A statement allegedly from members of Iran's military strongly denounces Revolutionary Guards role in crackdown

A statement issued late Thursday night and purporting to be from members of the Islamic Republic of Iran's military strongly warns elements within the Revolutionary Guards against continuing their crackdown on the Iranian people.

Initially posted on the Gouya News site, a usually dependable source, the statement quickly spread across the Internet. It was read last night by protesters in Paris:


In Iran, the term armed forces or 'nirouhayeh mossalah' includes the three usual branches of the military -- army, navy, and air force -- and also the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). To complicate matters, the IRGC also has ground forces, a navy, and an air force (plus the Ghods force and the Basij). I employ the term 'the military' -- artesh in the statement -- to refer to the regular army, air force, and navy.

The veracity of source of the statement cannot be confirmed. However, some elements in the text are noteworthy. Why did the author(s) not include navy personnel in the list of signatories? Why were training staff and professors included in the list of signatories? Why are distinct organizations, locations, and staffs included in the details?

Has the regime identified these places as hotbeds of dissent and is it issuing this statement in order to justify future purges? It does not seem credible, for example, that dissenting professors at the Imam Ali University for officers, which has a relatively limited number of professors, would so clearly identify themselves.

Or is the statement really issued by military personnel?

The following is a translation of the text:

In the name of pure God (NB Instead of the Arabic Allah, the word Yazdan is used. Yazdan is derived from the ancient Iranian language of Pahlavi. This may indicate that the author(s) of the statement are more patriotic than religious. It may also indicate that the author(s) want to target military personnel who are more patriotic than religious.)
The military is the refuge of the nation

In the years of the Sacred Defense (NB The Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988) when, alongside our Revolutionary Guards brothers, we defended this land, we were in reality defending the honor and dignity and lives and possessions of the Iranian people. The country is precious because the Iranian nation is precious. The weapons of the Revolutionary Guards and the military must be employed in the service of this nation and the lives [of their servicemen] should be sacrificed for the people of Iran. In the days when, alongside our Revolutionary Guards brothers, we were giving our lives for this nation, we never imagined that a day would come when a group of Guardsmen, contrary to the wishes of the vast majority of the true and devoted personnel of the Revolutionary Guards, would use the might of their weapons against this nation.

The military considers itself the refuge of the nation and has never submitted to the demands of politicians to oppress the people. It has remained faithful to its vow to not interfere in politics, but it cannot remain silent while its countrymen are persecuted and violated. For this reason, to those individuals who have been imposed on the Revolutionary Guards and who are engaged in aggression and tyranny against the lives and dignity and honor of the Iranian people and who, more than anyone, have betrayed the blood of the martyrs of our country's armed forces, whether it be the Revolutionary Guards or the military, we issue a serious warning that if they do not change course, they will be faced with the reaction of the military's selfless men. The military is the refuge of the people, and it will defend, to its last drop of blood, the peaceful people of Iran against any aggressor.

[signed]
- A group of pilots and personnel of the aviation division of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army (Havanirooz)
- A group of commanders and personnel of the 33rd artillery division of Isfahan
- A group of pilots and servicemen of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (Nahaja)
- The Shahid Sattari University of the the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (Nahaja)
- A group of the personnel of the command staff of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (Nahaja)
- A group of the personnel of the logistical training center of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army
- A group of the professors and officials of the Imam Ali University for officers
- A group of the personnel and officials of the command center of the military

Delusions of candor: IRGC political bureau chief sees Satanists among the Greens

'Delusions of candor' is an ongoing series on the regime's efforts to spin the news, create disinformation, and spread propaganda.

A publication of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) contended in its latest edition that the Green movement is being controlled by foreign powers and that its supporters are not only rabble-rousing anti-revolutionaries, but also worshipers of Satan. Literally.

Brigadier General Yadollah Javani made the outlandish claim in a front-page editorial in Sobheh Sadegh (True Morning), a weekly news publication of the political bureau of the IRGC. Javani heads the political bureau, a subdivision of Leader Ali Khamenei's representative staff within the Revolutionary Guards.

Though not in the first tier of the Islamic regime's power structure, Javani is considered close to the inner circle of IRGC officers and clerics around Khamenei and the views he expresses give an indication of the predominant ideology and tactics within that circle.

He has been a strong proponent of efforts to paint the opposition as an instrument of foreign powers seeking the 'soft overthrow' of the regime.

On August 16, he spoke to the Islamic Republic News Agency about Hedayat Aghaie, a jailed senior member of the Executives of Construction Party (Kargozaraneh Sazandegi) which is close to Expediency Council chief and Ahmadinejad rival Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. 'In his confessions, Hedayat Aghaie [...] said that they had conducted polls in the subway, but that when they had submitted the reports to Mir Hossein Mousavi, they had said that the figures reflected the whole country,' Javani told IRNA. '[Aghaie] also confessed that their strategy was to gain power at any cost.' Javani apparently did not consider it unusual that the IRGC political bureau boss had access to the interrogation reports emanating from the regime's jails. Aghaie was sentenced to five years in prison in late October, according to his lawyer Alireza Jafarian.

Also in August, a busy month for the indefatigable Javani, he called for the prosecution of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, the head of the Etemad Melli Party, and former President Mohammad Khatami.

The following is a translation of Javani's editorial in the Monday, November 9, 2009 issue of Sobheh Sadegh:

Who is pulling the Greens' strings? 

In the name of God, most gracious, most merciful.

The Greens, whatever term is used to describe them, are a part of the reality of Iran's political landscape. This group, with green as its symbol, found its identity in the campaign rallies of Mir Hossein Mousavi. They showed their support for Mousavi by using in different ways the green color of the scarf he wore over his shoulder because his mother was a descendant of the Prophet Mohammad. Today some people insist on employing this color. Now the question is, Who is pulling these Greens' strings? (NB The regime has become extremely sensitive about the opposition's use of the color green, which is associated with Islam. Steps are being taken to create a counter-group, favorable to the regime, called the Sabzhayeh Alavi or greens who support Imam Ali, one of the most beloved figures in Shiism.)

Who is truly guiding the green movement now? Which person or individuals are leading this movement? Is the leadership of this movement in the hands of Mir Hossein Mousavi and is he managing the Greens? Are Seyed Mohammad Khatami or Mehdi Karroubi playing a role in the leadership of this group? Instead of individuals, are parties and groups such as the Mojahedin Organization (NB Javani uses a shortened version of the reformist Organization of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, making the name resemble that of the Mojahedin Khalgh Organization, a broadly despised armed group which collaborated with Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War.), the [Islamic Iran] Participation Front or other 2nd of Khordad groups leading the Greens? (NB The 2nd of Khordad is the date of the election of reformist President Khatami.)

...the group appeared under the color green in just a few streets on days such as Ghods Day and November 4...

This writer believes that the group which appeared under the color green in just a few streets on days such as Ghods Day and November 4, and acted in a different way from the masses of millions of people, is not controlled by Mousavi or like-minded individuals, but rather by foreign enemies. (NB The regime was particularly shaken by the opposition's exploitation of official events, such as Ghods Day -- in support of Palestinians and against Israel -- and November 4 -- the anniversary of the seizure of the US embassy -- which embody the ideological pillars of the Islamic Republic, to launch counter-demonstrations with counter-slogans. For more on Ghods Day, go here; November 4, go here; regime sensitivity to counter-slogans, go here)

There is no doubt that this movement was created by Mir Hossein Mousavi and his campaign staffs and his supporters. Mousavi appeared among the crowds of his supporters again and again and spoke of the green wave, and after the election called the Greens to the streets, thus paved the way for pockets of rebellion and unrest and public insecurity. It was Mir Hossein Mousavi who, by issuing a statement, founded the Green Path of Hope. On the surface, it looks like Mir Hossein Mousavi is leading this group, but the truth is that not only does Mir Hossein [sic. Javani forgets his manners from this point on.] not control this group, but that he and this movement are being controlled by foreigners.

The truth is that not only does Mir Hossein not lead this group, but that he and this movement are being controlled by foreigners.

It is not difficult to prove this point. Mir Hossein claims that he is faithful to the constitution, the Islamic Revolution, the Islamic Republic, and the goals of Imam Khomeini. Does the behavior of this small and seditious green-clad group in the events after the tenth presidential election, particularly on Ghods Day and November 4, correspond to Mir Hossein Mousavi's claims? If it does not correspond to them, why does Mir Hossein Mousavi not repudiate these actions and chide his supporters? Let us look at examples of such behavior.

1. One of the slogans of the green-clad groupuscule on Ghods Day was 'Neither eastern, nor western, an Iranian Republic' instead of 'Neither eastern, nor western, an Islamic Republic.' If Mir Hossein claims that he is advancing the ideas of the Imam, why is he silent in the face of this deviation of his supporters? Why does he not issue a statement warning his supporters against this deviation? Did the late Imam, after reflecting on the term to be used to describe the political system of Iran, not say, 'An Islamic Republic, not one word less, not one word more?' Does an Iranian Republic represent anything less than the elimination of Islam from the political scene?

'Neither eastern, nor western, an Iranian Republic'... Does an Iranian Republic represent anything less than the elimination of Islam from the political scene?

2. 'Neither Gaza, nor Lebanon, my life only for Iran' was the Greens' famous slogan on Ghods Day. What is the position of Mousavi, who claims to follow the Imam's Line, on this slogan? The Imam declared Ghods Day (NB Jerusalem Day) to be the day of Islam and by setting the strategy for the elimination of Israel from the pages of time, he defined Jerusalem and the Palestinian problem to be the most important issues for Muslims. If Mir Hossein is true to the goals of the Imam and he leads the Greens, why did he not condemn this deviant slogan on Ghods Day?

