IRAN - Apr. 27 - Theologian Doubts Coup Reports.Hassan Yousefi Ashkevari, a theologian the·o·lo·gi·an n. One who is learned in theology. theologian Noun a person versed in the study of theology Noun 1. threatened with arrest in his native Iran, says in an interview in 'Liberation' he did not expect hard-liners to stage a coup against moderate Pres. Mohammed Khatami. Yousefi Ashkevari tells the daily that the country's hard-line religious rulers lacked democratic legitimacy LEGITIMACY. The state of being born in wedlock; that is, in a lawful manner. 2. Marriage is considered by all civilized nations as the only source of legitimacy; the qualities of husband and wife must be possessed by the parents in order to make the offspring and supreme leader Ayatollah ayatollah: see Shiites. ayatollah In the Shiite branch of Islam, a high-ranking religious authority regarded by his followers as the most learned person of his age. The ayatollah's authority rests on the infallible imam. Khamen'i had too much power. He said in Paris after attending a controversial conference on Islam in Berlin that the hard-liners, who have closed down pro-reform media, were so out of step with majority opinion in Iran that they would continue their drive to limit reforms. (The country's hard-line theological court issued an arrest warrant for Yousefi Ashkevari, saying he had acted against state interests, spread propaganda against the Islamic system and acted against the status of the theologian. On Apr. 26, reformers said they had learned of a "master plan" by hard-liners in the security forces and their allies to crush crush A combination commodity trade in which soybean futures are purchased and soybean meal or oil futures are sold. Compare reverse crush. the movement for change and even topple Khatami's government.) The theologian says: "Today the minority governs and the majority is in the opposition". He says he thought hard-liners had "prepared a rather strong plan against us", adding: "Since the anti-reformist fringe is in the minority, I think the conditions needed for a coup hardly exist". He says: "All the efforts of this fringe, which monopolises the majority of political institutions, consist of limiting and taming the reform process so it can survive politically". Yousefi Ashkevari, who does not know when he would return home, says Khatami had no choice but to make concessions to the hard-liners because opposing them would bring him into conflict with Khamen'i. (The Berlin conference, which was disrupted dis·rupt tr.v. dis·rupt·ed, dis·rupt·ing, dis·rupts 1. To throw into confusion or disorder: Protesters disrupted the candidate's speech. 2. by exiles opposed to Iran's Islamic system, outraged conservatives, who said the Iranian delegation failed to defend the system. Participants who returned home were summoned to the Revolutionary Court for interrogation interrogation In criminal law, process of formally and systematically questioning a suspect in order to elicit incriminating responses. The process is largely outside the governance of law, though in the U.S. and may face prosecution.) Prosecutor prosecutor Government attorney who presents the state's case against the defendant in a criminal prosecution. In some countries (France, Japan), public prosecution is carried out by a single office. In the U.S., states and counties have their own prosecutors. Mohammed Ebrahim Nekounam of the Special Court for Theologian was quoted as saying Yousefi Ashkevari would be arrested on his return to Iran. |
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