Much of the information coming out of Iran is in the form of footage uploaded to the Internet without the benefit of any description or explanation. Each installment in the Close-up series will provide an in-depth analysis of a single video or a series of videos covering one event.
Summary
These videos show a female protester just after she was run over by a car and then her body being rejected by a medical center in Tehran on December 27. Her corpse is crammed onto the back seats of a silver car and driven away.
The videos
Video 1: The body is brought out of the medical center on a stretcher:
Video 2: The face of the dead protester is glimpsed as she is placed in the car:
Video 3: The same scene is filmed from an upstairs window across the street:
Video 4: Most probably showing the same protester just after she was run over by a car.
The circumstances
Frame 1 (0:12) from video 1 shows a sign over the building's entrance. It reads, 'Ammar Day-and-Night Medical Center:'
Ammar is an emergency center connected to the Tehran municipality. It is featured among the network of medical centers of the Sherkateh Shahreh Salem Tehran (Healthy City Company of Tehran), overseen by Tehran City Hall. Ammar medical center is marked with a red arrow in the screen capture below:
Ammar medical center is situated at 419, Behboudi Street, Tehran:
The date of the videos is almost definitely Ashura, December 27, 2009. The Iranian opposition took advantage of the commemoration of the 7th-Century martyrdom of Imam Hossein to stage protest rallies. Footage of the rallies and the violence of the security forces is widely available on YouTube. At the 2:16 mark on video 3, we hear the cameraman say, 'It took 1,400 years for us to see the real Ashura!' At the 2:37 mark, the crowd begins chanting 'Mourning, mourning, today is a day of mourning,' before loudly shouting, 'Death to the dictator!'
In a separate confirmation of this information, the following text appeared on forums and YouTube after video 2 was posted: On Ashura day, I had to go towards Behboudi Street. It was around 1 PM, if I'm not mistaken. I saw a black Sonata drive quickly up Behboudi from Azadi Street (NB One of the protest sites in Tehran) and heard a woman screaming. I saw it go towards Ammar Yasser medical center. I made my way over there and saw them bringing a woman out of the car. They said that a police van had run over her on Azadi Street. Then the Sonata left. They brought a stretcher out of the medical center and took the body in. It was clear that she was dead because her limbs were broken and she wasn't moving. They said that she was a 37- or 38-year-old woman and that no one was accompanying her. This is the same woman who was among the martyrs of Ashura and who has not been identified yet. I saw her face. I'm even in the images that you posted. They brought the body out five minutes later and said stop a car and take her to the hospital. They said that they couldn't keep her. We said, Don't you have an ambulance? I think they lied and said no. Finally, a silver Samand (NB Automobile made by Iran Khodro), you can see it in the video, accepted to take her. They managed with great difficulty to put the body in the car and take it away.
A statement released by the Islamic Republic's police last week confirmed that 8 individuals had died during the protests on Ashura day. The police added that two dead individuals, a 31-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman, had yet to be identified. The official statement claimed that the woman had 'either fallen off a bridge or had an accident.'
Video 4, which was posted days after the others, almost definitely shows the same woman, whose corpse was rejected by the medical center, just after she was run over by a police vehicle.
The following is a translation of the comments on the video: Man: Take her over there. There's a van. Woman: (inaudible) I don't know her. (NB Corresponds to the account above which states that the woman was not accompanied by anyone.) Man: You see what these sons of whores are like? Man: Cover her. What did they do to her? Man: He ran over her with two wheels, the bastard! Man: Let's take her before they come back. Man: She's crushed and you're bringing water? Bring a car and take her away. Man: Pick her up. Woman: Wrap her in her coat and pick her up. Man: Don't move her. She might have broken bones all over. Miss, I'm a doctor. Don't move her.
A comparison between the face of the dead protester in video 2 (frame 2, below) and the partially covered face of the injured protester in video 4 (frames 3-5, below) is inconclusive, although the hair color and thin eyebrows seem to match. However we catch a fleeting glimpse of the dead woman's striped green shirt in video 2 (frame 6, below)and this also matches the shirt of the injured protester leading this observer to conclude that the two videos almost certainly are of the same woman:
Footage of two police vehicles plowing through protesters and killing at least one person on Vali Asr Square has received broad media attention:
However, the woman shown in videos 1 to 4 was killed kilometers to the west of Vali Asr Square. This seems to indicate that far from being an accident or the work of zealous renegades, running over protesters has become the newest officially sanctioned tactic of security forces.
