A Forum on Human Rights and Democracy in Iran - Gozaar: The Islamic Republic’s Dirty Laundry

The Islamic Republic’s Dirty Laundry
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rafata on 23/08/2010 16:40:00

Just when the so-called “Reformist” movement was swept under the current
amidst the upheavals of the Iranian presidential election in June of last year
and the first ripples of the arrests and media clampdowns for those who, in
various capacities stood up and challenged the Leadership’s pronouncements on
the fitness of the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad started to swirl,
hostilities between factions which had gone on just below the surface of the
government all these 31 years suddenly rose to a swell. Until the June, 2009
election, whatever differences were at play inside the ruling elite—and at
times they were substantial—there was an attempt to work out a solution behind
the scenes. Even if no solution could be found, at least they were, for the most
part, successful in keeping these matters out of the public eye.
Somehow in the confusion following the disputed election these internal disputes
among the ruling circle not only became public for the first time, they were
even broadcast on television to a wide audience. The television debates
broadcast last year may be considered a turning point in the political history
of the 31-year-old Islamic Republic and even of the political history of Iran
itself. Until that time, state media had never been used as a tool to beam
disputes within the regime to the outside world.
Taking in-fighting to the public and exchanging accusations continued into the
following year and today we are witnessing the breaking of the “gentlemen’s
agreements” which had been respected up until the last election. The trading
of accusations as well as the publicizing of scandals and other sensational
revelations have been adopted as the modus operandi by all the factions even
though the faction supporting the vali-e faqih  and President of the Republic,
due to having power behind them, operate with more violence. The accusation made
by Ahmad Jannati, secretary of the Guardian Council, that the leaders of the
Green Movement had received a billion dollars from America with the help of
Saudi middlemen is not only the latest episode in this soap opera but may be
considered the hardest accusation to be leveled against Mir Hossein Musavi,
Mehdi Karrubi and Mohammad Khatami. Of course, these gentlemen, for their part
did not let such accusations go unanswered. Mehdi Karrubi has accused the
secretary of the Guardian Council with stealing the votes of the people and
Mehdi Khaz-’Ali, too, referred in a letter to embezzlement of public funds by
Ahmad Jannati.
On one hand, the international warrant for the arrest of Mehdi Hashemi, accused
of financial corruption, the reference to the role of Mir Hossein Musavi and
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani during events of the Iran-Iraq war period and, on the
other, the publication of the text of the resignation of Mir Hossein Musavi from
prime ministership in which the then president and current vali-e faqih is
accused of running an Iranian terrorist network outside Iran constitute other
acts in this drama which thus far have led to no positive result for the Green
Movement. The assumption that blowing the whistle on those in power today,
especially Seyyed Ali Khamenei, could weaken the foundations of the current
regime is utterly incorrect. Political and financial scandals only have an
effect on the upper echelons in democratic political systems. In non-democratic
regimes such as that in power in Iran, public disclosures cannot cause the fall
of the government or side-lining of politicians. The cost of this war of
propaganda will be paid by forces who have been marginalized by the regime.
If the goal of these kinds of public disclosures by Mr. Musavi, Mr. Karrubi or
Mr. Khatami is to lower the esteem of the Leadership in the mind of the public,
it should be pointed out that this is entirely futile because a part of the
public does not need to know the particulars of the disclosures in order to
break with the regime as they have stronger reasons to not have confidence in
politicians in power. On the other hand, if the goal is to isolate individuals
such as Ayatollah Khamenei from his supporters, considering that his supporters
undoubtedly view Ayatollah Khomeini as the founder of the Islamic Republic and
accept the idea of velayat-e faqih, again, no amount of divulging of secrets
will have any effect. Ayatollah Khomeini considered the preservation of the
Islamic Replublic system based on the principle of rule by the velayat-e faqih
so necessary that he was even willing to sacrifice basic principles of Islam for
the benefit of velayat-e faqih. In this regard, in Khomeini’s collected
speeches published as “The Book of Light,”  (Sahife-ye nur) Volume 20,
Khomeini is quoted as saying:
“Government with the meaning absolute guardianship is above all rulings of
Shar`ia …this government is one of the basic rulings of Islam and takes
priority over all secondary rulings even prayer, fasting and pilgrimage to
Mecca.”
