Iran officially has launched an international TV channel at a ceremony attended by Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, who said the station would play an important role in maintaining national identity for Iranians living abroad.

The new channel - named Jaam-e Jam after a legendary crystal goblet in which a Persian king could see the whole world - broadcasts in Persian and can be received in Europe and the Middle East via satellite, although private ownership of satellite dishes is banned in Iran itself.

The channel had live coverage of a speech by Khatami at the inauguration, in which he spoke of the importance of communications in the modern world and said that people enjoyed access to more information.

The following is the text of Khatami's speech at the inauguration ceremony, broadcast live by Jaam-e Jam TV:

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. I would like to congratulate the honourable nation of Iran and our dear compatriots living abroad on the auspicious birth anniversary of His Holiness the Regent of God, Imam Mahdi [the Hidden Imam], may God hasten his return.

Throughout the course of history, mankind has always been awaiting and expecting honour, freedom and justice. However, there are very few historical periods in which mankind has attained all these ideals even though men have always been awaiting and expecting them.

The philosophy of messianism [Persian: mahdaviyat] is that men deserve honour, integrity, justice and freedom, and that one day they will attain all these.

This process of waiting is not exclusive to the Muslims and the Shi'is. Nonetheless, in the Shi'i messianist philosophy there is a very important aspect which in effect distinguishes the concept of our waiting from that of other groups and nations.

This aspect is that there is a saviour, who himself is awaiting and expecting something. In other words, what we have is a two-way and reciprocal wait, meaning that on the one hand, the people are waiting to be liberated and gain honour, integrity, freedom and justice; and on the other hand, there is waiting by a central and pivotal great leader and patron, who stands at the fulcrum of a merciful, free and just society.

In other words, while we are awaiting his arrival, he is waiting for us to become prepared for his appearance. Therefore, our saviour is also expecting certain things, and this can be a source of change and transformation in our lives.

We beseech the Almighty to enable us to grasp the inner secrets of this philosophy so that we may be able to make endeavours to attain a life saturated with justice, freedom, honour and integrity. I do not intend to take too much of your time here.

You have already heard good speeches by our dear brother, His Excellency Dr [Ali] Larijani [head of Iranian radio and TV], and other dear officials, Messrs [Mohammad Ali] Izadi and Sadeq-Nezhad, who are working for the two new television networks which, praise be to God, officially began their work today. In general, you have heard a lot of words and are now expecting action. Therefore, I do not intend to make a long speech.

The importance of communications and the media in today's world

Of course, I was keen to speak about three or four topics: First, I wanted to speak about communications in the world today. This is of course a very important issue, especially in view of the fact that in the world today people enjoy a very easy access to knowledge and information. However, the barrage of one-sided of information creates certain problems for mankind which need to be debated.

The second point concerns the position of the media in general, and the Voice and Vision [Iranian state radio and TV] in particular, in the world and in our system. Thirdly, I should like to say a few words about Iranians and being Iranian. I shall leave the first two points for another occasion.

No conflict in being Iranian and being Islamic

In view of the fact that this network, that is the Jaam-e Jam channel, is mainly concerned with Iranian viewers living outside Islamic Iran, I should like to say a few words about being Iranian. In the first instance, I am addressing the dear Iranians who reside abroad and after this, I am talking to all dear Iranians.

A people without identity is under threat from every calamity. A people which has lost the foundations of its identity will surrender quickly to others. A people that wants to build, advance and progress needs, before all else, to find its identity. I have said many times before that we must have dialogue with other civilizations and cultures; but before this can take place, we have to clarify the identity of the We who wants to talk to others.

In one sentence, let me say our identity is Iranian Islamic. We are proud of being Iranian. Of course, there have been many efforts, and this negative trend may still exist, to try to separate Iranian-ness from Islamicness.

On the other hand, there may be an attempt to say that being Islamic is contradictory to being Iranian; in other words, in order to prove our Islamic identity, we have to negate our Iranian identity. And therefore, if we want to say we are Iranian, we have to stop being Islamic. Both these trends are deviant.

For me, as a cleric, it is source of pride that one of the best and constructive commentators on Iranian-ness and Islamicness was the great commentator on religious and Islamic thought, my martyred teacher, the late Ayatollah Motaheri [killed by the Forqan group shortly after the 1979 revolution].