This is part 3 of a 4-part series.
For part 1 - His interests, please click here.
For part 2 - His entourage and Household operations, please click here.
Mohsen Makhmalbaf, internationally renowned filmmaker and the Iranian opposition's main spokesman abroad since the disputed presidential election, posted an article, entitled 'The secrets of Khamenei's life,' on his web site on Monday, December 28, 2009. Makhmalbaf has been living in exile in Paris. The original article in Farsi can be read here.
The following is a translation of the third part of the article. My notes are in italics.
Note: The term 'beyteh rahbari' has been translated as the Leader's Household in the broadest sense, which includes Ali Khamenei's personal office and inner circle.
The Secrets of Khamenei's Life - Part 3
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
I compiled this text which is based on information relayed to me by former staff members of the Leader's Household and the Intelligence Ministry who have escaped abroad.
Khamenei's residences
[Islamic Republic founder Ruhollah] Khomeini's residence in Jamaran (NB Neighborhood in northern Tehran) was 200 square meters. Khamenei's main residence on Pasteur Street measures 1,200 square meters. (This 1,200-square-meter residence is the only one that everyone knows about).
Khomeini only lived in a small house in Ghom and the Jamaran prayer complex, but Khamenei uses all of the Shah's palaces (NB Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, deposed in the Islamic Revolution of 1979) which have not been turned into museums, and has even added to them.
Nevertheless, Iranian children still read in their schoolbooks that the Shah's teaspoons were made of gold and that the revolution took place because of his aristocratic manners.
A 5,000-square-meter anti-nuclear protective bunker has been built under Khamenei's Pasteur Street residence, at a depth of 60 meters. The elevator alone cost $5 million. A protective bunker has also been built under the Vakil Abad Palace in Mashhad. But these bunkers cannot prevent a revolution. If a revolution occurs in Iran, Khamenei will escape to Syria, otherwise to Russia.
Khamenei's logistics: The following means are exclusively at the disposal of the Leader's Household:
One Airbus airplane, for his personal travels
Two Boeing 707s, one for the family's travels, the other for bodyguards
Five Falcons, two for his own travels, one for Mojtaba (NB His influential second son), two for the rest of the family
Five helicopters, two for Khamenei's travels, one for Mojtaba, two for the rest of the family
Although helicopters are banned over Tehran, the sound of helicopters can often be heard in northern Tehran.
Six helicopter pads. In Tehran: Mehrabad, Abbas Abad, next to Esteghlal Hotel, Manzariyeh, and one each in Ghom and Lavasan.
17 bullet-proof vehicles, each one at a cost of $400,000
1,200 other vehicles
Those who run the Leader's Household
[The late Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali] Montazeri was initially supposed to succeed Khomeini. His denunciation of the mass executions of political prisoners (NB In the late 1980s) gained him Khomeini's disfavor and he was not only dismissed, but also placed under house arrest. Of course, some clerics also played a role in overthrowing Montazeri (NB as deputy leader and heir-apparent) and replacing him with Khamenei.
When Khomeini was dying, some wanted his son Ahmad to replace him. Ahmad did not seek such a role. Khomeini would say, 'Make whoever you want Leader after me, but do not do me the disservice of naming Ahmad Leader. Don't let the people say that Khomeini's son inherited [his position] just like in a monarchy.' Some people wanted to seize the opportunity to sideline Montazeri from power and replace him with Khamenei. Among these people were Reyshahri (NB Former Intelligence Minister, described in greater detail in part 2), Mohammadi Golpayegani, Hejazi (NB Asghar Hejazi, chief of staff), and Taeb (NB Probably Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb, described in greater detail in part 2), who at that time was the interrogator of Mehdi Hashemi (NB Brother of Montazeri's son-in-law. Mehdi Hashemi was executed by the regime in 1987 after a complex frame-up. Most observers believe Hashemi was executed because he opposed and divulged regime contacts with the US administration which were part of the Iran-Contra scandal.) Upon Khomeini's death and Khamenei's accession to the Leadership, all of these individuals became the key figures of Khamenei's office. These individuals opposed the proposal to create a leadership council after Khomeini's death, a council that was to have included ayatollahs Golpayegani, Ardebili, and Khamenei.
