The ideologues of the Islamic regime in Iran know all too well how to use external enemies to persecute enemies closer to home. According to those in power, the Jews, the Israelis, the United States, and even the West more generally are the causes of Iran’s domestic problems.

One such “problem”, as perceived by Tehran at least, is homosexuality – of which the West is considered to be the root cause. This of course implies that homosexuality has not existed in Iran and the Arab world for thousands of years, until very recently.

In this regard, anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism are the tools that the Islamist rulers of Iran use to legitimise the execution of homosexuals. The ruling Islamists in Iran not only treat homosexuals with prejudice and disdain, but go so far as to execute those convicted of homosexuality – just as in Nazi Germany.

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The Iranian news agency Mashregh News, an organisation with close ties to the Revolutionary Guard, recently published an article entitled, “Open and covert dimensions of homosexuality.” Mashregh News writes that Western culture, particularly that of the U.S. and Britain, with the help of Jews, spread homosexuality among their own people and among other nations.

The newspaper asks why the British government supports homosexuality even though homosexuals play a minor role in its society. For its answer, Mashregh News turns to conspiracy theories.

“For example, in England, only 1.5 percent of the population is homosexual. The official recognition of this minority is not adequate to their power and influence on the politics and society of that country.”

The author of the article then asks why homosexuals have received government support in the UK, even though they are politically insignificant.

He ponders how the British government benefits from supporting homosexuals, which he says is part of the “general strategy of Western cultures.” Otherwise, he asks, why would both conservative British politician David Cameron and liberal US President Barack Obama defend homosexuals?

Mashregh News writes that in England, gay marriage has been recognised since 2004 and that gay marriage will become entirely legal by 2015. In addition, the author of the article stresses that CNN reported that in the US 53 percent of the population is for the legalisation of gay marriage.

According to the Iranian newspaper, however, homosexuality is “villainous” and the “European and American apparatuses want to normalise something that is abominable.”

The author complains that Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates, both high-profile Microsoft executives, donated $100,000 each in support of gay marriage. He asserts that Ballmer and Gates seek to shape the Internet as a forum for the dissemination of homosexuality.

He further laments that in England, the United States, and in Canada, “Jewish capitalists award international literature prizes for pieces on homosexuality,” referring to the Dayne Ogilvie prize in Canada and the Lambada prize in the US. The author of the article expresses outrage that in some European countries and Japan there are film festivals celebrating homosexuality and that the heroes in Hollywood movies are often gay.