Tehran Awaits Change

Reactions to Obama’s Election

With the finality in US presidential elections, some Iranian officials have ‎expressed their hope that President elect Barack Obama will now implement ‎the “policy of change” that he has promised.

Contrary to the prediction of Iran’s president three months ago that “I do not ‎think the will let Obama become the next US President,” on Wednesday ‎morning (Iranian tie) Barack Obama was pronounced as the forty fourth ‎president of the United States of America. In Iran, a number of officials ‎made comments on this event.‎

Iranian Foreign Minister Manoutchehr Mottaki said, “The election of Barack ‎Obama to the presidency of the US is a clear indication of the desire and ‎aspiration of the people of that country for basic changes in America’s ‎domestic and foreign policies,” adding that he hoped that the new US ‎administration would succeed in meeting the wishes of the American people ‎which have been distanced through the wrong policies of current American ‎politicians.‎

Iran’s former Majlis Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel said that the election ‎of Barack Obama indicated the defeat of American policies across the world, ‎and added, “Americans are forced to make changes in their policies because ‎of the quagmire created by Bush. This victory is the reality of American ‎failure across the world.” Fars news agency which quoted Adel reminded its ‎readers that, “Obama entered the race with the rhetoric that we need change ‎and the victory of this call is the acknowledgement of the American nation ‎that Bush’s policies in the world have failed.”‎

The first deputy Speaker of Iran’s Majlis Mohammad Hassan Abutorabi-fard ‎interpreted the election of Barack Obama to be indicative of the failure of ‎American policies across the world, and said, “By using the failed ‎experience of Bush and his wrong policies in the Middle East, Obama can ‎undertake to correct this behavior.” According to Abutorabi-fard, US ‎policies towards Iran’s nuclear issue, the wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq, ‎and support for Israel “have led to America’s isolation among the nations of ‎Asia, Islamic world, and independent and freedom-loving states.‎

Hamid-reza Haji Babai, a leadership member of the Majlis pointed to the ‎election of Barack Obama to the presidency in the US and referenced his ‎campaign slogans adding, to AFP news agency, that “Iran now awaits ‎change. Obama has promised change and we await that change.” Babai ‎added, “During the last eight years, through militarism and this financial ‎crises George Bush has created a bad atmosphere around the world against ‎the US and the election of McCain would have made matters worse.”‎

In a related news, after the announcement of Obama’s victory, Iran’s Joint ‎Chief of Staff issued a communiqué to US commanders in Iraq, which semi-‎state Fars news agency called “a warning” and an internet news site ‎affiliated to the Principalists (i.e. Iranian idealogues) called it the “response ‎of Iran to Obama.”‎

This communiqué writes, “It has been observed recently that US Army ‎helicopters engage in flights close to the Iraqi-Iranian border and because of ‎the weaving border line between the two countries, it is possible that they ‎could stray into Iranian territory. Therefore, forces in charge of patrolling the ‎borders of the Islamic Republic of Iran would respond to any intrusion. ‎Therefore this is a warning to change the helicopter flight paths to a safe ‎distance so that the danger of a mistake does not take place.”‎

On this subject, Jahan News website wrote, “It appears that this resounding ‎communiqué by the armed forces of Iran is addressed to the next US ‎president rather than to US forces in Iraq. The timing of the communiqué ‎issued by Iran’s armed forces indicates that Iran had Barack Obama in ‎mind, a day after won the presidential race.”‎

Tensions over Central Bank Governor’s Dismissal Continue

MPs Warn the Administration

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While the differences between Iran’s ex-Central Bank governor and the President were so ‎deep that Ahmadinejad could not even wait to return to Tehran to issue his dismissal of ‎governor Tahmaseb Mazaheri and replace him with Mahmoud Bahmani, which he did ‎from New York, there already are reports of differences in views between the President ‎and his newly appointed governor.‎

President Ahmadinejad kept Mazaheri as Central Bank governor for only one year and ‎when he replaced him it was to “streamline his economics team”, but the official Fars ‎news agency which had predicted Mazaheri’s dismissal weeks in advance, published ‎reports yesterday that Hossein Samsami may be appointed as the deputy governor of the ‎Central Bank of Iran (CBI).‎

Samsami is the nephew of Parviz Dawoodi, Iran’s first vice-president and while Fars ‎news agency conditioned the finalization of Samsami’s ascend at the CBI to a ‎‎“confirmation by the governor,” news reports indicate that Mazaheri is not keen on doing ‎this. Entekhab news website on Sunday quoted an “informed source” that vice-president ‎Dawoodi’s request to elevate Samsami to be governor Bahmani’s deputy has met a ‎hurdle as the newly appointed CBI chief is refraining from appointing him. The news site ‎concludes that with this level of opposition by Bahmani, his own status may be reduced ‎to that of a deputy at the CBI.‎

While it seems doubtful that President Ahmadinejad would rescind his newly appointed ‎CBI governor so quickly, Entekhab websites report indicates the regret of the cabinet in ‎appointing Bahmani to lead the bank. Contrary to public views, Bahmani as an architect ‎of the new policies at CBI is even more adamant on its implementation than his just ‎dismissed boss, i.e. governor Mazaheri. His resistance and relative independence in ‎dealing with Samsami so far has disarrayed the cabinet prompting it to think that the new ‎governor may actually not change course at the bank and its monetary policies after all.‎