If, for the sake of preserving the Islamic Republic based on absolute rule by
the vali-e faqih, we can obviate the need for prayer, fasting and haj, then
stealing people’s votes, throwing dissidents in jail or embezzling public
funds are not acts of which one can accuse the current vali-e faqih and expect
his supporters’ eyebrows to be raised. In addition, for some of these
accusations, there exist written and spoken pronouncements by Ayatollah Khomeini
absolving state and regime of any wrong-doing. Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa
during the summer of 1988 concerning the execution of dissidents on charges of
apostasy or his speeches concerning university purges are in fact used to
justify current policies of the Ahmadinejad government. At a meeting in which
the then prime minister, Mir Hossein Musavi, and a few of the members of the
Cultural Revolution Committee such as Abdol Karim Soroush and Jalaleddin Farsi
were present, Ayatollah Khomeini sought the expulsion from the university of all
leftist and liberal students. Jalaleddin Farsi in his book, “Dark Corners”
writes, “Khomeini said members of the Tudeh Party and supporters and members
of opposition groups should be allowed neither to enter universities nor to
continue their education in universities.”
The Green Movement, as critic of the velayat-e faqih and the present
administration, should level its criticisms at Ayatollah Khomeini and the era
when he was the leader. As long as Musavi and Karrubi are fighting over the
right to inherit Ayatollah Khoemini’s opinions with those at the head of the
regime today, there is no chance for victory in this competition. Placing
Khomeini up against Khamenei and defending the first for beating up the second
will never attract supporters of the velayat-e faqih or any part of them to the
Green Movement.
This opposition today is not a face-off of the former leader against the current
leader. The present conflict pits the supporters of the velayat-e faqih system
of absolute authority, of which Ayatollah Khomeini is the founder, against the
supporters of a system which derives its legitimacy not from Islam but from the
people. Therefore, if we reduce this confrontation to differences of opinion in
the interpretation of the views and judgments of Ayatollah Khomini, without
doubt, the faction that now stands at the top of the pinnacle of power will be
the winner even though it could be weakened as a result of this conflict.
Mir Hossein Musavi recently said in connection with the mass killing of
dissidents in the 1980s that he was unable to say what really happened due to
the presence of certain impediments. One may speculate from Mr. Musavi’s
statement that one of these impediments is his attempts to attract one or more
factions from the present government. A look at these factions shows that
attracting any one of them to the anti-Khamenei and anti-Ahmadinejad front will
strip the Green Movement of its current character and turn it into one of the
ruling factions. Those in support of the government and vali-e faqih can be
divided into four groups.
The first group are the traditionalists who desire the preservation of the
status and prestige of the clerics within the Regime of which the Islamic
Mo’talefeh (alliance) Party can be counted as the flagship. This group which
includes Habibollah Asgaroladi and Ali Larijani are closest of all to the
Leadership.
The second faction includes paramilitary and revolutionary guards who have now
formed a front with followers of Mahdaviyat who are awaiting the coming of the
12th Imam. While this group accepts the institution of vali-e faqih, it has
problems with the Leadership as its spiritual and religious leader is Mohammad
Taghi Mesbah Yazdi while Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the symbolic leader of this
faction.
The third group consists of supporters of Mohsen Rezaie and Mohammad-Bagher
Qalibaf. Although they oppose Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, they are staunch believers in
the necessity of preserving the current Regime, and the vali-e faqih. They
desire a complete overhaul of the economic and social spheres.
The fourth faction may be called the justice faction. This faction led by Ahmad
Tavakoli has put the campaign against corruption at the top of its agenda. It
has no problem whatsoever with the idea of vali-e faqih being the core principle
and foundation of the regime.
Noting that not one of these factions shares any common point either with the
Reform Movement or the so-called Green Movement, it is not clear what forces
Musavi or Karrubi want to attract by talking about the presence of certain
impediments.
On the other hand, one cannot overlook the fact that Khamenei’s opposition to
the Green Movement and its nominal leaders is a fundamental one. Khamenei sees,
for several reason, such movements as a real threat to his continuing place of
prominence in power and for this reason, he is in no way ready to reconcile with
this movement and its nominal leaders. The inner circle of the Leadership
believes this movement has taken root to remove him from the velayat-e faqih so
as to push the Regime in a Western direction. From the perspective of the
Leadership, becoming Westernized means accepting the UN Declaration of Human
Rights and interacting cooperatively with those who think differently. As
interpreted by Ayatollah Khamenei and his supporters, these are changes which
may result in a process, not necessarily long in coming, that could turn into a
way to put an end to the current regime.