According to various media reports, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has made public in Tehran a letter from 1988 in which Iran's top commander is quoted as saying Iran would need a nuclear bomb to win the war against Iraq. The letter was written by the father of the Iranian revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, to top officials in the final days of the war. This letter attracted the attention of several bloggers, who wrote this week about war, nuclear weapons and Rafsanjani.
No Holy War
Alpar writes that a war should never be considered holy [Fa].The blogger adds
Mohammad Ali Abtahi, blogger and reformist politician, says Rafsanjani committed a brave act in publishing this letter and making it known to the Iranian public. He continues
as we can understand from the content of this letter, Imam believed that sometimes giving up before facts is a braver action than resistance and attack and it is more in favour of people, country, religion and values. This bravery of Imam is not less than his bravery against the previous regime…In the world of politics publishing of such letter is considered as a warning too; a warning from Hashemi to all those who ignore him. All those involved in politics, know that Hashemi has similar letters and memories.
Secrets and Nukes
Freekeyboard says that stupid censorship this time touched Imam Ayatollah Khomeini's letter at the end of Iran-Iraq war. The blogger says the authorities who omitted the words concerning nuclear and laser weapons are the same ones complaining that the western world does not believe that Iranian nuclear activity is only for peaceful purposes [Fa].
Irane Farda says this letter and the reference to nuclear weapons can create more problems for Iran, as the letter seems to demonstrate that if Iran faces a military threat, it is going to use nuclear weapon without hesitation [Fa].
Nikahang, a leading cartoonist, blogger and journalist says that Iran has been wanting nuclear weapons since the war with Iraq [Fa]. Shortly after publishing the letter, they omitted references to nuclear and laser weapons. The blogger reminds readers of which group profited from the continuation of the war. Many revolutionary guards leaders were angry about accepting UN resolution and cease fire, he writes, it would be useful to see how much profit the authorities made from the war [Fa]. The blogger adds that the people who want to bring Iran back to the crisis days of the 80´s must be the ones with good memories of those days. According to Nikahang, fundamentalist-conservative group are not in favor of secret letters and documents being published, as they are afraid that public skepticism could block the way for another war [Fa].
People's Power and an old letter
Blue future says the letter shows that it was the people who ended the war, not the military or politicians. The blogger says that if there were sufficient numbers willing to volunteer for the military, the authorities would probably continue it [Fa].
Arash Kamagir has published the hand-written letter on his blog [Fa] and notes this it had been published on Ayatollah Montazeri's site years ago.
