Few words for China but plenty for Germany: Iran
Khaleej Times - 15 July, 2009
Khaleej Times, the No.1 English language daily newspaper published from
Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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Iran has reacted with outrage over the stabbing death of an Egyptian woman
in a German courthouse, calling it a sign of racism against Muslims, yet has
said little about China's crackdown on Uighur Muslims - a silence some
leading Iranian clerics have criticized.

The differing reaction from a country that portrays itself as a defender of
Islam worldwide is a sign of how highly Iran values its political and
economic ties with China and how Tehran is trying to deflect attention
following its own crackdown on protesters after the country's disputed
presidential election.

Iran has been one of the most vocal countries criticizing Germany in the
wake of Marwa al-Sherbini's death. The pregnant 31-year-old Egyptian was
stabbed 18 times in a Dresden court July 1 by a man she was scheduled to
testify against for allegedly calling her a "terrorist." When he tried to
protect her, her husband was stabbed by the attacker and shot by court
security.

Some 1,500 Iranian women gathered in front of the German Embassy in Tehran
on Tuesday chanting "Death to the enemy of hijab" - a reference to the
hijab, or Islamic headscarf that al-Sherbini wore, Iran's state news agency
reported.

Judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Shahroudi called for German court
officials who were present when al-Sherbini was killed to face trial,
state-run Press TV reported. Iran's ambassador to UNESCO complained to the
organization's director over what he called the desecration of Islamic
values in European countries.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday called al-Sherbini's death
"absolute proof of the brutality of the German government."
Iran is one of the few Muslim countries to speak out on the China crackdown
on Uighurs in the country's western Xinjiang region. More than 180 people
have died in violence that began there July 5. The Uighurs complain about
government restrictions on their religion and accuse it of trying to erase
their language and culture.

But Iran's official criticism of China has been mild, limited to a phone
call Sunday by Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki to his Chinese
counterpart to discuss the clashes and raise Islamic countries' "concern."
Mottaki also denounced "foreign meddling" aimed at "undermining China's
stability," implicitly blaming the West for the Xinjiang unrest.

Some Iranian clerics have called for Iran to take a stronger stance, in
comments that often seem to also be criticizing Iran's own conduct at the
same time. Following June 12 elections, Iran suppressed widespread protests
claiming fraud in Ahmadinejad's victory. Police and baton-wielding Basij
militiamen assaulted demonstrators, arresting hundreds in a crackdown that
left at least 20 protesters dead.

In a statement carried on his Web site Sunday, Ayatollah Yusef Saanei
denounced the Chinese government's "aggressive and inhuman stance." But his
comments appeared intentionally phrased to point at Iran's crackdown as
well.

"Is this how they claim to be willing to join the international community,
by putting down the protests of their citizens and answering their cries for
justice with electric batons ... bringing out the militia and silencing any
protests," said Saanei, who has criticized the Iranian government directly
in other statements.

Another senior cleric, Ayatollah Nouri Hamedani said the situation in China
was an even greater crime than what had happened in Germany and said Iran
should not remain silent, Press TV reported Monday.

"That's pretty much pointing a finger at their own regime," said Michael
Wahid Hanna, an Iran analyst at the New York-based Century Foundation.
In denouncing Germany so vocally, analysts say Iran seeks to divert domestic
and international attention following the election. Many Western countries,
including Germany, criticized Iran for its suppression of protesters.

Attacking Germany is a way to portray the Western world as "anti-Islamic"
and drum up sympathy within Iran, said Alireza Nader, an Iran specialist
with the Washington-based RAND Corp. think tank, although he questioned
whether the tactic would work with an already disillusioned Iranian public.
But Iran "can't really afford to antagonize China at this point because
China is one of the few world powers who really has cordial relations with
Iran," said Nader.

China has used its clout on the U.N. Security Council in part to prevent
harsh sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program, and China's status as
Iran's single largest trading partner make needling China a much riskier
affair. When protests were heating up in Tehran over the legitimacy of
Ahmadinejad's win, Chinese President Hu Jintao congratulated him on his
victory.