The main people who run the Leader's Household are Khamenei himself, his son Mojtaba, and then Hejazi, Mohammadi Golpayegani, and Vahid (NB Golpayegani's executive deputy). The first tier of the Household's staff number 500 individuals, the second tier 2,000, and the third tier 10,000. In reality, it is not the government, Majlis, or judiciary which run the country, but rather it is the Leader's Household that controls everything. The Leader's Household has numerous buildings across Iran.
Khamenei's view of the Basij
Khamenei was the head of the Islamic Republic Party (NB Created 1979, disbanded 1987). He believes that the Basij can be his party, a party which is also an army. Critics who speak of a 'barracks party' are referring to this issue. [Khamenei] has built himself a military party with the government and people's money.
Khamenei's main businesses
Sugar and rice imports, BMW automobiles, production of sugar cubes and sugar under the name of the Imam Reza Shrine authorities(NB An immensely wealthy conglomerate based in Mashhad, involved in businesses from pizza parlors to the rug trade. Resembles the so-called 'bonyads' or foundations in its seemingly religious facade behind which large portions of the Iranian economy are controlled.), investments in Dubai, Germany, Iraq, South Africa, Venezuela, Lebanon, and China.
In order to control his various businesses, Khamenei maintains the same people in key positions for very long periods. For example, Majid Hedayatzadeh who was in charge of selling Iran's oil for 30 years (Hedayatzadeh was replaced last year after Nourizadeh revealed his identity) (NB Majid Hedayatzadeh Razavi ran the Naft Iran Inter-Trade Company, better known as NICO, which is based in Lausanne, Switzerland. NICO is the only body other than the international division of the Iranian national company that can sell Iranian oil. Hedayatzadeh was injured in the bomb explosion at the Islamic Republic Party HQ in 1981. He was replaced last year by Mohammad Javad Asemipour.) Another individual is Mr. Souri (NB Mohammad Souri), who has been in charge of transporting Iranian oil for the past 30 years. Khamenei named these two individuals to their posts in 1982. [Former President] Hashemi Rafsanjani, [former President Mohammad] Khatami, and even [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad wanted to replace them, but were overruled by Khamenei. These two worked with the Leader's Household in the following manner: Hedayatzadeh would sell the barrels of oil, Souri would have the oil transported, and the commission would be transferred to Khamenei's bank account. In the past 30 years, Iran has sold about $700 billion worth of oil and the commissions from the sales and transport have been paid into Khamenei's account through these two individuals. The third person whom Khamenei brought into the Oil Ministry was his own brother, Hassan Khamenei, who was initially a member of the censorship team at the Islamic Guidance Ministry, but was brought to the Oil Ministry to keep an eye on Khamenei's profits.
Khamenei's palaces
The following pictures obtained through Google show Khamenei's palaces (NB Makhmalbaf's web site does not provide photos of all the palaces. Where possible, I've also used Google Maps in addition to the photos provided by Makhmalbaf in order to allow readers to zoom in and out).
1. The palaces at Lavasanat which are used by Khamenei, Mojtaba, and Mohammadi Golpayegani (NB Photo not provided by Makhmalbaf. The following is a satellite image of the village of Lavasanat, which is just to the east of Latyan Dam mentioned below. I cannot situate the palace.)
2. Jamshidiyeh Palace, former palace of Ardeshir Zahedi (NB Former Iranian ambassador to the United States in the time of the Shah. Makhmalbaf does not provide a photo. The following is a satellite image of Jamshidieh Park. I cannot situate Jamshidieh Palace.) (where Khamenei goes mountain hiking)
5. Niavaran Palace (NB Khamenei's palace is situated to the east of the Niavaran Palace Complex and Museum, the former residence of the late Mohammad Reza Shah.)
In 1983, he put Mohsen Rafighdoust in charge of purchasing arms (NB Former Minister of the IRGC in the 1980s and a former head of the Foudation of the Oppressed or Bonyadeh Mostazafan. According to his own accounts, available at the Islamic Revolution Document Center, he assassinated a man in the streets with a bludgeon on June 5, 1963.).