3. Consuming during the Ramadan fast, disregarding Islamic propriety, mixing boys and girls in the worst possible manner, and attacking Friday worshipers with stones were among the actions taken by the Greens on Ghods Day. (NB State media published photos of Ghods Day protesters smoking, which is banned during fasting hours in Ramadan. The news reports failed to mention that the protesters were blowing cigarette smoke into each other's eyes to counter the effects of tear gas.) Does Mir Hossein condone such behavior? If not, why doesn't Mir Hossein chide his supporters and condemn such actions?

The Greens chanted 'Death to Russia.' In which backroom was this slogan devised?

4. On the national day of struggle against world arrogance (NB World Arrogance generally refers to the United States.) and the day of 'Death to America', meaning November 4, the Greens chanted 'Death to Russia.' What is Mir Hossein's position on this slogan of his supporters? In which backroom was this slogan devised? Has Mir Hossein forgotten these words of the Imam: 'Some chant death to Russia to make us forget America.' If Mir Hossein does not agree with such slogans and considers them to be a deviation from the path of struggle against world arrogance, why doesn't he admonish his supporters?

5. From the first days after the election, Mir Hossein's green supporters were rioting, attacking banks, burning buses, attacking Basij bases, burning Lolagar Mosque, and damaging people's property.

(NB Many videos show it was actually Basijis and security forces who damaged property. Just one example follows.)


They continued their ugly acts on Ghods Day and November 4, by burning garbage cans in the streets. Does Mir Hossein, who claims to be working within a legal framework, agree with such acts? If he doesn't agree, does he strongly condemn them?

6. On November 4, some of Mousavi's supporters, sporting green signs and chanting 'Ya Hossein, Mir Hossein,' attacked Majlis representative Marandi's car with knives and machetes and damaged the automobile. What is Mir Hossein's position on these actions of his supporters? Why doesn't he call on his supporters to put aside such actions? (NB Javani would have us believe that on a day with a record number of security forces on the streets cracking down on protesters with such violence that even conservative web sites have voiced complaints, bands of machete-armed protesters with green wristbands were at large.)

Does Mir Hossein know that some green-clad young women and men who attended campaign rallies and ceremonies on Ghods day and November 4, wore symbols of deviant groups, including Satan worshipers?

7. Mir Hossein Mousavi considers the color green the symbol of the people and their ideals. Does Mir Hossein know that some green-clad young women and men who attended campaign rallies and ceremonies on Ghods day and November 4, wore symbols of deviant groups, including Satan worshipers? If he does know, how does he justify the combination of green and Satanist symbols? If this cannot be justified, why doesn't he warn his supporters against it? Aren't these Greens supporters of Mir Hossein?

There are many examples like these. And if Mir Hossein or others like Khatami, Karroubi, or parties such as the Participation Front and the Mojahedin do not react to such actions and do not warn the Greens against such actions and slogans, it is because they know that these Greens are being controlled by others. They know that slogans like 'Ya Hossein, Mir Hossein' and 'Karroubi, Karroubi, we will defend you!' are only tools which exploit their names to oppose the religious regime.

Mir Hossein knows that the Greens will disregard any admonishment or warning he issues and then it will be even clearer that the Greens and Mir Hossein are both playing in a field designed by foreigners. Mir Hossein spoke of green wisdom and founded the Green Path of Hope, but now this green movement is going in a direction which is warming the hearts of all anti-revolutionary groups.

An example of the hope that the Greens have instilled among exiled anti-revolutionaries can be heard in the words of Reza Pahlavi, the dead Shah's son. In an article he wrote in an American newspaper, Reza Pahlavi wrote about his meeting with 40 members of Congress and said, 'I told the members of Congress that if America wants to engage Iran, it must choose the best interlocutor in Iran, and in my opinion the best option is the green movement.' From America, Reza Pahlavi wants to garner support for the green movement. Does Mir Hossein accept that in Reza Pahlavi's opinion, he is the best option for advancing the goals and interests of America in Iran. If he doesn't accept this, he should know and accept that the strings of the green movement that he set in motion are being pulled by others now. This is the very point that the wise Leader of the Revolution [Ali Khamenei] raised: 'On the day after the election, I sent a message to the gentlemen, that you might start a movement, but others will continue it.'

Two companies linked to Iranian armed forces 'win' national data center contract in rigged bidding

Two companies closely linked to the Islamic regime's armed forces have won a massive contract to run the national data center after a call for bids was canceled by the government, according to Sarmayeh daily. 

Information Systems Iran, known as ISIRAN, and Zaeim Electronic Industries were awarded the contract after the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued a directive which rendered the project confidential and annulled the call for tenders. The national data center will house the digital information and documents of the state's various bodies.

This development comes after the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) bought a controlling stake in the Telecommunication Company of Iran through a proxy, the Tosse'eh Etemad Mobin consortium, in what was hailed as the biggest deal in the history of the Tehran Stock Exchange in late September. A private company, Pishgaman Kavir Group, had been disqualified from bidding on security grounds the day before the winner was to have been announced. The other group left in the competition, Moaseseyeh Mehr Eghtesadi Iranian, was also controlled by the IRGC through the Basij militia. (For more on the Iran telecom sale, go here)

The Telecommunication Infrastructure Company, under the control of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, had organized the call for tenders for the national data center. Four entities had responded to the call and purchased the bidding documents: Tacfam, ISIRAN, Zaeim, and a consortium made up of seventeen companies. Last month, TIC announced that a winner had been chosen, but did not name the group. After the government's directive was issued, the call for tenders was cancelled and ISIRAN and Zaeim were declared the joint winners. They will collectively run the national data center.

ISIRAN and Zaeim's connections to the armed forces have provoked concern given increasingly frequent indications that the IRGC is extending its influence not only into the country's political and security structures, but also into the economy.

In May 2003, German police halted the export of 44 high-voltage switches which were being dispatched to Zaeim Electronic Industries, according to the Wall Street Journal. The switches propagate powerful sound waves that can be used to dissolve kidney stones or sterilize food. They can also be employed as triggers for nuclear weapons. The switches had been ordered by German businesswoman Eva-Marie Hack on behalf of naturalized Swedish citizen Eddie Johansson, an Iranian native whose name at birth was Hojjat Naghash Souratgar. In a factually and semantically challenged statement, Zaeim Electronic Industries said, 'We strongly deny that we have been in the way of acquiring military equipment nuclear.'

ISIRAN's military links are more clearly established. It is a subsidiary of Iran Electronics Industries - company motto 'Western performance, eastern price' - which builds, among a diverse range of products, missile launchers and tactical communication systems. The public relations office of the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics describes ISIRAN's principle mission as 'technical, training, and refurbishment support of the Armed Forces computer services.'

In an article published last year, Gooya News reported that the main staff of the Ministry of Defense had been moved to the ISIRAN building in Tehran's Nobonyad Square, which happens to be the postal address of Parchin Chemical Industries, which is under UN sanctions for proliferation transgressions.

(All articles on this blog may be reproduced for non-commercial use. Proper credit would be appreciated.)

Protests despite crackdown, Assembly of Sleepers, and the insatiable Revolutionary Guards - VOA Newstalk - 30 September 2009

Jamshid ChalangiThe following is a translation of highlights of last night's Newstalk on VOA. It is not a full transcript.

You can view Newstalk, September 30, on Windows Media  - on Real Player.

For those unfamiliar with the show, Wednesday's episodes of Newstalk are very popular in Iran (8 PM to 9 PM). Wednesday's popularity is because of the two regular guests: Alireza Nourizadeh and Mohsen Sazegara. Nourizadeh is the director of the Center for Arab and Iranian Studies in London. Sazegara, a founder of the Revolutionary Guards, became a regime opponent and runs the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. 

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
Mr. Nourizadeh, the most important news is tomorrow's 5+1 meeting. But let's talk about the student demonstrations [of Monday and Tuesday]. What's your take on them?

Alireza Nourizadeh: 
After employing all its forces against the people, the regime thought that everything was over. IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari told Khamenei, The country has been pacified. But I believe that Ghods Day (NB Friday, September 18. Annual event in support of Palestinians and in opposition to Israel. Greens exploited the official rallies to take their protest back to the streets. For an overview of that day go here.) changed everything. Over 1.5 million protesters hit the streets and chanted their own slogans as opposed to those of the regime. They shouted, 'Neither Gaza, nor Lebanon, my life for Iran.' This restored hope in the hearts of people. It showed that this movement could not be stopped with murder, rape, or torture. The people realized what power they have and this power has been intensified by the events in the universities. I see this strength in the people's actions, in blogs, in web sites... Let's not forget that they have replaced university security chiefs with people whose hands are bloody. They've threatened the students, but despite everything the green wave crashed forth from the first day of the academic year.

Ahmadinejad was supposed to go to a university to mark the beginning of the academic year, but he was so terrified, he stayed away and cited jet lag.

When Mr. [Gholam Ali] Haddad Adel (NB Former Majlis Speaker and member of the Supreme Council for Cultural Revolution) went to Tehran University [on Monday] he thought... this is a man who said, The country shouldn't come to a standstill because three people died in Kahrizak [detention center]. Haddad Adel has a child, his daughter is married to Khamenei's son Mojtaba. He doesn't understand you can't say such things to parents who have lost their children. After Haddad Adel made that insulting comment, the students immediately paid him back in the university and made him leave with his head down. They made it clear that such people are no longer welcome in universities. (NB For footage of Monday's demonstration in Tehran University and chants against Haddad Adel go here). Ahmadinejad was supposed to go to a university to mark the beginning of the academic year, but he was so terrified, he stayed away and cited jet lag. We also saw how Education Minister Karman Daneshjou was greeted [at Sharif University on Tuesday]. We really have to applaud the students in Tehran, Shiraz, Tabriz, Isfahan...

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
Mr. Sazegara, how is this academic year different from last year?

Mohsen Sazegara: 
In the past four years, Khamenei and his cohorts have tried to silence universities. Past and present student leaders have been arrested. Iranian universities have been the fonts of popular movements in the past 70 years. The coup plotters were extremely worried about the start of the academic year, as we've seen in secret documents which have made it out with the help of green supporters inside the regime. The regime has sought to instill a climate of fear. The previous days of unrest occurred during registration. Classes haven't even started yet. Many student Basij forces are falling apart. These kids don't want to be associated with murder and rape.

