The Arabist

The Arabist

By Issandr El Amrani and friends.

The Enemy

The recent series of attacks in Iran -- shootings at President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad's campaign office, an arson attack of a mosque and a bomb found on a place, all amidst a tense electoral campaign and even regional machination, are a most intriguing development. Of course, the Iranians know exactly who to blame. Yet again, it seems, they've uncovered a dastardly plan by none other than The Enemy:

Enemy Seeking to Show Iran Insecure on Threshold of Election

TEHRAN (FNA)- The enemy has always sought to portray Iran as an unsafe and insecure country on the verge of elections in the Islamic Republic, a senior airport security official said Sunday, following an attempted bomb attack on a domestic flight.

The bombing attempt occurred Saturday on a Kish Air flight heading to Tehran from the oil-rich southwestern city of Ahvaz near the border with Iraq.

"The enemy has always striven to show the country's atmosphere insecure on the threshold of great decisions by the Iranian nation and now it aims to create such an atmosphere on the verge of (presidential) election to affect peoples' minds and opinions," Lieutenant Commander of Iran's Airports Security Corps Colonel Mohammad Hassan Kazemi told FNA.

The vigilance of the nation has nipped all enemies' plots against the country in the bud, Kazemi added.

He reiterated that Iran always considers intensifying security measures based on different conditions, adding that preciseness and speed of action among flight security units have increased more than before.

Kazemi also boasted that enemies have not even been successful in hi-jacking Iranian planes in the last 25 years.


Well lucky that Lieutenant Commander Kazemi is watching out for The Enemy.

P.S. I highly recommend you watch this public service video about The Enemy from Iran's intelligence services we linked back in February 2008. And in all fairness, Iran is not the only country worried about having an Enemy: Is Iran the Enemy? - Time. I would love to see more examples of references to The Enemy (whoever's enemy he may be) - please leave them in the comments.