In 1991, he became aware of the value of land and through the Enforcement Staff of the Imam's Decree and the Foundation of the Oppressed (NB Setadeh Ejraie Farmaneh Imam and Bonyadeh Mostazafan respectively are another two examples of official bodies which operate vast business empires. The Mostazafan Foundation is particularly involved in military companies and procurement, and is considered one of the largest commercial entities in Iran. For a look at the long list of companies which the foundation is willing to admit that it controls click here.) he started making a land grab.
From 1984, [his brother] Hassan Khamenei oversaw Hedayat and Souri at the Oil Ministry.
In the Defense Ministry, Mohammadi Golpayegani oversaw Rafighdoust and Heydari.
Mr. Lolachian was put in charge of business connected to land and he subsequently became related to Khamenei. (NB Bazaar merchant Lolachian's daughter is married to Khamenei's son Meysam).
From 1997, he allowed his children to engage in business.
In 2005, he stopped his personal business activities and began getting money directly from the government, the same funds which get lost in the country's budget. During the election, [Etemad Melli Party chief Mehdi] Karroubi asked Ahmadinejad what happened to a certain $1 billion?
The total wealth of Khamenei and his family: $36 billion.
Khamenei's personal wealth: $30 billion.
His family's wealth: $6 billion.
Cash
$22 billion of the $36 billion were kept in Iran in the form of currency. During the post-election unrest, it was decided to move a major portion of this money to Syria by way of Turkey. The shipment was exposed and confiscated in Turkey. Khamenei was worried that the money would be blocked in Iran if the regime were to collapse. The Iranian government is striving to retrieve this money from the Turkish government. There is no doubt that this money was confiscated in Turkey. The question is why this money was not transported to Syria by air. Perhaps it was feared that the airplane and its cargo would be identified and destroyed.
The rest of the cash: $3.5 billion, of which $1.5 billion is in diamonds, $1 billion is in gold, and the rest is in dollars.
$10 billion of the $36 billion are in bank accounts:
$1 billion in Russia
$1 billion in Syria
$1 billion in China
$1 billion in Venezuela
$2 billion in South Africa
$2 billion in London
$2 billion in other countries.
Apart from the $22 billion in cash and $10 billion in bank accounts, the rest of the assets are in the form of land and stocks:
$2 billion in stocks in world markets
$1 billion in South Africa
$500 million in Syria
$500 million in Venezuela
Where have Khamenei's $30 billion come from?
$12 billion from commissions on oil sales
$2 billion from land
$6 billion from the arms business
$10 billion from Ahmadinejad in the past 4 years
Khamenei's religious businesses
Khamenei shares and controles all the income and investments of the Imam Reza Shrine authorities in Mashhad, the Massoumeh Shrine authorities in Ghom, the Shahreh Rey Shrine authorities in southern Tehran. Tabasi (NB Ayatollah Abbas Vaez Tabasi, headof the Imam Reza Shrine authorities) and Reyshahri (NB Describes in greater detail in previous parts of this report) are his partners in Mashhad and Shahreh Rey respectively.
This is part 3 of a series.
For part 1 - His interests, please click here.
For part 2 - His entourage and Household operations, please click here.
(Soon: Part 4 - The financial and political activities of his family)
The regime rallied its supporters across the country on Wednesday. The following footage is from the gathering in Kermanshah. Kermanshah has a population of over 700,000 and is situated about 500 km west of Tehran.
The cleric in the footage gives a speech denouncing the opposition's protests on Ashura, December 27. Just before the end of the video, a man accompanying a female photographer with impressive equipment asks the videographer who he is:
For footage of the regime's 'million man march' in Karaj on Thursday, please click here.
The regime rallied its supporters in Karaj on Thursday, December 31. Karaj is a city in the northwestern suburbs of Tehran and has a population of over 1.25 million people.
The following footage of the pro-regime demonstration in Karaj is provided with translations of the cameraman's remarks:
Cameraman:
'The spontaneous demonstration of Khamenei's supporters... They weren't able to come up with 200 people. They even picked them up with buses in front of their homes.'
Cameraman:
'Thursday, 10 Mehr, Karaj. (NB The cameraman mistakenly says Mehr instead of Dey)'
Chant master:
'Our people are awake and up in arms about Mousavi. Our people are awake and up in arms about Karroubi. Death to Khatami! Death to Mousavi! Death to Karroubi!'
