Iran's Top Hajj Official Warns About Enemy Divisive Plots

Qom, Sept 22, IRNA - The representative of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at the pilgrimage, Hojatoleslam Ali Ghazi Asgar warned here on Friday about enemies’ divisive plots. He made the remarks, addressing a large congregation of worshippers in Qom before Friday sermons. “Enemies of Islam aim to impede the progress of ongoing regional Islamic Awakening forward by provoking division among them; if Muslim be more united, no one would dare to insult Islam's holy Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). The high-ranking official pointed to crack downs on Occupy Wall Street activists in US as well as severe punishments for the holocaust deniers all around the West and underlined that the West claims about democracy and freedom of expression is baseless. Angry protesters in the Iranian capital staged a massive rally and burnt the US and Israeli flags on Friday and Thursday in a show of protest against the sacrilege of Islam's Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in a US-Israeli movie and a French magazine. The Iranian demonstrators burnt the US and Israeli flags in front of the French Embassy in Tehran on Thursday to condemn the blasphemous movie and insulting cartoons published in the French magazine 'Charlie Hebdo' against Islam. Hundreds of angry Iranian students who had gathered in front of the French mission in Tehran since the early hours of Thursday morning trampled the US and Israeli flags and chanted slogans 'Down with US,' 'Down with Britain,' 'Down with France' and 'Down with Israel.' /end