Mr. Ahmadinejad, bring out your supporters. Let's see them!

I'm amazed at the gall exhibited by Ahmadinejad. He was on Charlie Rose the other night. He just prattled on about how he'd won the election and the minority had to submit to the majority. Rose just laughed. In the past three months, we've consistently said, Mr. Ahmadinejad, bring out your supporters. Let's see them! If you have so many supporters, why are you afraid to show your face in universities? They sent Education and Science Minister [Kamran] Daneshjou to Sharif University and the kids called him 'Sub-diploma minister', because as you know Daneshjou has some problems with fake academic degrees (NB Nature magazine has proved that Daneshjou plagiarized scientific articles).

Mohsen Sazegara

I think that universities and high schools will be the scenes of demonstrations this year. They did a funny thing with Javad Larijani NB Another brother of Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani and judiciary chief Sadegh Larijani. Last week, Javad Larijani accused Mir Hossein Mousavi of resembling MKO leader Massoud Rajavi.) The students calmly filled the hall where he was to give a lecture. As soon as he started speaking, they got up and left.

The movement is going to seep out of the universities into the general public. The other day, cars outside Tehran University started honking in support and this stretched all the way to Ferdowsi Square.

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
Mr. Nourizadeh, there's talk of a plan [formulated by Rafsanjani, Haddad Adel,...] to find a resolution to this crisis. [Opposition leader and Etemad Melli Party chief Mehdi] Karroubi wrote a letter to Rafsanjani, as head of the Expediency Council... I mean Assembly of Experts... Rafsanjani has so many jobs I get them mixed up sometimes. Karroubi asked Rafsanjani why he wasn't carrying out his duties as President of the Assembly of Experts (NB whose constitutional role is to name the Supreme Leader, oversee his actions, and replace him if necessary. The Assembly convened last week and Rafsanjani lauded Khamenei in his opening statements]. Did Karroubi mean Khamenei should be replaced?

In the past 20 years, the Assembly of Experts has become a council of sycophants...

Alireza Nourizadeh: 
Even in Khomeini's time, the Experts didn't say much, but at least a few had some dignity and occasionally voiced personal views. But in the past 20 years, the Assembly of Experts has become a council of sycophants who get together twice a year and engage in a competition to see who can cozy up the most to the Supreme Leader. This statement that they released on the last day is shameful! Is this possible? Why did you complain about the Shah so much? The Senate and the National Majlis in those days never flattered the Shah so much! They linked Khamenei to the Heavens, called him 'the surrogate of Imam Zaman (NB Messiah)', said that 'the Supreme Leader's garb was sewn for him'... One is truly amazed... A man with a meter-long beard, 85 years old, close to death... How much are these privileges worth for a person like Ayatollah Khazali to disgrace himself like that at 90? Or look at that Mesbah Yazdi who falls at Khamenei's feet! It is unprecedented in the history of Shiism to fall at a marja's feet (NB Marja: 'source of emulation') There was a story: When [Ayatollah] Haj Hossein Ghomi returned to Iran from Iraq, people would run after him and his donkey and collect the donkey's droppings. But no one kissed his feet. Mesbah Yazdi kissed Khamenei's feet.

Alireza Nourizadeh

I believe that, once again, Mr. Karroubi has shown his courage by writing this letter to Rafsanjani. Some people say, Don't do anything to upset Rafsanjani and push him to the other side. No one's pushing Rafsanjani. But when he walks backwards for 60 km, what are you supposed to do? Rafsanjani led one Friday Prayer (NB July 17. Protesters again exploited the event and turned out in large numbers.), mild to the extreme, and the people really acclaimed him nevertheless. So many people told me, This isn't the Rafsanjani of yesterday, leave him alone. Ok, I left him alone. But he doesn't allow you to leave him alone! When he opens the Assembly with those words, it shows that some backroom agreements are being reached. You and I know that Mr. Khamenei will not concede. He's tasted absolute power and he's being goaded on by the IRGC: 'Pull out your sword! The world is awaiting you! The world of Islam and the world of the deprived love you!' Khamenei can no longer form a partnership with Rafsanjani, but Rafsanjani still harbors hopes.

Karroubi has lived up to his national duties. He's told the Experts that their heads are in the sand. I believe that this letter will be remembered in our history. In comparison, Mr. Mousavi's letter was a bit too moderate. Mr. Mousavi should not be afraid of being accused of seeking to overthrow the Islamic Republic. He should stop harping about the Islamic Republic. People are going to ask, 'Did our children die, did we suffer so we could return to June 12?' No! A fundamental change is required. Mr. Mousavi enjoys the respect and the love of the people, but if he wants to be a popular leader, he cannot move slower than the society.

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
Mr. Sazegara, we spoke of the crisis facing the regime. What are the solutions that the officials have proposed to resolve it?

Looking back on history, I don't think that a more useless council has ever existed.

Mohsen Sazegara: 
I have to also praise Mr. Karroubi's courage.

As far as the Assembly of Experts (majleseh khebreganeh rahbari) goes... you know, people have been coming up with new names for it on the Internet: The Assembly of Sleepers (majleseh khoftegan), the Assembly of the Flatterers of the Leadership (majleseh chaplousan rahbari)...

Looking back on history, I don't think that a more useless council has ever existed. In the Shah's day, the National Majlis and the Senate at least did something. This Assembly of Experts has one duty: To appoint and oversee the Supreme Leader. As Mr. Karroubi said, If you're going to release statements that look like they're coming from Khamenei's secretariat, why spend all that money to convene. Just stay at home and release the statement.

For three months, the country has been ablaze: Crisis, killings, torture... Organizations under the supervision of the Leader have committed whatever crimes they could, and the accusation can also be leveled at the Leader himself... Then you have this Assembly releasing such a statement. They don't even dare name the people who have signed it or how many they were? One person, Ayatollah Dastgheib, voices a criticism, then you hear people saying, He should be dismissed! This Assembly should be dismissing the Leader, but instead the Leader says, No, Dastgheib can stay in the Assembly.

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
So you're saying that the solution to this crisis--

Mohsen Sazegara:
Hashemi Rafsanjani said that he has consulted with some people who are concerned about the country to find a solution. It appears that they are all members of the Expediency Council. The fundamental demand of the people is that the coup government which is supported by Russia must come down and be judged. The legal government, led by Mir Hossein Mousavi, must be brought to power. Then the people can talk to the legal government and voice their other demands. You can no longer tell the people to live within a constitutional framework where some Supreme Leader does what he wants, but that has to be a later demand.

The regime keeps trying to convince people that everything is back to normal. But as soon as two demonstrations took place earlier in the week, the regime rushes its troops and henchmen to the streets. The regime knows full well that the crisis is deep-rooted. No one is investing, no one is building anything...

The way to come out of this crisis, as Mohammad Reza Khatami (NB Opposition figure, brother of former President Mohammad Khatami) said in a interview, is to lift the heavy weight of the Ahmadinejad government from the shoulders of this society. That's the minimum demand of the people. No solution will work unless the people's rights are restored.

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
Mr. Nourizadeh, can we expect such a solution to become reality? Will, for example, Mr. Khamenei accept such an outcome? Many have said that the next demand may be the abrogation of the position of Supreme Leader.

The minimum demand of the people is the annulment of the election. Can Mr. Khamenei accept this?

Alireza Nourizadeh: 
The rift between the people and the regime is so wide and Mr. Khamenei is so determined to continue on this faulty path, that I believe that we have reached a point of no return. Mr. Khamenei thinks that if he succumbs to the will of the people, it will diminish his grandeur. And on the other side, the people who have lost their children, who have paid a heavy price and suffered, well they won't take a step back either. When you talk to young Ebrahim Sharifi (NB alleged victim of prison rape) and discover the horrors that he has experienced, when you see the pain of so many others, you can't expect them to just go back home if Mr. Rafsanjani declares that an agreement has been reached.

As Mr. Sazegara said, the minimum demand of the people is the annulment of the election. Can Mr. Khamenei accept this? Bowing to the will of the people is heresy to Mr. Khamenei! But he doesn't consider his illegal actions and those of his president to be heresy. I have no optimism whatsoever about these old, white-bearded individuals finding a solution. Is Mr. Mahdavi Kani going to find a solution? Or Khazali? Which one? Their solutions always revolve around safekeeping their own interests.

Despotism of the ugliest kind has taken over our country and until this tyranny is eradicated, the people will not stand down.

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
Many people have advanced the idea of free elections under the supervision of international observers.

Mohsen Sazegara: 
The Majlis can impeach this government with a two-thirds majority. Khamenei can call for this.

But if there are new elections, no one will trust this Interior Ministry [which organizes elections] or the Guardian Council [which confirms the results]. Civil organizations in Iran and abroad can supervise and observe free elections. As a friend said, Our problem is over the ballot box and reconciliation can be found in the ballot box.

The regime will be demolished if it does not bow to the people's will.

These gentlemen of the regime have rigged the elections, carried out a coup d'état, killed and tortured people... And they keep swearing that they obtained the majority of the vote. If you had the majority, why did you have to arrest people, jail them... there are still people in prison... Today they released Saeed Hajjarian after three months, God knows in what condition. Where are the other prisoners? There's no trace of them.

Even this little talk of a solution has created turmoil in Ahmadinejad's camp and in newspapers like Keyhan. They're worried that Khamenei might agree with some kind of agreement. Khamenei is incapable of controlling his own camp.

As for the solution... The gentlemen will bow to the will of the people, otherwise... this nation has been put to the test. The people will paralyze the country. It is impossible for such a regime -- forget about the Islamic Republic, even the worst Stalinist government would not be able to stand up to the people. The IRGC is behind everything and tried to confront the people, but now [its chief ] Jafari is scrambling to get out of the way. The regime will be demolished if it does not bow to the popular will.

