Following are excerpts
from an address delivered by Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, member of the
Iranian Assembly of Experts, which aired on Channel 1, Iranian TV, on
January 22, 2010.
Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami:
What emerges from the catastrophe [in Haiti] is its inhumane exploitation
by the US. The US, under the pretext of humanitarian aid to the people
of Haiti, deployed 18,000 troops to Haiti and officially occupied it.
Until last night, the
US had prevented [the dispatching] of relief planes, which carried dozens
of tons of food and medicine, as well as medical personnel, who wanted
to provide humanitarian relief. It did not permit the arrival of urgent
aid. If the US had allowed the planes to land, so many people under
the rubble could have been rescued. Once again, the US is an accomplice
to these crimes.
The US realizes that
South America – which once was its backyard, and which the US believed
was under its thumb... The US realizes that a wave of [South] American
nationalism has begun, and its wants, by means of the occupation of
Haiti, to uproot this movement.
But the US should know
that what's done is done, and with the grace of God, this century will
witness the decline of the [powers of] arrogance.
There have been news
reports that the Zionist regime, in the case of the catastrophe of Haiti,
and under the pretext of providing relief to the people of Haiti, is
stealing the organs of these wretched people.