Cameraman:
'Death to Khamenei! Death to Khomeini! You're looking at all of the regime's supporters in Karaj. You can hear that the Islamic Republic's lackeys have been reduced to hurling insults (NB The chant masters words are not audible) And here are the she-wolves of the Islamic Republic (NB As chador-clad women walk past). They had access to every means possible... with buses, closed schools, closed offices... And this is the crowd they managed to come up with, as you fellow countrymen can see. Death to the occupation regime of the Islamic Republic!'
For footage of the regime's 'million man march' in Kermanshah on Wednesday, please click here.
Mohsen Makhmalbaf, internationally renowned filmmaker and the Iranian opposition's main spokesman abroad since the disputed presidential election, posted an article, entitled 'The secrets of Khamenei's life,' on his web site on Monday, December 28, 2009. Makhmalbaf has been living in exile in Paris. The original article in Farsi can be read here.
The following is a translation of the second part of the article. My notes are in italics.
Note: The term 'beyteh rahbari' has been translated as the Leader's Household in the broadest sense, which includes Ali Khamenei's personal office and inner circle.
The Secrets of Khamenei's Life - Part 2
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
I compiled this text which is based on information relayed to me by former staff members of the Leader's Household and the Intelligence Ministry who have escaped abroad.
Khamenei's relationship with his wife and children
Khamenei's wife is called Khojasteh. She is very much under Khamenei's thumb, but she is also dominated by her brothers. The oil company's hospital was once closed off so Khojasteh could have liposuction performed on her stomach. She was twice operated in London for an inflammation of the large intestine. Mojtaba, Khamenei's second son, has great influence on his father, but he can count on his mother's support if there are any shortcomings in that regard.
Khojasta is about 67 years old. One of her brothers was linked to the Mojahedin Khalgh (NB Also known as the MKO, an armed resistance group which is broadly disliked by Iranians because of its collaboration with the Saddam government during the Iran-Iraq War) and has escaped to Sweden. Apart from the exiled brother, she has three other brothers who are involved in very large business operations. Khojasteh's brother Hassan has the run of the Islamic Republic's television broadcaster. He has a monopoly on commissions from the sale of Sony cameras and monitors. Iranian television's total purchases of Sony equipmenet, from cameras to editing systems, do not represent a large figure: about $50 to $60 million per year. But the people buy about $500 to $600 million of Sony equipment a year, of which 7% goes to Hassan, Khojasteh's brother. An Iranian in Dubai initially had the exclusive license to sell Sony equipment in Iran, but he was threatened and he gave up his license out of fear. Despite a prosperous lifestyle, Khojasteh is constantly worried that their life may appear too simple to outside observers. She has three ladies-in-waiting. She never goes to beauty salons outside of the house and has hairdressers brought to their home. She likes massages and a Korean woman is her masseuse.
Batool, [Islamic Republic founder Ruhollah] Khomeini's wife, really disliked [Khojasteh] and believed that she was arrogant like her husband and that [Khojasteh] considered herself to be Leader of Iranian women ever since Khamenei had become Leader.
Khojasteh used to cook, but it has been seven or eight years since she has been able to carry out that task. An old man called Seyed is in charge of cooking now.
Khojasteh is in charge of choosing husbands and wives in Khamenei's home. She first selects families close to the Leader's Household or top clerics and gets to know them by socializing. Her investigations are completed by the Intelligence Ministry, special division. Then the Khamenei daughters and sons make their choice among the candidates selected by their mother and approved by the Leader. These marriages sometimes encounter serious problems. The fact that Mojtaba's wife (Haddad Adel's daughter (NB Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, a regime apologist in academic circles and a former Speaker of the Majlis)) had difficulty getting pregnant almost led to divorce. In Massoud's case (married to Ayatollah Kharrazi's daughter), political differences have split the couple and Soussan Kharrazi has returned to her father's home in order to obtain a divorce.
Appearances within the family are strictly maintained in the presence of outsiders. For example, the children refer to their father as Agha (NB Sir, mister, or gentleman), Leader, or His Excellency the Ayatollah. Khamenei also employs honorifics when calling his children. He usually says, Agha Mostafa, Agha Mojtaba, Agha Massoud, or Agha Meysam. His daughters' names rarely come up in such encounters, except in family reunions. On such occasions, he refers to them as Boshra Khanoum or Boshra Sadat, Hoda Khanoum or Hoda Sadat.