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
Miracles have occurred in ballot boxes in some countries around the world. We won't name them. Let's get back to Mr. Karroubi, whom you mentioned. Here's some footage of the protest at Sharif University and a slogan that was been chanted there...

(Video of student protesters shouting, 'Montazeri, Saanei, the true clerics!')

Montazeri and Saanei are the true clerics. But where are the others? Some clerics like Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani have spoken out, but where are the majority of clerics? We should also mention Ayatollah Kazemeini Boroujerdi who believes in the separation of church and state, and who was arrested several years ago and is still in prison. Where are the majority of clerics, Mr. Nourizadeh?

If you shake any of these senior clerics, billions in cash will fall out of their clothes.

Alireza Nourizadeh: 
They're busy getting their religious alms. A friend told me recently that one of the ayatollahs just paid for the weddings of a thousand seminarians. I thought, how wonderful! I was told that the representative of Ayatollah Sistani (NB Considered the most senior Shiite cleric, lives in Iraq) has built a residential complex for seminarians -- singles on one side and married ones on the other. I think they live in another world, Mr. Chalangi. They don't care about the majority of the people, just the hajis who can give them tithes. They just care about the Bazaari who pockets 5 billion and throws 200 million their way.

At the same time, Khamenei has destroyed the senior clergy and disgraced it. He made most senior clerics dependent on his regime.

When Ayatollah Behjat passed away, he left 140 billion toumans (NB about $140 million). According to his will, he wanted the money to be buried with him so that the Messiah could use it during his Coming. As soon as Khamenei found out, he sent two people to go and get the cash for own office. 140 billion toumans!

Ayatollah Lankarani left 94 billion toumans (NB about $94 million). If you shake any of these senior clerics, billions will fall out of their clothes. Did any of these senior ayatollahs take any steps to help the families which had lost their children? Perhaps that child had been the breadwinner of the family? Did they help any of these poor kids who were compelled to escape Iran? No!

Unfortunately this clergy which used to bring comfort to the people... Mr. Chalangi, these clerics used to accompany us from birth to death. We used to go to them to resolve issues. The clerics used to help the people. They used to have funds to lend to people in need. Now they just want to take. Have you ever seen a mullah give 5 toumans to anyone now?

Now they have power and money. Even the ones who have opposing views don't speak out, because they are afraid. The regime has evidence against them or their sons or kin.

We would like to see some of these clerics exhibit at least a speck of the kind of honor Ayatollah Montazeri has shown! From the day Mr. Montazeri said no to power, he has not taken one false step. (NB Ayatollah Montazeri was pegged to be Ayatollah Khomeini's successor until he complained about rapes and mass executions in the Islamic Republic's prisons in the late 1980s.) Everyone is now waiting for Montazeri to determine the future of the supreme leadership which he himself helped create. He has come very close to this issue, but he must now clearly state that this guardianship of the jurisprudent must come to an end. I truly believe that this is Mr. Montazeri's historical role.

Others like Mr. Bayat Zanjani and Mr. Saanei are looking at Montazeri for their lead. Many traditional clerics like Ayatollah Razi Shirazi or Ayatollah Mohaghegh Damad never really subscribed to the notion of a supreme leader. If Mr. Montazeri announces that he made a mistake, that he thought that the guardianship of the jurisprudent was feasible, but that such guardianship only belongs to the Innocents, then that's the end of the story.

Ayatollah Boroujerdi has suffered so much because he doesn't accept the notion of supreme leadership. He always said, let religion stay in its place, away from politics.

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
Mr. Nourizadeh, are there any historical accounts of what the first Imam (NB Imam Ali) left behind after his death? You spoke of Ayatollah Behjat's will earlier.

Alireza Nourizadeh: 
Of course. Imam Ali's home was a mud hut. He didn't have any wealth. You can't even compare those imams with the current senior clergy. How can you compare some sugar-peddling ayatollah (NB Some senior ayatollahs have the monopoly on sugar imports in Iran) with Imam Ali? These clerics are sitting on billions. And their children... Look at the financial corruption. They're unfortunately pillaging the country and discrediting religion at the same time.

Unfortunately, the IRGC which was martyred in the first decade after the revolution, turned to business in the second decade, and has become a murderer in the third decade.

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
Mr. Sazegara, in all this turmoil, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has bought the Telecommunications Company of Iran (For a report on this buyout, go here). Many have described this kind of behavior as that of an occupying force.

Mohsen Sazegara:
Unfortunately, the IRGC which was martyred in the first decade after the revolution, turned to business in the second decade, and has become a murderer in the third decade. Many of the old Guardsmen were war heroes. I still have many friends who were disabled in the war, some because of chemical weapons. But these people do not play any key role in this IRGC. The levers of power within the IRGC are mostly in the hands of upstarts, people like Ahmadinejad who didn't do anything special during the Iran-Iraq War. The strange thing they're doing... like an invading army, as you so aptly put it... They appear insatiable. They've poked their nose into politics, into state security, and the economy.

They're involved in making tractors, shipyards, rice imports, cigarette imports, trafficking... Anywhere you go in Iran, you see the hand of the IRGC. They have the Gharargah Ghorb (NB Gharargah Sazandegi Khatam ol-Anbia (Khatam ol-Anbia Construction Base), also known as Ghorb, is the main contracting arm of the IRGC and employs some 25,000 officers, engineers, and civilian contractors according to IRGC General Sattar Vafai.), oil contracts... The latest foray into business was the buyout of Iran's telecom. Sarmayeh newspaper had an excellent report on this. The Mehr Fund, which is the war chest of the coup plotters and was previously known as the Basij mutual fund, and the IRGC mutual fund have even bought the largest mine in the country outside of any competing bids, for a sum not even equal to the mine's six-month production. Nowhere in the world do you see the military buying the country's telecom. And the buyout was mired in questions. A private company was disqualified from making bids, then the Mehr Fund apparently pulled out in favor of the IRGC mutual fund.

In the context of the people's struggle, I'm happy about this. This huge company is linked to the population in numerous ways -- from phone booths to private lines -- and the people can express their opposition to the IRGC more easily by targeting the telecom.

The IRGC has run many of these companies into the ground. You need experience to manage a factory. Production in their tractor plant has fallen from 130 a day to 13, for example. They're bringing the economy to its knees, as they dilapidate billions of the nation's money.

My real concern is that the IRGC will try to divert attention by engaging in adventurism beyond Iran's borders. Firing missiles, adding to the problems of Iraq or Afghanistan...

The IRGC was engaged in the Iran-Iraq War and is now getting war reparations, except that it is Iran that is paying and not Iraq!

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
It's said that the IRGC was engaged in the Iran-Iraq War and is now getting war reparations, except that it is Iran that is paying and not Iraq! How true is this analysis?

Alireza Nourizadeh: 
This is not the IRGC of the war years. You now have a bunch of employees with uniforms, not war veterans. Their mission is to oppress the people. They don't know anything about the war. They're into the stock exchange and taking money to Dubai. They're submerged in corruption. They don't feel anything for their homeland or future generations. They're firing missiles to scare their own people. You think Israel is worried about their Seijil missile? They fired a missile from Astara to Sarbaz, but it came down near Kerman. That's 300 km off course! Iran is a large country and deserves a powerful and modern army. The Emirates just bought 70 of the latest US fighter jets.

Let me just mention the nuclear installation near Ghom. They take the IAEA and the 5+1 countries for fools. What did they have to build that for? Natanz had the capacity for another 60,000 centrifuges. They wanted to tell the US, this is near a holy site, don't attack it. Ghom is home to Massoumeh's shrine, but it also has sewers and the gentlemen of the regime engage in corrupt activities in some parts of it. Not every part of Ghom is sacred. There's also Saleh Abad and Manzariyeh, where they train terrorists.

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
Mr. Sazegara, tomorrow the 5+1 discussions will begin.

Mohsen Sazegara:
Russia has apparently changed its position. One reason is that the Iranian people have started chanting 'Death to Russia!' in the streets. The other reason is that the Obama administration has extended a hand to Moscow and modified its missile shield project. Russian President Medvedev said in New York that sanctions are on the table. As for the Chinese, well the US has put pressure on Saudi Arabia to limit oil exports to China if Beijing's position on Iran does not change. If Ahmadinejad retreats, it will be because of Russia's new position because the gentlemen of the regime depend on Moscow.

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
The green movement has announced that it does not favor nuclear weapons.

Mohsen Sazegara: 
The regime has tried to pretend that the Iranian nation supports nuclear weapons, so if the people declare that they do not want such arms it will have a good effect on the international stage.

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
Thank you and good evening.

We've got your number: IRGC buys controlling stake in Iran telecom

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) bought a controlling stake in the Telecommunications Company of Iran (TCI or Sherkat Mokhaberat Iran) on Sunday in a half-hour operation whose outcome was known in advance.

Late the previous day, Pishgaman Kavir Group had been disqualified in the 11th hour from competing for the telecom shares for 'security reasons' by the Iranian Privatization Organization (IPO). The two remaining rival bids came from groups controlled by the IRGC: the Moaseseyeh Mehr Eghtesadi Iranian (Mehr Iranians' Economic Organization) and the Tosse'eh Etemad Mobin (Mobin Development of Trust) consortium.

The Tosse'eh Etemad Mobin consortium, linked to the IRGC's social affairs mutual fund, bought 50% plus one stock in the state telecom for 340.9 toumans a share which brought the amount of the deal to 7.8 trillion toumans (about $8 billion), the largest transaction in the history of the Tehran stock exchange.