We are Iranian and Islam, with all its glory, was warmly welcomed by the Iranians in an open embrace. Islam found out that the Iranians were talented, and it utilized this talent. Thanks to the Iranians' talent, Islam blossomed.

I am not at all trying to deny the role played by other nations or [deny] their share in the Islamic civilization, lest this helpless member of mankind and this incapable slave of God [Khatami is referring to himself] is accused of blind prejudice. On the contrary, but I am still saying that the Iranians played the first [major] role or at least a highly outstanding role in the shaping and expansion of the Islamic civilization.

Islam's seed grew and blossomed in the seedbed of the Iranians' soul; and in return, the Iranians found the proclamation of their salvation and [intellectual] growth in Islam. And the blessed bonding of these two created one of the most brilliant civilizations at a juncture of history.

Our identity is Iranian and Islamic. It is appropriate here to say that there are many Muslims in the world today and we respect them all; but why should such a glorious Islamic revolution take place in Iran? Is it just an accident?

Our identity is Islamic-Iranian and it is on the basis of this identity that we call on all Muslims to pursue unity and honour; and we call upon all members of mankind to seek just peace and true reconciliation.

We are proud to be Iranians, and our Iranian identity is not separate from our Islamic identity. We love and respect all Iranians wherever they may live. The Islamic rule, our government today, does not just belong to the Iranians who live in Iran. It is a government at the service of any Iranian anywhere in the world. Fortunately, we are proud of our dear Iranians abroad.

Issue of Iranian emigre communities abroad

The Iranian immigrant community in any part of the world in the fields of knowledge and ability is in a lofty position culturally and socially as compared with other immigrants.

Let us separate the Iranians living abroad from the minority of the ill-wishers and ill-informed who speak the same language as we do and who have Iranian identity cards. These ill-wishers may exist inside Iran too; they are neither Muslims nor Iranians.

However, the hearts of the majority of Iranians abroad beat for the sake of their homeland. And I am seriously concerned about the fate of the generation who is taking its first steps in life among the Iranians who live aboard.

It is possible that tomorrow, God forbid, it may not even know that it is Iranian, or it may not know why it should be proud of being Iranian; it may have lost its homeland. A human being without a homeland is a sorry one.

We are dutybound to maintain this connection. The common features of being Iranian are great. If we are interested in Islam and the revolution, we must bear in mind that these events are taking place in Iran [sentence as heard].

I hope that the Jaam-e Jam channel will be a step, even if it is a small one, in creating this contact, the connections between the root and the branch, especially for the young Iranian generation who is born and grows outside its homeland. I hope this connection is made so that all of us, wherever we are, can join hands together to move towards, God willing, a greater and brighter future in this difficult and crisis-ridden world.

Iran belongs to all Iranians, we respect all Iranians, wherever they are. We want the development of Iran and its consequences for the Iranians who are in Iran and those who live outside our borders. There is nothing wrong [with living abroad].

One of the main paths in consolidating Iranian and Islamic culture has been this very same immigration. In other words, Iranian traders and travellers who have gathered in the world have taken our cultural heritage to other peoples. Today, too, we must not fear the concept of immigration and contacts among peoples. But we must make endeavours so that Iranians, wherever they are, remain Iranian Muslims, or at least noble Iranians, who are proud of their Iranian-ness and who can establish contacts between their cultural roots and other cultures.

I pay my respects to all dear ones who are living in all parts of the world. I hope the efforts of our dear brothers in the Voice and Vision, who rightly work very hard, will be to the liking of our dear ones abroad. I hope this will be a mechanism through which they can become familiar with today's modern Iran, and a mechanism through which we in Iran can learn about our brothers and sisters throughout the world.

I leave you all in God's hands. I wish for every success for all those involved in this great task. I am pleased that dear personalities of the country - honourable clerics, lecturers, officials, dear employees of the Voice and Vision, writers, esteemed artists and other dear ones - are present in this gathering. I wish you success in all your endeavours. May God be your guide and your friend. [Applause]

Source: Jaam-e Jam TV, Tehran, in Persian 1628 gmt 16 Dec 97

BBC Monitoring (http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.
 

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