If the topic of conversation turns to Mr. Khamanei's election [as Leader] by the [Assembly of] Experts, the children, especially Mojtaba say, 'The Experts did not elect Mr. Khamanei, but rather discovered him. He is the surrogate of the Imam Zaman (NB The Messiah figure in Shiism, the Hidden Imam who will return at an undisclosed time) and God endowed the Muslim scholars and Experts with the ability to discover him.'
This form of respect is maintained by the executives and employees of the Leader's Household. Whenever an individual comes out of an audience with Mr. Khamenei, these executives and employees tell the person, 'May your pilgrimage be accepted [by God]' (NB Ziarat ghaboul, in Farsi. Pilgrimage is used in the sense of visiting a sacred place). No one in Mr. Khamenei's office is allowed to say he is going to meet Mr. Khamenei or has a meeting with him. Rather, he must say, 'I am going to be honored' or 'I am going on a pilgrimage.' More than anyone, Hejazi (his chief of staff (NB Asghar Hejazi)) insists on this form of respect.
Communal prayer at the Leader's Household
(NB Communal prayer or namazeh jamaat takes place when an imam stands in front of a group of worshippers and leads them in any one of the five daily prayers.)
Communal prayers are performed at the Household three to four times a week. About 15 people have the honor of being led in these prayers. Ten of them, executives in the Leader's Household, are regulars and five to four people are guests. The guest slots have a price. The bazaar merchants who have problems to resolve participate in the Agha's (NB Khamenei's) prayers and seek his advice, and their business picks up. They are willing to pay the 'lease' on the guest slots, about 500 million toumans (NB About $500,000), to Hejazi or Mohammadi Golpayegani (NB Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani). These prayer followers make back their payment of 500 million toumans severalfold through the Agha's advice. Therefore customers of the Agha's communal prayer are usually bazaar merchants. Those within the security apparatus who seek promotion are also frequent worshippers at the communal prayer.
Khamanei's relation with his devotees
When Mr. Khamanei visits Mashhad and takes a sugar cube out of a sugar bowl, that bowl becomes sacred for his devotees. When he walks past a place on his way to a pilgrimage, his followers kiss the ground he has walked on. Videos of devotees kissing Khamanei's footprints are available on YouTube. It is unclear how shocked these dovotees would be if they found out about Khamenei's gadehs(NB Explained in part 1 of this article) and how Mullah Rashed's vulgar jokes have him in stitches. Would they consider the leftover sugar cubes from his tea to be as sacred?
Khamenei's catchphrase for the past twenty years has been, 'Do this, but don't let the people find out' or 'Do that, but make sure no one finds out.' And those who hear this phrase know that all the power of the Leader's Household depends on keeping the people ignorant of the secrets of Mr. Khamenei's life and the behind-the-curtains activities of the Leader's office.
Until the Friday Prayer that took place a week after the election (NB June 19, when Khamenei led Tehran's Friday Prayer and cast his lot with Ahmadinejad in a fiery speech against the opposition), Khamenei never took responsibility for anything and people believed that he played the role of an arbiter who maintained a balance of power between the various factions. But that Friday Prayer suddenly revealed everything and showed Khamenei's biased role in politics and his guilt in the oppression.
Those in charge of Khamenei's protection
[Islamic Republic founder Ruhollah] Khomeini's protection team consisted of 200 people, but 10,000 individuals guard Khamenei (reminiscent of the Shah's Javidan Guard (NB The Immortals) whose numbers never diminished). The two key players are Din Shoari and Hossein Jabari, who stand guard outside his door at night and are the only individuals allowed to be armed around Khamenei. They have been Khamenei's main bodyguards for thirty years. But the individuals in charge of Khamenei's protection team over the years have been the following:
1. Khosro Vafa (head of the Janbazan unit)
2. Asgharzadeh (Majlis representative)
3. Motevalian (Sepah (NB Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps))
4. Ramezani (Sepah intelligence)
5. Nejat (Security Council (NB Supreme National Security Council))
6. Cheyzari (He is the current head of the protection team)
The close guards, who consist of 200 individuals and who witness the trips and the life in the palaces, each possess a home which is worth at least one billion toumans (NB about $1 million). Those who consider Khamenei to be pious and who lead austere lives themselves are not permitted to enter the first ring of guards, lest they become conflicted. These selfless guards are not allowed to marry the daughters of senior bodyguards, even if they fall in love. Marriages are organized within the senior political families or clergy. But those who kiss the ground Khamenei has walked on, steal sugar cubes from sugar bowls rendered sacred by Khamenei, and are prepared to sacrifice themselves for him have never been considered worthy enough to marry the daughter of a senior figure.