The consortium is made up of three companies: Tosse'eh Etemad, Shahriar Mahestan, and Iran Mobin Electronics Development Company, according to Masoumeh Taherkhani writing in Donyayeh Eghtesad. Tosse'eh Etemad and Shahriar Mahestan investment companies are directly run by the IRGC's social affairs mutual fund. Mobin Electronics belongs to the Setadeh Ejraieh Farman Emam (The Staff for the Enforcement of the Imam's Decree), a labyrinthine foundation directly under the authority of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's office. The foundation is headed by Mohammad Mokhber, named by Khamenei in 2007. The chairman of Iran Mobin Electronics is Seyed Mostafa Seyed Hashemi, a former four-term conservative Majlis representative.

The sale of TCI was scheduled for September 9 (for a previous article go here), but was inexplicably postponed. At the time, it had been predicted that the price tag would be $7-$8 billion, though experts had said that the company's real value, considering its large mobile phone operations, assets, and the fact that it is a monopoly, was at least double that. The winner of the bid was announced yesterday, but the actual transaction will take place on Wednesday.

Moaseseyeh Mehr Eghtesadi Iranian lost its bid to purchase TCI, but the group can take comfort in the fact that the Iranian telecom will now be in the hands of a brother organization. According to its managing director Alireza Baghani in an interview with Iran Tejarat, Moaseseyeh Mehr Eghtesadi Iranian is a subsidiary of the Mehr Finance and Credit Institution, formerly known as the Mehr Fund, which is linked to the Basij and ultimately the IRGC. Though the Moaseseyeh Mehr Eghtesadi Iranian investment group was considered by the Privatization Organization to be a valid bidder, its web page is still under construction.

Privatization Organization head Gholamreza Heidari Kord Zangeneh claimed in an interview with Fars News that Pishgaman Kavir Group had pulled out of the bidding, but the group's president Mohammad Reza Rezainejad said in a statement on the company's web site, 'On Saturday September 26, at 3:39 PM, we received a letter from the Privatization Organization informing us that our company was not qualified to participate in the bid. But both the Privatization Organization and the telecom had approved our company.' Rezaipour told Fars News that Pishgaman Kavir Group had spent over 15 billion toumans (about $15 million) on its failed bid and that someone had to be held accountable for this sum.

According to Ayandeh News, Pishgaman Kavir Group received a fax from the Privatization Organization on Saturday afternoon, disqualifying the company for 'security reasons.' The group's spokesman Mostafa Sajjadi told Ayandeh News, 'It is up to legal bodies to determine who can participate in a historical bid of this nature, but why didn't they tell us from the beginning?' Sajjadi said that his group would pursue the matter in court.

Seyed Mehdi Tabai Aghdaie, member of the governing board of the Privatization Organization, told a televised press conference, 'Our organization could only look into the financial and technical validity of the bidders. Bodies outside the Privatization Organization had to look into the security qualifications.'


Opposition and human rights groups fear that the IRGC will now be able to tighten control over telephone and Internet communications in Iran. Though voicing concern over the acquisition, Mohsen Sazegara, a founder of the IRGC who is now a dissident in Washington DC, said that it would ultimately turn out to be a mistake on the part of the Revolutionary Guards. 'The struggle against the IRGC has entered a new phase in which an easily accessible entity like the telecom can be targeted,' Sazegara said.

CLOSE-UP: The slap heard around the cyberworld: fact and fiction around a viral video

Much of the information coming out of Iran is in the form of footage uploaded to the Internet without the benefit of much description or explanation. Each installment in the Close-up series will provide an in-depth analysis of a single video.  
 
As the dust settles on the furor provoked by dramatic footage first touted as that of a dead protester's father being slapped by an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) officer, it appears that the video illustrates a no-less-interesting case of internecine friction within the regime camp.



The video's wide circulation began on Monday and soon turned into an Internet sensation. In two days, just one YouTube channel registered over 76,000 views. The ensuing commentary came thick and heavy amid a wave of anger and revulsion. The rumors soon followed: the man was the father of a martyred protester, the officer was a Basij commander, authorities had refused to return the body unless the father pledged not to pursue the matter...

For the sake of disclosure, this blogger also joined the ranks of the pitchfork-and-torch mob and quickly described the video in a tweet on Monday as 'Father of a dead protester takes IRGC officer to task.' But upon reviewing several reports and carefully translating the full exchange, the facts appear to be inconsistent with the initial claims.

Abdollah Araghi

First, the individuals in the video. The man with his back to the camera describes himself as the father of a deceased young man and a 40%-disabled veteran of the Iran-Iraq war with 28 and a half years of service within the IRGC. This would almost certainly make him at least a mid-level IRGC officer and the fact that he addresses the IRGC officer using the word tow, the more informal second-person pronoun, instead of shoma may confirm that he is fairly senior. (NB The French equivalent would be the difference between tu and vous). The quality of the footage is poor, however the IRGC officer sitting to the cleric's left is almost certainly General Abdollah Araghi, Greater Tehran's IRGC chief and commander of the Mohammad Rasoulollah (Mohammed, Prophet of God) Brigade. Not only does the father refer to him as Mr. Araghi, but a comparison to one of Araghi's rare photos seems to bear this out. The cleric, again notwithstanding the poor quality of the video, appears to be Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahedi Kermani, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's former representative within the IRGC. The footage can be compared to the photo to the right.

Movahedi Kermani

Several news sources confirm that the man's son was killed, but give a different account of the details. The man's son, a Basiji, was killed in an altercation with another individual living in a residential complex of buildings where a large number of IRGC officers and their families reside. The killer was a seyed, a direct male descendant of the Prophet Mohammad. He was supported by the IRGC which tried to obtain the father's consent to not execute the killer, but the father refused and the individual was hanged. Araghi subsequently mustered the IRGC and Basij's resources to organize a funeral service for the killer in the residential complex. The father not only complained about this misuse of resources, but said that he had been threatened by elements linked to the IRGC.

While these allegations have not been confirmed, they are consistent with the exchange that takes place in the video:

Father:
You've organized a funeral service for the killer in the same residential complex in which this innocent Basiji was murdered. Go ahead and organize a funeral service for the father of the killer too. Why did you use the sepah's (IRGC's) resources for the service of a murderer? They threatened me. I was harassed by rabble and louts. I announce here that if I'm killed, Mr. Araghi is responsible (he points to the IRGC officer). My life is in danger. I'm a 40% disabled janbaz (veteran of the Iran-Iraq War). I've served 28 and a half years in the sepah. But these people have supported a killer, that's my complaint. Why should the Revolutionary Guards defend a murderer and insult me. He insulted me.

IRGC officer:
We'll attend the service and you can go and complain. Do whatever you can.


Father:
You see. He says he'll go to a murderer's service. Ultimately, there is a God--

IRGC officer:
He's a descendant of the Prophet--

Father:
This descendant of the Prophet is a murderer. A murderer is null and void--

IRGC officer:
If you were a man, you would have consented--

Father:
Why should I have consented. If your child had been killed, would you have consented? What a foolish expectation! I was a man and had him executed. It was God's verdict!

IRGC officer:
Why are you shouting?

Father:
Why are you saying 'If you were a man'?

IRGC officer:
I'm saying what more do you want? He's been executed--

Father:
You're the one who isn't a man!

(IRGC officer slaps the father)

This video does not seem to show a dead protester's father being slapped by an IRGC officer. While the regime continues to commit horrendous crimes, any rumor-mongering and dissemination of untruths can only discredit the veracity of true cases of human rights violations in Iran.

Delusions of candor: Tehran IRGC commander puts the latest spin on unrest

General Abdollah Araghi

'Delusions of candor' is an ongoing series on the regime's efforts to spin the news, create disinformation, and spread propaganda.

'Despite reports published in foreign media, the number of dead in the unrest totaled 36, three in Kahrizak [detention center] and almost 10 others whose place of death is known. But it is unclear where the rest were killed and who shot them,' said the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander for Greater Tehran, General Abdollah Araghi.

Araghi, who heads the IRGC's Mohammad Rassoulollah (Mohammad Prophet of God) Corps, was speaking at the induction ceremony for northern Tehran's new IRGC commander, according to news reports from ILNA and IRNA.

Before the closure of its offices on Tuesday, September 8, the opposition committee looking into the abuse and deaths of protesters had released a list of 72 identified dead protesters and had announced additions to the tally in the near future. Two senior members of the committee, Alireza Beheshti and Morteza Alviri, were arrested on the same day.

However this is the first time that a top regime official has admitted that any deaths occurred at Kahrizak. Just recently, Iran's Security Forces Chief Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam had said that no one had died at the notorious detention center. Araghi's figures also contradict those of IRGC commander-in-chief Mohammad Ali Jafari, who claimed last week, 'In total, there were 29 dead and of those, 20 belonged to the Basij forces and only 9 were protesters.'

Araghi devoted most of his speech to the post-election unrest and the security measures taken to counter it.

In a strange statement, fraught with unintended meaning, Araghi said, 'Three outcomes had been predicted. First, that the Principlist candidate [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] would take the vote, and this is what happened and we saw the result. Second, that Mr. Mousavi and the 2nd of Khordad front would win the vote, and in this respect post-election celebrations had been predicted. And finally, that the election would go to a second round.'

Araghi said that the Basij had not been summoned on the evening of the election, when 'garbage cans, government property, and banks were set on fire, and clashes with security forces took place.'

Subsequently, security forces in the capital went on red alert, according to the IRGC general. 'Certain parts of Tehran, like Narmak, Tehran Pars, and Gheitarieh, saw truly heavy clashes, so much so that the city looked like it was in revolt,' said Araghi, citing only districts in northeastern Tehran, although most of the documented protester deaths took place in other parts of the capital.

'The heaviest demonstrations took place on June 15, when the organizers managed to bring anyone who had any grievance into the streets,' Araghi continued, employing the same dismissive tone that Ahmadinejad took in a recent speech when he said, 'Anyone who had had a spat with his mother came to the streets.' Photos, videos, and eyewitness accounts of that demonstration seem to indicate that the silent protesters held aloft posters with only one message: 'Where is my vote?'

