Iran News Round Up June 4, 2012

Satellite Image Of Tehran, Iran On 31st Anniversary Of Iranian Revolution (Photo credit: Talk Radio News Service)

A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by Ali Alfoneh, Ahmad Majidyar and Michael Rubin

(E) = Article in English

Politics

• Ceremonies held to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of  Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s death end in disorder:
  • Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei indirectly attacks Ahmadinejad:
    • “If we stop, we will be pushed back. And if we are arrogant, we will be thrown into the ground. If the authorities of the country become preys to egocentrism, arrogance… we will be dealt blows into the mouth. The path of progress is one of ‘no stop.’ We are still on the mountain slopes and there is a distance to the peak. The day when the Iranian nation reaches the peak, the enmities and evils will end…”
  • Ahmadinejad’s speech on the occasion of Khomeini’s death anniversary ends in tumult as the protesters chant slogans against Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei. According to Entekhab, the protesters chanted: “Death to Mashaei,” “Shame on you Mashaei, leave Ahmadi[nejad] alone,” “This entire army has come for the sake of the Leader [who addressed the crowds before the president."
  • As Hojjat al-Eslam Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the founder of the Islamic Republic, tried to deliver his speech, the crowds chanted slogans against him: "Death to the opponent of the Guardianship of the Jurist," "The blood in our veins is a gift to our Leader," "We are not citizens of Kufa so that the Imam would be alone," "This entire army has come for the sake of the Leader."
• Rafsanjani, addressing a group of students from Azad University, attacks Ayatollah Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah Yazdi:
  • "Relying on the people and irreplaceable role of the people in historical events is extremely important. Extremism, on the other hand, is one of the pests dealing blows to the goals of the Islamic revolution. The path of moderation and renunciation of extremism have led to the progress of the revolution. But unfortunately we on some occasions witness some people who did not believe in the struggle against the Shah, or considered that futile or unnecessary, today directly or indirectly lead extremist and radical groups and present solutions [for the problems] of the country.”
    • Mesbah Yazdi responds to Rafsanjani’s attack while addressing a group of Revolutionary Guards members from the Imam Ali Center of the Guards based in Isfahan: “At the time of the revolution, there were people who did not consider the Imam [Khomeini] as the ideologue of the revolution and solely considered him an instrument to overthrow the Shah… After the revolution, some of these people gained access to important positions in the regime and are now bidding their time as well… There are today some who are trying to monopolize the revolution to the benefit of their own interests…”

Diplomacy

• Mehr News releases the list of provinces in which Afghan citizens are barred from residing, and university courses Afghan citizens are not allowed to attend.
• Iran executes three Afghan citizens and transfers their bodies to families in Afghanistan.
• [E] Ahmadinejad will meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Beijing next week just days before another round of talks between Tehran and the world powers in Moscow.

Military and Security

• Khamenei: “The noise and threats that authorities of the usurping Zionist regime make against Iran are because of their fear, terror and powerlessness… The heads of the Zionist regime know that today they are more vulnerable than ever. Any incorrect move of theirs will strike their own heads like lightening…”

Q&A with former member of IRGC: Guards Could Negotiate with U.S. and Turn Against Khamenei in a Crisis

March 6th, 2012 Filed Under : Domestic Relations, News Features, U.S. Iran Relations

Editor’s Note: Amid the escalation of tensions between Iran and the West and the upcoming parliamentary elections, InsideIran’s Reza Akbari conducted an interview with Dr. Seyed Ahmad Shams, a former IRGC political adviser. This is the second part of the interview. Click here to read the first part.

Q: Is there a possibility that the United States government could leave Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei out of the equation and instead negotiate directly with the Revolutionary Guards, just as it negotiated with the Egyptian army before former President Hosni Mubarak’s downfall?

A: The dominant segment in the Revolutionary Guards includes a spectrum of forces with diverging tendencies. I think what some commanders of Revolutionary Guards refer to as “velayat” (Guardianship of the Jurist) does not originate from a deep-seated belief but stems from personal and economic interests that ensure inclusion in the pyramid of power. It is possible that if serious problems arise, this impassioned support will collapse; any threat to these interests can even lead to confrontation with the Supreme Leader. The behavior of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in recent years and his struggle with Khamenei over conflicting interests mirrors perfectly the behavior of other members of Revolutionary Guards in the future if serious problems break out. As Mohammad Nourizad has asserted in one of his letters to Khamenei, “At a time when the country’s system experiences probable changes, individuals such as Hussein Shariatmadari and some chiefs of Revolutionary Guards will be the first to denounce you.”

Iran News Round Up February 13, 2012

Revolution Day Poster (Photo credit: gordontour)

A selection of the latest news stories and editorials published in Iranian news outlets, compiled by Ali Alfoneh, Ahmad Majidyar and Michael Rubin.  To receive this daily newsletter, please subscribe online.

