Rezaei releases secret Iran, Iraq war letters

Sun Jun 7, 2009 6:14AM

“I plan to publish the letters gradually after the elections,” Rezaei told reporters while on the campaign trail in the western Iranian city of Yasouj.The more than 500 letters contain the confidential correspondence between the late leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Rulhollah Khomeini, and Rezaei, who then was the chief command of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

Fighting alongside the Iranian military, the IRGC was a key force that helped Iran push back enemy forces during a devastating eight-year war waged by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hossein.

The letters exchanged between Rezaei and Ayatollah Khomeini could shed light on how Iranian forces managed to prevent Saddam from realizing his territorial ambitions, despite the massive political, military and financial support that he received from his Western and regional Arab allies.

Having retired from military service in 1998, Rezaei is now one of the four candidates running in Iran’s tenth presidential elections.

Asked whether a decision to release the letters prior to the June 12 vote could influence the outcome in his favor, Rezaei said that he did not believe in using wartime secrets as a campaign tool.

MJ/JG/DT