500 individuals guard the family members. (The extended family of 40 is guarded: The daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, daughters, sons, brothers, brothers-in-law, and even some of the children of the brothers and brothers-in-law.)
Entering the bodyguard team requires passing three security clearances and takes a very long time. The monthly salary of bodyguards is at least $1,000 and at most $12,000. When someone enters the bodyguard team, he is helped to purchase a residence. The individuals also have access to an official residence in the place where they are stationed.
About 1,000 of the 10,000 bodyguards are women and usually no one knows that they are bodyguards.
Former health minister Dr. Marandi is Khamenei's medical coordinator (NB Professor Alireza Marandi. Alireza Marandi's son is Seyed Mohammad Marandi, professor of North American Studies at Tehran University, a vocal supporter of the regime and one of the few people in Tehran who has no problem obtaining a satellite feed to be interviewed by foreign news outlets. In July, CNN's Fareed Zakaria asked Seyed Mohammad Marandi if he had any problem appearing like 'a mouthpiece for a dying repressive regime:')
Marandi chooses the team of doctors and brings them to him when necessary. The Leader's Household has an underground hospital with four doctors on duty 24 hours a day. A mobile hospital follows Khamenei during his land trips. A bus-hospital with an operating room also follows Khamanei on his land journeys. An airplane hospital with two operating rooms is available for long-haul trips. Khamenei has been operated three times in the past thirty years: on his hand after the explosion in the early days of the revolution (NB A failed assassination attempt in 1981 paralyzed his right hand), on his small intestine, and on his prostate.
Whenever Khamenei is ill, differences boil to the surface at the Leader's Household. People who have committed crimes and fear that the people will take revenge on them when Khamenei dies become worried about their future. But as soon as Khamenei's health improves, everything is quickly forgotten.
A lady who is the sister of Deputy Defense Minister Ahmad Vahid Dastjerdi and is a gynecologist is the personal physician of Khamenei's wife, daughters, and daughters-in-law. (NB This sentence appears to indicate that Makhmalbaf prepared at least this section of the report in the summer. The 'lady' in question is Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi who was confirmed by the Majlis as the new Health Minister on September 3, 2009.)
Depression
Khamenei has suffered from depression for years. Some doctors believe it is caused by his habit of listening to recordings before bed. Given that only recordings of people speaking against Khamanei are considered noteworthy, Khamenei is constantly listening to recordings of remarks against himself. In order to preserve his system, Khamenei usually listens to 20 minutes of recorded conversations against himself, between opponents or even officials, every night before sleeping. This contributes to his depression. Every night before sleeping, he reaches the conclusion that no one loves him and the next morning he opens his eyes onto people who plead their loyalty in order to attain power and wealth or in order to avoid his rage.
[His wife] Khojasteh, who has sometimes listened to these recordings, has little patience for the daily groveling of many people. More than anyone, she says that the Iranian people are fawning liars and traitors.
Khamenei sometimes gets a massage from an Iranian physiotherapist. The massages initially focused on the hand that was disabled in the explosion, but later and on the recommendation of physicians, it became a part of the weekly schedule.
The system of recordings
Once Khamenei became Leader, Ahmad Ghadirian was responsible for the recordings for a period of two years. But Taeb has been in charge of this task for 15 years now (NB Possibly referring to Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb, former head of the Basij and currently in charge of the intelligence unit of the Revolutionary Guards). The recordings are divided into three parts: recordings of senior officials, recordings of security officials, and recordings of the people. Even the bedrooms of security officials are tapped in order to keep an eye on any possible treachery. The conversations of ordinary people are recorded to understand the climate in the country and allow Khamenei to confront it. This third type of recording is a form of poll.