As tensions at the CBI and over its policies and leadership continue at a time when the ‎official ILNA labor news agency reported that, “Some senior CBI directors had ‎submitted their resignations because of pressures at the Central Bank.” This news agency ‎too mentioned Dawoodi’s pressure on Bahmani over Samsami and wrote, “While Dr ‎Bahmani has refrained from accepting the pressures in this regard, but it is heard that ‎Samsami is already exerting his presence in all quarters of the bank. According to some ‎reports a group of CBI directors who had joined the bank recently have resigned in ‎protest to Samsami’s expanding control.”‎

The problems at the central bank have not remained confined to the presidency, the ‎cabinet and the bank, as the Majlis too has joined in the game. First, Majlis’ Research ‎Center which works under Tavakoli recently announced its expert opinion on CBI’s ‎controversial policy package which led to the downfall of governor Mazaheri, and on the ‎resolution of the economics commission of the cabinet. The center announced that, “The ‎government should not intervene in monetary and banking policy making.” Following ‎that, Majlis speaker Larijani actually criticized the change of guard at the CBI and said, ‎‎“It is not good that individuals be replaced or removed from office so quickly,” which is ‎a direct reference to the removal of the CBI governor.‎

New Deputy in Every Election

Rumors of Deputy Interior Minister's Dismissal ‎

Rumors of the imminent dismissal of Deputy Interior Minister commander Afshar are heard at a ‎time when the ninth administration seems to be close to setting a new record, according to which, ‎in the three years since the administration came to power, each year a new deputy has found his ‎way to the tall skyscraper on Fatemi Street. Thus far, the ninth administration has administered ‎every election under a different Deputy Interior Minister, who is, in effect, the chief elections ‎administrator. ‎

News sources close to the administration, including Fars news agency, Reporters' Club and ‎Borna news agency announced on Friday that commander Ali Reza Afshar, the interior ‎ministry's political deputy, has resigned from his post at the ministry and left the ministry. ‎Nevertheless, on Saturday Ali Reza Afshar told the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) that he ‎has not resigned from his post. He also noted that "I had the pleasure to serve in the ninth ‎administration by Mr. Ahmadinejad's invitation and will continue to be of service for as long as ‎and at position he deems appropriate." ‎

Although, as predicted twenty days ago by the Tabnak news website, conflicts of opinion ‎between Afshar and newly appointed Interior Minister Kordan may be sufficient for Afshar's ‎departure, yesterday's remarks by this former Revolutionary Guards commander were of interest ‎in their own right. In reiterating that he was invited to serve by the president, Afshar was ‎insinuating that his presence at the ministry is outside the boundary of authority of the new ‎Interior Minister. Nevertheless, Kargozaran newspaper reported on Saturday that denials of ‎Afshar's resignation are not "serious," noting that, in previous instances as well, whenever an ‎administration official was removed, denials were issued shortly prior to that official's removal. ‎

Now rumors of Deputy Interior Minister's removal are abound even though the position is the ‎most important deputy-position in all ministries, because it oversees election administration. ‎Afshar's change would mark the third change in deputy Interior Minister position in the past ‎three years. The first Interior Minister of the ninth administration was Mostafa ‎Pourmohammadi, who initially appointed Ali Jannat as the ministry's political deputy, but when ‎it was found that Jannati had supported Hashemi Rafsanjani in the presidential election, ‎agitations began to remove him. As a result, Ahmadinejad personally picked the Deputy Interior ‎Minister, so that, on the eve of the third round of city council elections, Ali Jannati was ‎appointed as Iran's ambassador to Bahrain and a figure closer to Ahmadinejad administered the ‎elections. As a result of these developments, and on the eve of the third round of city council ‎elections, Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi, Ahmadinejad's high advisor and confidant was appointed ‎as Deputy Interior Minister in September of 2006. ‎

This time, Samareh Hashemi's removal was initiated by the president's order, and Mostafa ‎Pourmohammadi said, "We would have liked to continue our cooperation with Mojtaba Samareh ‎Hashemi as Deputy Interior Minister but due to pressure of work and his position as president's ‎advisor, Dr. Ahmadinejad did not agree with his stay at the Interior Ministry." ‎

As such, on the eve of the third elections administered by the Ahmadinejad government - eighth ‎Majlis elections - in August 2007, Commander Alireza Afshar was appointed as the ministry's ‎political deputy; the same person whose dismissal rumors are now abound in the media. ‎

Ali Kordan, who last week approved the resignation of the Interior Ministry's reconstruction ‎communication deputy, is yet to react to news of Afshar's resignation and only told reporters, "I ‎know nothing about this issue." ‎

