Sagg-e Zard

Donald Trump did Khamenei a huge favor by eliminating Qasem Soleimani, a formidable military veteran and a Khomeini principalist who was feared by many in the regime including Khamenei and his son Mojtaba Khamenei who looks to take the lead once his father leaves. Rafsanjani who himself was eliminated, successfully argued for survival of the Islamic regime by means of giving economic freedoms to the revolutionary guards and prevent possibility of a military coup d'etat by sharing the spoils with the Ayatollahs. However the now very wealthy generals are standing in the way to negotiate with the USA. Soleimani's graphic and well publicized killing is a win for Trump AND Khamenei's Islamic establishment, Trump continues reiterating he does not want regime change, he is basically saying he wants change of alliance and allegiance by the Ayatollahs from Europe, Russia and the east to US. The question is what would the USA have to forgo to regain Iran from the claws of the Ayatollahs' masters. The circus continues and the Iranian population pays with their lives, dignity and wealth. It is only about keeping the Iranian population in yoke.

Labels: Donald Trump, IRAN, Khamenei, Persia, Persian, Qasem Soleimani, Rafsanjani, Soleimani, Trump, USA

Following is a declassified 1983 document from CIA about Khamenei and Rafsanjani, click on the image to see the larger document or click here to see a list of more Iran related declassified files on CIA's site. (I found another interesting document under the title: Iran's Economy: A Survey of Its Decline, published 8/1/1991)

Labels: CIA, declassified, IRAN, Khamenei, Rafsanjani, Tehran

Labels: Ayatollah, Emam, Imam, Khamenei, Khomeini, Supreme Leader

How is it that the NIE’s findings coincide with the crowning of Rafsanjani as the head of the powerful Expediency Council? Having witnessed the findings as an act of official complacency towards the Islamic Republic of Iran makes me wonder. What has at this point caused such an authoritative move in viewing the theocracy? It is interesting that the first signs of the Estimate and the establishment's installation of Rafsanjani as the head of the most powerful executive body has led to a further expansion of crack down on every expression of dissent in Iran. In the late 1990’s we witnessed killings ordered by Khamenei and Rafsanjani, planned by Ali Fallahian and executed by Saeed Emami against voices of discontent. Since Rafsanjani’s role became official again we have seen a new wave of perverse crackdown on women, students and political activists. At this new stage of struggle, Iranian freedom fighters must realize they stand alone against the Islamic regime, the same regime which legitimized terrorism worldwide, destroyed the fabric of Iranian society and dismantled freedoms kept sacred by every human being. It is important to remain skeptical to the rhetoric of “Regime Change” and its evolving aberrations going forward and back in time. We just witnessed a major change in Pakistan at the flip of the fingers of the powers to be and there were no NIEs to justify the positions taken. How is it that the Islamic Republic of Iran has remained immune in face of all its atrocities for the past twenty eight years? My only assumption is that there is a powerful faction in the West that is the regime's master. Inexistence of rights and the suffering of Iranian people is not a factor for them to consider. Unfortunately the civilized world will have to wait for the sad results of such political experiments until it can come up with the resolve to take a concrete decision and truly support the Iranian people in its epic struggle to achieve freedom from theocratic totalitarianism. What will the human costs be by then?

Labels: Dissidents, Emami, Fallahian, Khamenei, NIE, Rafsanjani, Students, Turban, Women

What was all that brouhaha about black listing Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist organization? I believe, the West needed to help position an actor within the Islamic regime who is capable of balancing the extreme elements while allowing the improvement of geopolitics for the major players' benefit. The IRGC helps secure the existence of the hard-line faction of the regime's hierarchy, as well as facilitates most of its business transactions. By threatening the existence of this apparatus which is the main artery of the supreme leader's faction, the West calculated and received a moderating response. Grand Ayatollah Khamenei was put in the corner and pushed to anoint Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as the head of the most powerful clerical body in the Islamic regime: Assembly of Experts (مجلس خبرگان رهبری, Majles-e-Khobregan). It is also very interesting that a deal was allegedly foiled at the same time in California to send 100,000 submachine guns to aid Rafsanjani's faction counter Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency.

Survival of the theocratic establishment is a vital priority to Rafsanjani, not due to any dogma, it is no secret that Mr. Rafsanjani has amassed a huge fortune since 1979 reaping some of the largest stakes from the revolutionary confiscations of private property, including industrial and agricultural holdings. Now he controls imports of automobiles as well as assembles Daewoo cars in Iran. He exports agricultural products including the highly prized pistachios, topping more than $400 Million in 2003. He owns his own airliner called Mahan Air with a fleet of 27 mostly Airbus and Boeing passenger jets. Kish Island, the Persian Gulf's most popular island destination is also controlled by Rafsanjani and his family, to just name a few of his business holdings.

Rafsanjani is acting as a safety valve, he has been a sweetheart of the the west for a longtime and the regime considers him indispensable, he is a deal maker who does not tolerate any opposition to the "grand plan" at hand. But most importantly, he is a man with many trusted and powerful friends in office around the globe.

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Labels: Daewoo, IRGC, Khamenei, Mahan, Rafsanjani, USA