Araghi contended that Leader Ali Khamenei's Friday Prayer sermon on June 19 'clarified matters and led to a fall in the number of ignorant people who were coming to the streets.'

'Unfortunately, the Association of Combatant Clerics' statement on demonstrations, which was akin to thumbing their nose at the regime, invited the population to engage in civil disobedience,' regretted General Araghi. 'The IRGC, Basij, security forces and other forces decided to put an end to this disobedience.' The next day, June 20, turned into one of the deadliest for the reform movement.

As an example of foreign media bias, Araghi referred to footage of a Basiji shooting on people from a rooftop at the Ashoura 117 Base near Azadi Square on June 15.



The valiant Basiji had been defending the base for three and a half hours, said Araghi, before opening fire on one individual who was trying to gain control of the base's arsenal. According to reports, at least seven people -- Ahmad Naim Abadi, Nasser Amirnejad, Sorour Boroumand, Fatemeh Rajabpour, Mahmoud Raisi Nafissi, Kianoush Assa, and Massoud Khosravi -- were killed in front of the Basij base on Mohammad Ali Jenah Street and in the adjacent Azadi Square that day.

Araghi warned that the 'enemy's tactics have moved from the military phase to soft threats' and that the IRGC had to change its approach to confront the new dangers.

He did not elaborate on whether civil disobedience was a part of the opposition's new ominous tactics.

IRGC implicated in 9/11, according to class-action case in New York Federal Court

(Updated 1:30AM GMT, Thursday, September 10)

Mohsen Sazegara, a founder of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) who has become an opponent of the regime, told the Voice of America's Newstalk program on Wednesday evening that a class-action suit filed before New York Federal Court Judge George Daniels contends that the IRGC was implicated in the 9/11 terrorist attack.

Sazegara is a regular guest on the Newstalk show on Wednesday nights. Speaking by satellite from New York, he said that he was in the city to testify before the court as an Iran expert. The call-action suit has been filed by six family members of victims of the 9/11 tragedy and comes after years of independent investigation by the lawyers involved in the successful class-action suit against cigarette manufacturers. It alleges that the IRGC had been in contact with Al-Qaeda since the mid-1990s and aided and abetted the operation that brought down the Twin Towers and killed thousands.

Sazegara, currently the head of the Washington Institute for Near East Studies, said that even he had been astonished by the documents in the independent investigation and that he had been given permission by the court to reveal the news, which has not been reported in any other media outlet thus far.

Alireza Nourizadeh, the other regular guest on the show and the director of the Center for Arab and Iranian Studies in London, said, 'I have no doubt that there is a close relationship between the Islamic Republic -- the IRGC and its intelligence branch -- and part of Al-Qaeda, particularly Al-Zawahiri's wing.'

The full program can be viewed on Windows Media Player or Real Player.

The following is a transcript of the section in which Sazegara speaks about the case against the IRGC and Nourizadeh provides additional information. It begins at the 10:30 mark.

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
Mr. Sazegara, greetings to you in New York. 

Mohsen Sazegara:
I also send my greetings to you, Mr. Nourizadeh, and all the dear viewers.

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
You've gone to New York just before the anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11. Is this a private visit?

Mohsen Sazegara: 
It has to do with a sensitive issue. A group of prominent lawyers who, several years ago, won a case against cigarette makers who will have to pay billions of dollars to thirty states over a 20-year period... these lawyers have represented six family members of 9/11 victims since 2002. They carried out an investigation which was completed recently, after seven years. They filed a suit before New York Federal Judge George W. Daniels, who decided that the evidence was sufficient for the case to be pursued. According to this case... I'm in a daze over it... the Iranian regime, more exactly the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), was in contact with Al-Qaeda from the mid-1990s, and this contact was maintained after September 11. I'm considered an expert on Iran and, in this capacity, the judge wants to question me. But I have to say that I never personally imagined such evidence...that the IRGC not only provided logistical and financial help to Al-Qaeda, but that it engaged in broad cooperation with it. I can't judge this matter, of course, at this time. The American judicial system is independent, and once the trial begins in two or three weeks, the judge will be able to pass a verdict. But the strange thing is that the 9/11 commission report, that was subsequently published as a book, mentions a third country without naming it on pages 240 and 241 and says that eight of the 12 perpetrators of 9/11 traveled to that country. If the judge rules that that third country was Iran, then we must expect there to be a clamor in the US. The Bush administration will be put under question, because we must accept that the American intelligence services possibly knew that the IRGC and the Iranian regime were involved in some way and that nothing was said because they didn't want to enter a conflict with Iran or attack the country. I personally can't make any judgment now, but I can say one thing. The IRGC, with complete irresponsibility and lack of wisdom, as if it owned the country, has become such a leviathan, and has imperiled the future of a nation and country. It has taken and is still taking such dangerous action. It just boggles the mind.

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
Has news of this trial and case been reported, at least in the New York media?

Mohsen Sazegara: 
Not yet. I obtained permission from the lawyers and the litigants to talk about this issue, because I believe that the Iranian nation has the priority to hear this news. I'm sure that once the case opens -- and I jotted down the number, 02CV00305 -- it will become the top headline throughout the world.

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
When will the case be opened?


Mohsen Sazegara: 
I'm not sure, but I think that within two to three weeks the judge will be ready to summon both sides.


Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
Let's hear what information Mr. Nourizadeh has on this issue before returning to the topic of the program, the recent arrests.

Alireza Nourizadeh: 
I wrote three articles after 9/11. Two of them were quoted by Western newspapers. I also had several interviews with American television channels, including public television. The information that I had, which was published broadly in Asharq Alawsat, was that, from 1994 when Al-Qaeda bought those farms in Sudan, General Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who worked for the IRGC's intelligence services, brought Hezbollah fighters and terrorists from Egypt and the Maghreb to Sudan for training. Zolghadr and other IRGC officials developed close relations with Bin Laden and in particular Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri over there. After 9/11 and the US attack on Afghanistan, Al-Zawahiri's wife, mother, brother, and sister came to Iran. They were in Iran for a long time and some of them returned to Egypt afterward. Bin Laden's son was in Iran for a long time, as was [Al-Qaeda spokesman] Sulaiman Abu Ghaith. So were many Al-Qaeda leaders. I always said, after the blow that Al-Qaeda received it couldn't fly or sail from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Iraq. The only way was through Iran. The Islamic Republic allowed them to go into Iraq, kept some for future transactions, and extradited a few miserable wretches from Yemen, Jordan, and the Maghreb to their homelands for concessions from those countries. I have no doubt that there is a close relationship between the Islamic Republic -- the IRGC and its intelligence branch -- and part of Al-Qaeda, particularly Al-Zawahiri's wing. [Afghan warlord Gulbuddin] Hekmatyar's son-in-law came to Iran twice to buy dialysis machines for Bin Laden and shipped them to Afghanistan with the help of the IRGC. Yes, I hope that the disgusting offenses of the regime come to light, one by one.


End of transcript at the 19:30 mark.

Khamanei's paranoia, the Revolutionary Guards, and the rifts in the system: VOA Newstalk - 2 September 2009

The following is a translation of highlights of last night's Newstalk on VOA. 

Newstalk, September 2, on Windows Media http://tinyurl.com/lyj848 - on Real Player http://tinyurl.com/mglltg.

For those unfamiliar with the show, Wednesday's episodes of Newstalk are very popular in Iran (midnight to 1AM). Wednesday's popularity is because of the two regular guests: Alireza Nourizadeh and Mohsen Sazegara. Nourizadeh is the director of the Center for Arab and Iranian Studies in London. Sazegara, a founder of the Revolutionary Guards, became a regime opponent and runs the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Topic of September 2 VOA Newstalk: The Revolutionary Guards.

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
IRGC political bureau chief General Yadollah Javani, following in IRGC commander Jafari's footsteps, said that those arrested in the unrest were linked to foreign powers and sought to overthrow Khamenei. Mr. Nourizadeh, wasn't the IRGC supposed to be impartial and not take sides with any faction? Why is it making accusations before any judiciary body does so?

Alireza Nourizadeh:
These statements have a unifying factor. Mr. Khamenei has long had a problem with paranoia. Khamenei thinks that the whole world, east and west, is toiling day and night to overthrow him. The tighter the circle of trusted individuals has become, the wider that of the alleged plotters. No one ever thought that Khamenei, who owes his position to the schemes hatched by Rafsanjani after Khomeini died, would one day give the order to discredit Rafsanjani. But when you hand over your mind to individuals who constantly confirm your delusions, people like Jafari and Javani, Ahmadinejad and [ex-Tehran prosecutor] Saeed Mortazavi... These people have understood which of Khamenei's buttons to push. They know that the more they tell Khamenei about plots, the more he'll be content and trust them.

Let me tell you a story. When the 'chain murders' occurred, intelligence agent Mostafa Kazemi confessed to Hajjarian, saying, 'We thought this is what the regime wanted.' Then-President Khatami went to see Khamenei and informed him of this. Khamenei chuckled and said, 'Absolutely not. This is the work of Israel.!' The information about the chain murders eventually leaked out and I and others reported on it at the time. But here's the important point. When they handed these prisoners to [torturer/interrogator] Javad Azadeh, they gave one order: 'The Supreme Leader says they're corrupt and worked for Israel. You must prove this.' (NB A few intelligence operatives, notably Saeed Emami, were left out in the cold and ultimately blamed for all the chain murders. Emami, a senior Intelligence Ministry official, 'committed suicide' in prison by eating a chemical depilatory in 1999). We all saw to what lengths Azadeh and his cohorts went to prove the Supreme Leader's suspicions.

It's true that Khamenei has been compelled by popular pressure to say he's not sure the protesters were controlled by foreign powers, but he immediately completes his sentence by saying they should be severely confronted. But the [inner circle] has convinced Khamenei that Khatami met George Soros in New York. Or that Khatami met a US envoy in Tunis. Khamenei can't say these things himself. If he says anything against Khatami, he'll provoke broad outrage. So he lets people like [IRGC head] Jafari or [IRGC political bureau chief] Javani say them. And this reassures Khamenei that the IRGC generals are protecting him from these nefarious plots. Khamenei doesn't understand that if Jafari and his gang make the decision, the exalted Supreme Leader won't see the next day. We're gradually seeing that this pact between Ahmadinejad and the IRGC does not bode well for Khamenei.

