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TERRORISM
U.S. TO FALL, CASTRO SAYS
Miami Herald
May 10, 2001
Section: Front
Edition: Final
Page: 7A
Associated Press
Memo: THE AMERICAS
Cuban leader Fidel Castro on Wednesday told Iranians the United States
is an ``imperialist king'' who will topple just as the U.S.-backed shah
of Iran fell in the 1979 Islamic revolution.
``You destroyed the strongest gendarme of the region not with guns, but
with your thoughts - and the people of the region should thank you for
that,'' Castro said at Tehran University. ``However, this imperialist
king will finally fall, just as your king was overthrown.''
The audience of some 700 students, teachers and officials rose to its
feet, clapping and chanting ``Fidel! Fidel! Fidel!''
``Today, there is a king in the world a thousand times stronger than the
shah you overthrew, and that is the imperialist king living next to my
homeland,'' Castro said.
Shortly before, Castro received an honorary doctorate for his struggle
against the United States from the nearby Teachers' Training University.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told Castro on Wednesday
that the affection shown by Iranians stemmed from Cuba's stand against
American ``arrogance.'' Iran, like Cuba, sees itself as a victim of U.S.
hegemony and longs for the United States to lift economic sanctions.
In a speech on Iranian state television, Khamenei said that through
cooperation, Iran and Cuba could break the ``image'' of the United
States.
Castro took pains to make clear his quarrel was not with the American
people.
``We should differentiate between the American people and their
government,'' he said.
Castro's 40-year opposition to the United States is admired in Iran.
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