Monday, 28 February 2011

InsideIran/2011-02-28 – Iran’s Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi appeared in a live television broadcast Feb. 24 and accused the opposition Green Movement of having ties to the Mojahedin Khalgh Organization, a terrorist group based in Iraq. Leaders of the Green Movement have vehemently denied these charges and have always insisted that there are no ties whatsoever between their activities and those of the MKO.

Moslehi, who was on a live broadcast on national television, claimed that senior advisers to Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the de-facto leaders of the opposition in Iran, have extensive ties to MKO. According to Iran’s Channel Three, Moslehi named Ardeshir Amir-Arjmand, a senior Moussavi adviser currently in France, and Mojtaba Vahedi, a senior Karroubi aid now in the United States, as the link between the MKO and the opposition Green Movement. Both Amir-Arjmand and Vahedi denied these allegations in the strongest terms.

Amir-Arjmand, speaking to Radio Farda, said that Moslehi’s lies are so outrageous that they make Joseph Goebbels look good. Amir-Arjmand then said, “And even if Mr. Moslehi’s accusations are based on the truth, this shows the weakness of people like Moslehi [who is in charge of Iran’s intelligence service].”

Vahedi also denied Moslehi’s claims and said, “The Minister of Intelligence is just repeating the words of the coup government,” referring to the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that enjoys the backing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

During his televised interview, Moslehi said that leaders of the opposition were no longer seditionists; rather they were now “counterrevolutionaries.” This elevation of the opposition’s leaders by the Minister of Intelligence could be a sign that the government is preparing to treat the opposition in Iran in the same manner it eradicated armed groups opposed to the regime in the 1980s.

There are no ties between the opposition Green Movement and the MKO, which has been described by many as a personality cult revolving around its leader Masoud Rajavi. In the 1980s, when the MKO and the regime were engaged in a civil war, Moussavi and Karroubi were considered prime targets for MKO’s assassination plots. The MKO lost much of its popular support when it sided with Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war and carried out attacks against Iranian cities in the late 1980s.

The regime’s efforts today to link the opposition to the MKO are designed to discredit the Green Movement. On the other hand, the MKO, or the PMOI as it calls itself these days, has tried to portray itself in the West as part of the opposition in Iran. There have been several unsuccessful attempts to remove the MKO from the US State Department’s terrorist list. But the MKO and its lobbying wing in the US are increasing their efforts to remove the name of the organization from the State Department’s list.

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February 28, 2011

s government supporters mount their criticism of veteran politician Hashemi Rafsanjani, particularly since the street protests of earlier this month when calls have been made for his dismissal as the head of the Experts Assembly on Leadership, an 86-man cleric association entrusted with the duty of overseeing the work of the country’s supreme leader, Rafsanjani changed his tune two days ago and spoke against the February 14 demonstrations that had been called by Green Movement leaders and took place in support of the uprisings in the Middle East, despite the government ban, while reiterating that he was a candidate in the upcoming Experts of Assembly. Speaking at the opening session of the Assembly of Experts, he said that the supreme leader ayatollah Khamenei had told him that it was his “duty” to participate in the elections of the Assembly.

In his opening remarks, Rafsanjani said that the February 14 demonstrations were “a clear example” of those who were against the essence of the revolution, the Islamic republic, the constitution and the principle of Velayat-e Faghih” (i.e., rule of clerics). In his talk, Rafsanjani emphatically said, “Under the current conditions in the country there can be no other center for replacing Islam the constitution and Velayat Faghih.”

In another part of his talk he said, “Without the participation and support of the public, something that has been expressly outlined in Islamic writings and in the constitution, actions will not work.”

“This revolution does not belong to its first or second generation but must continue with future generations to accomplish its ultimate goals and remain the light for the future. We must keep people involved and not allow the rise of hardline or extremist views and groups,” he added.

It should be noted that the statement that was issued at the end of last plenary meeting of the Assembly in the presence of clerics Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi, Sadegh Larijani, Ibrahim Reisi and Ahmad Khatami which was chaired by Rafsanjani, condemned the February 14^th demonstrated that had been planned by the Green Movement, calling it “counter-revolutionary sabotage.” After the demonstrations, Rafsanjani had said that “all sections of society must respect the law and anything that is contrary to the law is detrimental to the country and in the words of ayatollah Khomeni is haram” (i.e., religiously banned, sacrilegious).

In talking about the upcoming Assembly elections for its leadership, Rafsanjani said, “Unfortunately some sick individuals and circles raise issues about the Experts that convey the message that I am thirsty to remain the head of the body. History and current personalities of the regime attest that I have never been after such positions.” Then listing the positions that he has held in the Islamic republic till today, Rafsanjani said that these had either been requested of him by ayatollah Khomeini or by people and the leaders, which would remain so and that he would be a mere revolutionary soldier.

On the question of the next Assembly leader, Rafsanjani said that during the last plenary meeting he had personally suggested Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani to become the next chairman and preferred not to run himself. He added, “The leader has tasked me to run in the Assembly elections, as some ignorant or perhaps knowledgeable individuals create scandals as if I have an attraction to such posts.”

Rafsanjani reiterated that he would run in the upcoming elections for the leadership of the Assembly because, this would be responding to “calls for duty to commitment, religious duty, duty to the revolution, to the people and the regime.”

Responses to Rafsanjani

Immediately after Rafsanjani’s remarks at the Assembly session, Fars news agency – affiliated to the security-military apparatus of the Islamic republic – published interviews it had with Rafsanjani’s known opponents in the Assembly. Talking about the future Assembly elections, one such opponent Abdolnabi Namazi said, “The idea that the leader has tasked Mr. Rafsanjani to run for the chairmanship of the Assembly is a media ploy because the leaders does not approve or reject any person in this regard.” “Ayatollahs Mahdavi Kani, Mesbah Yazdi, Mohammad Yazdi and Janati are the four possible candidates for the leadership of the Assembly,” he predicted.

Mohammad-Hassan Mamdoohi, another Assembly member also rejected Rafsanjani’s remarks and said that while Rafsanjani may be a candidate to the chairmanship of the Assembly but the leader normally did not take such positions.  He too made remarks to support the candidacy of Kani adding that he enjoyed a good standing among the members.

Another Assembly member Ali-Akbar Garebaghi who is a known adversary of Rafsanjani called the incumbent’s remarks “lies.” He is also known to be close to another conservative cleric Mesbah Yazdi and added that Rafsanjani would have strong competitors if he ran, concluding, “representatives of people will choose the future chairman of the Assembly of Experts.”

Verbal attacks on Rafsanjani have been mounting and in a more recent case ayatollah Khamenei’s representative in the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) called him the “axis of the seditionists”, a term Iranian officials use for the protests against the announced results of the disputed 2009 presidential elections that have kept the incumbent in office.  Also, an advisor to the IRGC, Saffar Herandi (a former minister of culture) also spoke publicly of “gradually removing Rafsanjani from his positions.” “Mr. Rafsanjani will be relieved of his two duties and in the upcoming elections for the leadership of the Assembly of Experts we shall witness his dismissal, which is what his aides fear and want to prevent.”

Mohammad-Reza Bahonar, a hardline pro-administration Majlis deputy also had some harsh words and threats on this issue. “Mr. Rafsanjani was not with the people on the issue of the sedition and has less than a week to declare his position regarding the sedition,” he retorted.

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