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
Mr. Sazegara, it's always been said that the three branches of government should not interfere with each other. But it appears that the IRGC is meddling in all the branches. Where do they get their license?

Mohsen Sazegara:
Montesquieu's separation of the branches is but a dream in Iran's constitution, where all power resides in the Leader. The Supreme Leader names the head of the judiciary, controls all the elections through the Guardian Council... I completely agree with Mr. Nourizadeh's comment on Khamenei. They call it the king's malady. In history, it led to fathers blinding their sons, mothers killing their child, because they feared losing power. From what I've heard, Khamenei is afraid of his own shadow now. He sleeps in bunkers and sees plots everywhere. This portion of the IRGC which has its hands on the levers of power, people like Jafari and [Basij head] Taeb, have somehow managed to monopolize Khamenei's attention. This in no way diminishes Khamenei's guilt, because he knew of these crimes from the start.

The regime's crimes of the past couple of months are like a declaration of war against the nation. When you arrest people's children, torture them, kill them, burn them, rape them...! I have to quote Gene Sharp, one of the great experts of non-violent struggle. He's created a term based on martial arts, where you divert the force of an opponent's blow back to him severalfold. When autocracies employ violence against the people, you may witness 'political jiu-jitsu', in which the blowback to the regime is severalfold. I believe we're seeing this in Iran right now.

These gentlemen have employed the most savage measures against the nation to compensate for their own lack of numbers. But this has blown up in their faces. It has created rifts among them. Khamenei himself said last week that the regime's reputation has been sullied. They're flailing around, trying to shirk responsibility and find a scapegoat. They're trying to revive the 'Saeed Emami scenario.' Arrest a few people and blame everything on them. Just last week Ahmadinejad said, These were Israeli or US agents who killed and tortured and raped people.

In this way, they're trying to alleviate some of the pressure they're under from public opinion in Iran and the world. Jafari and Khamenei are trying to find a way to arrest a few of their own plainclothesmen -- Jafari even said that the plainclothesmen have nothing to do with the IRGC! This brigade operates under the Basij, is commanded by Mr. Mohaghegh, one of the coup plotters! You've seen the videos of these individuals shooting protesters on the streets. Now Jafari is saying, 'These plainclothesmen have nothing to do with us. In fact the dead people were Basijis!'

This shows the distressed state of these gentlemen. (NB The term gentlemen -- aghayoun -- is generally used in Iran to refer to regime insiders.) We should expect these gentlemen to find some 'Saeed Emamis' in the near future, to force them to commit suicide, to do to their wives and children as they did to Emami's family in order to obtain confessions and try to burnish their own image. This will widen the rifts between them even more.

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
Mr. Nourizadeh, there have been numerous reports of differences between Khamenei and Ahmadinejad. Is this true?

Alireza Nourizadeh:
One of the reasons people like Jafari and Javani keep talking about plots is that they see some weakness creeping into Khamenei's positions. Maybe after giving the reins of the coup to [his son] Mojtaba, [his security adviser] Asghar Hejazi, and others, Khamenei momentarily came to himself and realized for whom he was paying such a heavy price! Maybe Khamenei mulled the pros and cons, though he should have done this before the fact. 'My reputation is gone! I have no more credibility among the people! I'm facing my greatest fear! What am I to do if 3 million people hit the streets on Ghods Day? (NB Friday September 18). If Khatami speaks at the Ahya ceremony at Khomeini's mausoleum, what am I to do? Khomeini's grandson has already turned his back to me. So have the people. What am I to do?'

I know Mr. Khamenei, though he's changed greatly in the past 20 years.So I'm sure he's taken a measure of the situation and the price he has had to pay. You can see the distress in his words. The start of the sentence does not match the end. He's conciliatory in his introduction, then suddenly becomes severe and violent as if someone is signaling to him, or something within him is rebelling and saying, 'What are you doing!?' You don't see a healthy psyche within him. You see something disheveled.

These rifts were inevitable. There are honorable people in the IRGC who are weeping for what has occurred. They are honorable people who defended their country against a foreign invader [in the Iran-Iraq War.] Some became 60% or 70% invalid. You and I and Dr. Sazegara know some of them. When they see how the name of the IRGC has been mired in filth because of the actions of some lackeys who kill for 250,000 toumans a day, they cannot agree with Mr. Jafari. Other parts of the regime are also being torn asunder. Look at the unprecedented resignation of 5 deputy intelligence ministers: Habibollah, Firouzabadi, Khazai... Majid Alavi didn't even accept to become the acting Intelligence Minister!

What does this show? Look inside Khamenei's own office! We haven't heard from [chief of staff] Golpayegani in ages. Mohammadi Golpayegani is very close to Khamenei and his son is Khamenei's son-in-law. They're saying Khamenei is being isolated [by the coup plotters] and is constantly followed around by Mr. Vahid. Who is this Vahid who reportedly even stands outside Khamenei's bathroom door? That's why I think that this breach within the regime will get larger and larger.

But this rift does not only exist among the conservatives. You're going to see it among the reformists too. Where is [reformist Association of Combatant Clerics head] Mousavi Khoiniha? He's in his $10-million estate. He doesn't care what's happening to the people. Like a godfather, Mousavi Khoiniha was eager to profit from the reform movement, but now he's missing in action. Ali Akbar Mohtashami, who was chirping away during the election campaign, is now sitting in his 4-story home and saying prayers.

The events have shown who the honorable individuals who respected their pact with the people really are. Karroubi showed that he will not run away from the arena. Mousavi showed he believes in principles. The same is true of Khatami. So we see that the lines are being drawn, not only within the regime, but even among the reformists.


Host Jamshid Chalangi:
Mr. Sazegara, where are these Revolutionary Guards who regret what is happening?


Mohsen Sazegara: 

Many are homebound, others are in non-essential roles within the IRGC.

But more importantly, I've been recently investigating the business activities of the IRGC and have to say that I've been shocked by the way that it has seeped into every facet of the country's economy, particularly in the past four years.

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
In what respect? In line with national interests?


Mohsen Sazegara: 
Not at all. For example, look at the Basij fund which has now become the Mehr fund. This fund has taken money from the Ahmadinejad government and used it to purchase factories. For example, the Tabriz tractor manufacturing company, which has some 1,000 heavy machinery units and is one of the country's great industrial assets. They've run it into the ground. There are reports that the company's production of 130 tractors a day has now dwindled down to 13.


The IRGC controls everything from the import of foreign cigarettes to Mohsen brand rice, from drug trafficking to the oil industry. They're not killing people for nothing! They know full well that someone like Mr. Mousavi -- agree with him or not, you can't doubt his sincerity and clean hands -- would put a stop to this type of theft.

They've got Ahmadinejad, who like [leader of the coup government] Papadopoulos in Greece, is their puppet... At times, since he's a populist, he wants to cozy up to the poeple. He didn't accept [Basij head] Taeb as his Intelligence Minister because of his disrepute, but he did hand over the Interior Ministry to General Najjar. He's named Moslehi to the post of Intelligence Minister and his only task is to dissolve his own ministry and bring an official veneer to the intelligence operations of the IRGC.

Ahmadinejad has allowed the IRGC to gain control over upwards of 800 companies in the country.

The people are organizing boycotts of IRGC goods. They're making announcements on web sites, publishing posters, identifying these goods and calling for a boycott of them. That's on top of the boycott of goods adevrtised on the state media.

The IRGC has become... I can't even call it a seven-headed dragon... It's become a seven-hundred-headed dragon, each of whose heads is poking into some aspect of the country.

Then at the same time you have people like Saeedeh Pour-Aghai's father, who was a veteran of the war and an invalid from chemical weapons -- and people who are injured by chemical weapons, as you know, die a slow and painful death after 15 or 20 years -- They took the daughter of this man, who died two years ago, and raped and tortured her. (NB You can read about Saeedeh Pour-Aghai's case in a previous post.)

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
Why?


Mohsen Sazegara: 
Because this girl was chanting Allaho-akbar from her rooftop.

One of the reasons behind this type of violence, which even a foreign army would not commit, is... it's true that power is sweet, but one of the main reasons is money. These gentleman have obtained a free hand, without accountability or measure.

Look at this Mehr fund, which is apparently the main war chest of this coup d'état. Where has all this money come from?

But to return to your question, many of these compassionate IRGC guys, who made great sacrifices, aren't in the game any more. Some of them who object are imprisoned in the IRGC's detention center number 66.

And then you have a bunch of individuals, like this Ahmadinejad, who have no record of service in the revolution or the war or the country, and they've entered the stage as the new rulers with free hands to pillage billions upon billions of the country's money, to do as they please in terms of security, imprisonment, crackdowns... As if the country has no judiciary branch, judges...

This is the tragedy that has beset our country.

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
Mr. Nourizadeh, the judiciary was just mentioned. The new judiciary chief, Sadegh Larijani, had spoken of restoring justice and so on. But despite all expectations, Larijani gave Saeed Mortazavi a promotion [from Tehran prosecutor to deputy prosecutor-general]. Clouds of suspicion hang over Mortazavi, notably in the prison death of [Canadian-Iranian photographer] Zahra Kazemi [in 2003]. What's your analysis?


Alireza Nourizadeh:
I personally think that Mortazavi's removal as Tehran's Revolutionary and Criminal Prosecutor is good news.


Also, Mortazavi's new job description is vague. I've spoken to several jurists about this. The prosecutor-general has, for example, a political deputy, a judicial deputy, an administrative deputy... We still don't know where Mortazavi fits in. It is still unclear whether Mortazavi can work in the shadows of a prosecutor-general like [former Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein] Mohseni Ejei.


