Ledeen sees in Boroujerdi’s release an opportunity for Donald Trump. He recommends that the president-elect Trump invite the Ayatollah to his inauguration.
Ledeen points to three important, and related, messages that such an invitation would send. First, it would “show our support for the brave honorable dissidents in Iran.” Second, it would “demonstrate that the dreadful period of American support for the expansionist, terror-supporting, mass-murdering tyrants of Tehran is blessedly at an end.”
Finally, it would “show that we understand that there are freedom-loving Muslims, and that we believe they are worthy of Western solidarity.” Our war is not with Islam but with radical Islam.
I say go for it. Ayatollah Boroujerdi is a true A-Lister.
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