Two main centers are tasked with the recordings, one in Tochal and the other at the telecommunications center. A team which is based behind Khamenei's residence on Pasteur Street compiles the recordings related to Khamenei into a 20-minute segment and prepares a two-page report. Five minutes of the recordings concern the society's morality. All of Khamenei's meetings are openly recorded and he even tells the attendees that they are being recorded. For example, he records all of his meetings with [Assembly of Experts and Expediency Council chief] Hashemi Rafsanjani, [former President Mohammad] Khatami, [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, and other officials. The main people in chargeof the recordings are Taeb and Engineer Hamid, Vahid Haghanian's brother.
In this way, Khamenei possesses secret files on all officials and knows their strengths and weaknesses. But very few people know about Khamenei, except Reyshahri (who in Khomeini's time was responsible for investigating all officials, including Khamenei), and in recent years Hejazi (NB Asghar Hejazi, chief of staff) and Mohammadi Golpayegani, who know all the secrets. (NB Ayatollah Mohammadi Reyshahri, aka Mohammad Mohammadi Nik, former Intelligence Minister).
Reyshahri wanted to become the trustee of the town of Rey (NB His birthplace and the reason he has the alias Reyshahri, which means from the town of Rey), and even though he opposed this, Khamenei gave him the town as a bribe. In Khomeini's time, Reyshahri would investigate the sexual, financial, and political background of all officials, including Khamenei.
In the political field: When [current opposition leader Mir Hossein] Mousavi was the prime minister (NB 1981 to 1989) and Khomeini supported his economic policies, Khamenei was president but did not legally have the same power as Mousavi within the goverment. Khamenei would criticize Khomeini's support for Mousavi in private.
In the financial field: Khamenei's interference in commisions from oil sales was under question.
In the sexual field: Khamenei's two temporary wives in Mashhad had been discovered (NB Sigheh. Explained in greater detail in part 1).
Of course, none of these issues dispelled Khomeini's trust in Khamenei. But if the story of his two sigheh women in Mashhad, which took place when he was young, had been divulged, his reputation may have suffered. There have been no reported cases of his womanizing after the revolution.
Khamenei's travels
Khamenei travels about 100 days out of the year. He resides in the palace he has built in Mashhad (NB His birthplace) for one month in the summer, one week for the Nowrouz holiday (NB Iranian new year's day, first day of spring), and one week in the winter. Also around Nowrouz, he spends a week in the Dezfoul air force base in Khuzestan province, which enjoys a good climate in that time of the year. He also spends a month along the Caspian Sea, usually in Ziba Kenar, Sari, Ramsar, or Bisheh Kenar. He spends every Thursday and Friday (NB The Iranian weekend) in Niavaran Palace, Jamshidiyeh Palace, or Lavasanat Palace. When Khamenei is traveling, a plane carries officials back and forth once a day. Three protective rings are set up around his place of residence. All of his close guard and the second circle of bodyguards, 1,200 individuals in all, must travel with him. Consequently, every day of his travels costs a minimum of 50 million toumans (NB About $50,000).
When he is in Mashhad, an A330 airplane usually transports his and Mojtaba's favorite horses and various articles of furniture.
Khamenei sometimes wants to travel like ordinary people. To this end, a special bullet-proof bus was built at a cost of 500 million toumans ($500,000). The bus is equipped with two bedrooms, a lavatory, and a bathroom. It also has a small kitchen, in which Seyed, the Agha's trusted cook, prepares meals. The Agha's escort secretly precedes and follows the bus.
This is part 2 of a series. For part 1 - His interests, please click here. For part 3 - His wealth, please click here.
The Secrets of Khamenei's Life The secret life of Iran's Leader, Ali Khamanei, is exposed by former staff members of the Intelligence Ministry and his household in a fascinating article by internationally renowned filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf... (part 1)(part 2)(part 3) Humiliation even in death Detailed analysis of several videos shows the final moments of a protester run over by a car and the refusal of her body by a medical center... (more)
The banality of evil Shocking footage of a man being lashed in Iran reminds the viewer of what Hannah Arendt called the banality of evil... (more) Provisional list of 72 dead protesters Originally compiled by the opposition committee looking into the abuse and deaths of protesters, the list has been enhanced with photos, video footage, and commentary... (more)
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