Iran Watch: Governor Mitt Romney Orders Massachusett’s Agencies to Refuse Assistance to Mohammad Khatami

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami , right, and Desmond Tutu, left, the Archbishop of Cape Town participate in a high-level group of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations meeting at United Nations headquarters Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2006.

Boston Globe: Romney orders state agencies not to cooperate with Iranian leader

Gov. Mitt Romney on Tuesday ordered all state agencies to refuse any assistance — if it is requested — when the former president of Iran visits Massachusetts this weekend.

The Republican chief executive, a potential candidate for his party’s 2008 presidential nomination, said Mohammed Khatami oversaw torture and the murder of dissidents, as well as Iran’s secret nuclear program, while in office from 1997 to 2005.

“State taxpayers should not be providing special treatment to an individual who supports violent jihad and the destruction of Israel,” Romney said in a statement.

The U.S. State Department will be providing security for Khatami during his visit Sunday to the Boston area, which will include a speech at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Romney’s action, however, means Khatami will be denied an official police escort and other VIP treatment when he is in town.

Good for Governor Romney.

Maybe this action will wake up Nicholas Burns or Condoleezza Rice over at Foggey Bottom. The Islamofascist Khatami should NEVER have been granted an American Visa in the first place.

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney delivers his annual State of the Commonwealth, January 18, 2006.

And you ask why?

Romney cited a litany of hateful actions by Khatami, including his support for violent jihadist activities:

During the period of time he was in office, from 1997 to 2005, Khatami presided over Iranâ€™s secret nuclear program. Currently, the Iranian Government under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is snubbing the international communityâ€™s request to cease nuclear weapons production.

In the recent conflict along the Israel-Lebanon border, Khatami described the terrorist group Hezbollah as a â€œshining sun that illuminates and warms the hearts of all Muslims and supporters of freedom in the world.â€

Khatami has endorsed Ahmadinejadâ€™s call for the annihilation of Israel.

During Khatamiâ€™s presidency, Iran refused to hand over the Iranian intelligence officials who were responsible for the attack on the Khobar Towers that killed 19 U.S. military personnel.

In his own country, Khatami oversaw the torture and murder of Iranian students, journalists, and others who spoke out for freedom and democracy. Khatami relaxed freedom of speech laws giving democracy reformers a false sense of security only to engage in one of the largest crackdowns in the countryâ€™s history.

In Khatamiâ€™s Iran, there was no religious tolerance. According to the U.S. Office of International Religious Freedom, Iran was one of the worst offenders of religious persecutions. Minorities, such as Evangelicals, Jews, Catholics and others, have suffered.

â€œKhatami pretends to be a moderate, but he is not. My hope is that the United States will find and work with real voices of moderation inside Iran. But we will never make progress in the region if we deal with wolves in sheepâ€™s clothing,â€ said Romney.