Region | Iran
'We don't have war in our blood'
Iranians are gathering in the shrine of the late Iranian spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, near Tehran, paying their respects to the person who led their revolution, and seeking peace of mind for their hearts and their country, which is caught in a conflict with the West because of its controversial nuclear programme.
- By Jumana Al Tamini, GCC & Middle East Editor
- Published: 00:22 March 28, 2008
Tehran: From north and south, east and west, Iranians are gathering in the shrine of the late Iranian spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, near Tehran, paying their respects to the person who led their revolution, and seeking peace of mind for their hearts and their country, which is caught in a conflict with the West because of its controversial nuclear programme.
Qareeb Ali Awawi, 62, and his wife were among the worshippers, who were seeking blessings while turning prayer beads. "God willing, they will not attack us," responded the wife, Hajer, a 53-year-old housewife, referring to the standoff between the West and Iran over its nuclear programme.
"We don't like to fight anymore. We don't have war in our blood," added the husband, who fought during the eight-year-long Iran-Iraq war, and now works in a fire department in a small town near the capital. During that war, "we were not fighting only Iraq and Saddam's army, but also America, Israel and their allies," said Awawi.
"As President Ahmadinejad said so many times, we want to be brothers with all other countries. We seek peace. Love is more powerful than any bomb," he added.
However, if a war was imposed on Iran, Iranians wouldn't miss a breath to defend their country, people said.
"We will defend Iran like we did during the war with Iraq," said Sayed Ali Tabatabai, a civil engineering teacher.
"Our weapon is our religion", said 35-year-old Mansour Al Nouri, who pursues his theology studies and teaches at the same time in Qum, the heart of religious learning in Iran.
"They [Western powers] can never do it. If there was a war, they would lose because their interests will be threatened,"
Kazim Ali Zada, 63, says the youth, who make up a huge proportion of the population, will support the nation. "We had young people [defending their country] before and we'll have them in the future," added Zada who took part in both the 1979 revolution and the Iran-Iraq war which ended in 1988.
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