  (E) = Article in English

Politics

• The Islamic Republic celebrates the Revolution Day:
  • Ahmadinejad addressing the crowd on the Revolution Day praises Iran’s progress on all fronts. 
  • According to Khabar Online, close to parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani, there were no placards of Ahmadinejad among the demonstrators celebrating the Revolution Day.
  • The crowd in Tehran chanted slogans against Rafsanjani as Rafsanjani and his followers showed up at the Tehran Revolution Day rally.
• Hamid Rowhani, head of the Historical Studies Foundation, calls the Ahmadinejad group “the Hojjatiyeh Society,” a reference to the pre-revolutionary semi clandestine Hojjatiyeh Charitable Society banned by Grand Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini. Rowhani also accuses the Ahmadinejad group of believing in “the Satanic thesis that one must spread corruption to hasten the emergence of the Imam of the Era, and of expanding embezzlement, corruption, theft of public funds and moral and economic corruption.”
• Ayatollah Mohi al-Din Haeri Shirazi, Assembly of Experts member, says that “the Mahdavi government [government of the 12th Imam of the Shi'a] in Iran began with the victory of the revolution…” Haeri Shirazi added that the Twelfth Imam remains hidden during this government, and “his deputy, His Holiness [Ali Khamenei] is in charge of the affairs.”

Diplomacy

• Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani addresses the crowd in Mashhad on the occasion of the Revolution Day:
  • “I urge some regional states that were on Saddam’s side during the [Iran/Iraq] war and are now conspiring against the Iranian nation along with the United States to stop doing so, since the clemency of the Iranian nation towards them will not be repeated…” Larijani added that the regional countries should not follow the policies of the United States towards Iran hoping to find “burned ground,” and concluded: “If there is a conspiracy against our nation, it will spread to the entire region.”

Iran Daily Brief February 9, 2012 – Full Report

Image via Wikipedia

International Affairs

Khamenei: Islamic Revolution source of inspiration for all revolutions – Addressing Iranian Air Force personnel, Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran did not claim the Islamic Awakening in the region was initiated by Iran. However, he stated, “no one can ignore the fact that the waves of Islamic Awakening have been inspired by the victory of Islamic Revolution”. He underlined that the latest developments in the region and the Islamic Awakening proved that the Iranian nation is moving in the right path and that the Islamic Revolution has flourished and is dynamically moving forward towards its goals, 33 years after its victory. Ayatollah Khamenei added that slogans of the Iranian nation have prevailed over the region and the nations following global arrogance have now stood by Iran pursuing the same goals.

Deputy Chief of the General Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Iran holds the key to the fate of the US president and government – Brigadier General Seyyed Mas’ud Jazayeri said that “Many high level strategic experts believe that the key to the American government is in Tehran’s hands. Thus the ridiculous dance of both war-mongering and peace-making of the White House are meaningless… Iran pays no attention to this ludicrous carrot-and-stick policy and instead thinks about its own ideals and aims.” Jazayeri added that Iran pursues its objectives and causes without considering the US carrot and stick policy adding that Washington’s message of peace or war is worthless to Tehran and lacks meaning for policymaking. He said that the US and the Zionist regime (Israel) are not capable of taking military action against Iran because they know how vulnerable they are to Tehran’s retaliatory measures. Moreover, The US government is in such a pathetic situation that even their people hold street protests against the exploitative nature of the country’s governing system and chant slogans in support of the Islamic Republic.

From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard

A serious split is developing within Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard. The West must leverage that split in support of regime change before the Islamic Republic successfully tests nuclear weapons.

Members of Iran’s paramilitary Basij force, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, attend a rally in front of the former US Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 25, 2011.
(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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By Reza Kahlili
posted January 4, 2012 at 11:56 am EST

Los AngelesA serious split is developing within Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard, with one faction favoring the overthrow of the dictatorial regime. This presents a window of opportunity for the West to support regime change before the Islamic Republic successfully tests nuclear weapons. Once the regime has those nuclear bombs, that opening will be much narrower.

Iran has tried hard to show strength in the face of sanctions aimed at pressuring Tehran to quit its suspected nuclear-bomb and missile development programs. Iranian leaders are now flexing their military muscles in the strategic waterway, the Strait of Hormuz, threatening to shut it down and choking off a major part of the world’s oil supply.

The regime has long tried to scare the West from taking any action against it, by threatening the world’s security and stability. However, behind its mask of strength and unity, big cracks are beginning to show.

Year In Review: Tensions Rise Between Iran, West

Women hold pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei outside the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran on November 4, marking the day in 1979 when protesters stormed the embassy and took 52 Americans hostage for over a year.

December 25, 2011

The Arab Spring; nuclear activity; mysterious killings at home and alleged assassination attempts abroad; house arrests; fears of impending air strikes; the storming of an embassy — these are events that made 2011 the year of the threat in Iran.

And as made clear by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in November, Iran doesn’t take such threats lying down. “We reply to threats with threats, he said. “Anyone who thinks of carrying out any act of aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran should prepare themselves for strong slaps and steel fists from the powerful nation of Iran.”

Some observers, such as Patrick Clawson, director of research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, would go so far as to say there is already a covert war under way between Iran and the West.