It is not easy for Khamenei to wash his hands of Saeed Mortazavi. Whenever Khamenei has ordered Mortazavi to fetch a finger, he's brought back a head. So it will be difficult for Khamenei to wash his hands of this hard-working servant. Keep in mind that he paid a heavy price for abandoning Saeed Emami [of the chain murders case]. He sacrificed his dear Saeed. He can't sacrifice this dear Saeed now. Perhaps his transfer to the prosecutor-general's office will take him out of the limelight and allow him to carry out tasks from behind the curtain.


I believe that the position of Tehran prosecutor is much more important than deputy prosecutor-general.


But I see that we have a minute until the newscast, so I'll quickly give two bits of news.


First, we really have to applaud Iran's businessmen, who have reduced their advertising on state media to such a degree that even the radio-television head had to admit to the fact, though he gave some other excuses. State radio-television's income has fallen by 40%.


Second, a source from Tehran's city hall told me that Ahmadinejad, when he was Tehran mayor, gave the IRGC whatever it wanted. Millions of square meters of Tehran's most expensive land and homes which belonged to City Hall were given to the IRGC. That's when the pact between Mahmoud [Ahmadinejad] and the IRGC was sealed.


[Newscast is broadcast. Second part resumes at 32:30 mark. I'm providing a much sparser translation of the section devoted to the Majlis vote on the new cabinet]


Host Jamshid Chalangi:
Even the government's principlist allies in the Majlis have objected to the composition of this new cabinet. (NB Principlists -- or oosoolgara -- are conservatives who seek a return to the founding principles of the revolution) What do you think, Mr. Sazegara?

Mohsen Sazegara:
The vote has been postponed to tomorrow, Thursday.

The behind-the-scenes news is that [Basij head] Taeb and other coup plotters, who are trying to obtain a vote of confidence for Ahmadinejad's cabinet from the Majlis, have divided the representatives into several categories: supporters, protesting supporters, opponents, and hypocrites (NB The term monafeghin - hypocrites - has a very bad connotation because it is used by the regime to refer to the MKO). The interesting thing is that they've placed Speaker Ali Larijani (NB principlist, but Ahmadinejad rival) among the hypocrites.

Today, Wednesday, it was heavily rumored that Khamenei had sent a message to the representatives to vote for the cabinet. [Principlist Tehran representative in the Majlis] Ali Motahari said, 'Don't listen to rumors. Wait for something in writing.' And some Majlis respresentative responded, 'A signal from him and we will come running!' You see, Mr. Chalangi, its embarrassing to call such individuals representatives of the people. We should say they're all Khamenei's representatives in that Majlis.

There's a serious risk that the Majlis will not vote for 30% of the proposed ministers. But it appears that Khamenei and the coup plotters are trying to do whatever they can to create unity behind this cabinet.

One of my friends joked, 'They don't need Mr. Khamenei's order. They should just bring Mahsouli, the former Interior Minister who was in charge of the presidential election, and he can count the votes in the urn. And if any Majlis representative objects, he can be hauled off to jail.'

So they're employing entreaties and threats to get the vote for this cabinet.

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
Are all the representatives Khamenei's men?

Mohsen Sazegara: 
To be fair, there are some good ones. Motahari has been saying some very serious and resolute things. And the reformists have been voicing some good objections.

But the vast majority of the Majlis is engaged in a competition to see which one can grovel and fawn more than the other. The only thing they don't care about is the people's will.

The interesting thing is that the people are expressing their disapproval and they've notified their representatives or have posted fliers in the streets. They've had to bolster security at the homes of some representatives in the provinces. The people are enraged and they're saying, If you vote for this foreign-engineered, bloodthirsty, coup government, your name is going in the list of traitors to the nation. 

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
Engineered by which foreign government?

Mohsen Sazegara: 
There is much evidence that the Russians aided and abetted this coup, gave advice, provided technology... Now there's news that the IRGC is buying Iran's telecom, so they'll be able to go to the mother lode for technology to control communications.

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
Many people, including senior clerics like Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, have mentioned a crisis of legitimacy for this government. Will this create any problems for Ahmadinejad's adiministration?

Alireza Nourizadeh: 
Ahmadinejad showed great disrespect for the Majlis -- and those representatives deserve it -- by walking out of the session. He knew that despite promises of 100-million touman handouts, some representatives wouldn't vote for his cabinet.


In our history, very few have had the honor and dignity to stand up when those rare winds of freedom have blown. I think back to the glorious days of the constitutional movement [of the early 20th century], or people like [independent representative] Ali Asghar Mazhari whose impassioned speeches in the Majlis [in the waning days of the Shah] I still remember.


But even in this Majlis, there are those whose conscience has been awakened by the horror stories of what was done to Saeedeh Pour-Aghai or Mohsen Rouholamini. I believe that if the vote was held today, at least six ministers would not be confirmed. But the vote has been postponed to tomorrow so some backroom horsetrading can take place tonight. The Supreme Security Council will convene an emergency meeting tonight.

I think that this government will go down in our history as one of the lowest of the low because of the mediocrity of those who make it up.

Most of the proposed ministers are tied up with the security-military apparatus. This cabinet holds many dangers for Iran.

Host Jamshid Chalangi: 
Mr. Sazegara, if this cabinet is confirmed and it pursues the same old policies, what can we expect, especially on the international front?

Mohsen Sazegara: 
Even if the unrest had not occurred, the greatest challenge of this government would have been the economy. And this regime is incapable of resolving those issues.

Just last week Iran Khodro, one of the largest automakers in the region, posted a loss of 123 billion toumans, the biggest of its history. Wagon Pars workers have been striking for some time to obtain back pay and they've gained the support of other workers in places like Iralco [aluminum works]. Direct investment has sunk to a minimum. Inflation and unemployment are growing.

So the government will have to contend with problems like this at a time when it is being confronted by the nation.

Such governments start giving over-generous concessions abroad, at a heavy cost to national interests. [Supreme Security Council chairman] Saeed Jalili said we're ready to listen to the 5+1 countries. In Washington corridors, I've heard that Khamenei has already sent two letters to Obama. Ahmadinejad is planning his trip to New York -- and, in this respect, all Iranians abroad are organizing to give him a nice welcome. It's interesting that his trip will be several days after Ghods Day, when we expect millions to demonstrate in the streets of Iran. So there will be a harmony of protests inside and outside Iran once again. Anyway, I've heard in Washington that Ahmadinejad is desperately trying to set up a meeting with Obama if he can. If not, Biden. If not, the Secretary of State. If not, some senior senators, like Kerry. Talking is not bad, but this government isn't even legitimate.

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
But what would be the point of getting some kind of approval from the US?


Mohsen Sazegara:
You're right. A government which has the support of the nation behind it, does not need to bow its head in front of other governments. But these gentlemen think, for example, that this program we're broadcasting now is a plot by the US. They think that if they give concessions to the US, then they can get VOA closed.

They think that Huntington's Third Wave, which is one of his worst books by the way, is also a part of this plot against them.

But their greatest enemy is neither the US nor Israel, it is the nation of Iran.

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
I'd like to announce that VOA's doors are open to Mr. Ahmadinejad if he wishes to come. We'll organize a tour for him and he can participate in this program, with Mr. Sazegara and Mr. Nourizadeh, and respond to questions and make his opinion known.

Mr. Nourizadeh, how come this regime has become so separated from the people?

Alireza Nourizadeh:
This regime can't even tolerate these types of controlled elections... When Mr. Khatami was elected president, Khamenei became tongue-tied for a week. Khatami was a child of the revolution, a former minister! What would have been so horrible if Mousavi had been elected? Khamenei's reputation would have remained intact, Iran and the US could have been engaged in constructive talks, foreign investment could have picked up...

The main reason for their eagerness to talk with the US, is that they want to tell the Iranian nation, 'This US which you count on, this US whose president you think is a champion of human rights, this US whose president sheds a tear for Neda Agha Soltan, well this US is nothing and doesn't support you. It's after its own interests. Look, it's talking to me, Ahmadinejad, with my bloody hands!'

The Iranian people are the only ones in the Middle East whose majority has no enmity with the US. You saw how at the first opportunity that was presented to them, during Rafsanjani's Friday prayer, the people responded to calls of 'Death to America' with 'Death to Russia' instead. The Iranian nation has no animosity towards the US.

The regime would love to do something about VOA. Look at all the rubbish, just about VOA, that they publish in their media outlets, even in the official news agency of Iran. Just a few nights ago, their TV devoted half an hour to you and me and Mr. Sazegara.

The regime seeks talks because it wants to tell the people, 'Don't think that the US is with you. No, its with us.' I was participating in a BBC program several nights ago and an Iranian official said, 'We're engaged in talks with the US. We have no problem with them.' They want to convince the Iranian people that the US has entered into secret talks with them. Mohsen Rezai's web site said a few days ago, 'Mr. Obama's second letter has arrived.'

They just want to say, 'The US is with us!' This is the same US that they have been calling a Satan for thirty years.

No, people of Iran, the US is pursuing its own interests, but as a democracy it must also heed the opinion of its people. The Green Wave has become a reality for Americans. Neda is present in the minds of millions of Americans. If the US government goes against the wishes of its people, it will not obtain votes in the next elections. The people can change their government, their representatives and senators. It is not like in Iran, where Khamenei can name whoever is the best lackey to the post of Majlis representative.

Host Jamshid Chalangi:
What place do human rights have in US foreign policy?


Mohsen Sazegara:
Western governments must at least pay lip service to human rights, because they are under pressure from their people and press. Democratic governments must bow to the will of their people.

In any case, support from foreign governments has never durably propped up unpopular governments. Khamenei should be told that instead of writing two letters or running after the Russians, he should reconcile with the Iranian nation. But he is incapable of this.

There's no time tonight, but next time I'd like to talk about my worries about the regime employing greater violence.