Presidential Aide is not Qualified

More Reactions to Mashaei’s Remarks

As the Majlis goes into its second summer recess, 200 representatives signed a statement ‎calling for the dismissal of president Ahmadinejad’s aide, Rahim Mashaei over his ‎remarks about friendship with the people of Israel.‎
The statement, which began with a quote by Mashaei, “We are friends with Israeli ‎people”, wrote “When these strange and unacceptable remarks which are in contradiction ‎to the principled policies of the Islamic republic and are in express opposition to the ‎position of the grand Imam (i.e. ayatollah Khomeini) and the current leader were made by ‎a deputy of the president Rahim Mashaei were made, it was thought that he had made a ‎political mistake which could be corrected through a rebuttal. But when the remarks were ‎followed up by “For the thousandth time and stronger than before I announce … “ a ‎serious warning bell was sounded in the regime which indicated an unacceptable ‎deviation regarding one of the most important foreign policy issues of the Islamic ‎republic of Iran.”‎
By asserting that the position of deputy president, which Mashaei holds, “belongs to the ‎entire population of Iran”, the law-makers stressed in their statement that Mashaei “did ‎not have the right to announce such a low and condemned position from a public tribune, ‎and in general he lacks the credentials to be in that post.”‎
The statement ends with a call by the deputies that president Ahmadinejad “condemn the ‎issue and deal with him (i.e. Mashaei) in a serious manner.”‎

Ahmadinejad Entering the Forbidden Zone?

Khamenei Opposed to Replacing Interior Minister

‎Several conservative websites have reported that Ayatollah Khamenei does not favor ‎Ahmadinejad’s decision to replace the Interior Minister. ‎
In this connection the website “Fararoo” announced yesterday, “The supreme leader has ‎not yet approved of the president’s decision to remove the Interior Minister.” The ‎website, while noting that the appointment and removal of ministers of foreign relations, ‎intelligence, interior, and culture and Islamic guidance have always been impossible ‎‎“without the supreme leader’s consent,” reminded its readers that, if the supreme leader ‎continues to oppose the removal, “the President has no option but to reverse his ‎decision.”‎
In this connection, the website Asr-e Iran also speculated that Interior Minister ‎Pourmohammadi may remain at his post. Also, Farda news website speculated that “the ‎supreme leader may oppose the decision to remove the interior minister.” ‎
Meanwhile, the hardline Kayhan newspaper, headed by Hossein Shariatmadari, the ‎supreme leader’s direct appointee to the Kayhan Institute, criticized Ahmadinejad’s ‎decision to remove the ministers of finance and interior from their posts, asking the ‎president, “How can a minister who does not know how long his term of service is, and ‎expects to be removed every day, plan to ‘serve the nation?’” ‎
In his editorial, Shariamatdari particularly criticized the decision to remove the Interior ‎Minister as “requiring more thought,” writing, “In the current situation, the removal of ‎the Interior Minister who has recently held hugely successful and historic elections and is ‎preparing to hold the second round of the same elections, requires more thought. Is his ‎removal under the circumstances wise?” ‎
Regarding reasons behind Pourmohammadi’s removal, some sources cited ‎Pourmohammadi’s report to the supreme leader regarding election irregularities as the ‎main reason behind his hurried removal by Ahmadinejad before obtaining the supreme ‎leader’s consent. ‎
In this connection, the website Aftab quoted “an informed source” that “the Interior ‎Minister, following the conclusion of the first round of elections, sent a report regarding ‎observed election irregularities to one of the regime’s top officials [a term often used by ‎Iranian media to refer to the supreme leader]. The president became aware of the sending ‎of such a report a few days later and was extremely furious because of the Interior ‎Minister’s action.” ‎
According to Aftab, “Ahmadinejad was angry that the Interior Minister had not consulted ‎him prior to sending the report, and made the decision to remove him for this error.” ‎

Two Ministers Removed to Create More Obedient Cabinet

Government Spokesperson Was Unaware!

A rumor that was denied by the government spokesperson last week and dismissed as the ‎physiological warfare of the “enemy” came true and two more prominent cabinet ministers, ‎Finance Minister Davoud Danesh-Jafari and Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi were ‎removed from their cabinet posts. ‎

Although it has been reported that the two ex-ministers will be appointed to new government ‎jobs, what makes the news significant is their position. In effect, like Ali Larijani, who remains ‎on the National Security Council as the supreme leader's representative, and Farhad Rahbar and ‎Mostafa Pourmohammadi, former intelligence officers who worked at the office of the supreme ‎leader during Khatami's presidency, Danesh-Jafari also serves on the Expediency Council on the ‎direct orders of Iran’s supreme leader. ‎

Political analysts believe that, with the removal of the finance and interior ministers, only two ‎prominent figures remain in the Ahmadinejad’s administration: Minister of Intelligence ‎Mohseni-Ezhei and head of the Central Bank, Tahmasb Mazaheri. The other senior officials in ‎the administration are inexperienced and fully subservient to Ahmadinejad. ‎
Unaware Advisor ‎

Last week, government spokesperson Gholamhossein Elham, who is seen to be close to the ‎president, dismissed reports of the two ministers' removal as "April Fools' Day hoaxes" and ‎blamed administration's enemies for the “rumors”. But with a short piece posted on his weblog, ‎Mahmoud Ahmadinejad referred to cabinet-level changes thus implicitly confirming the rumors. ‎Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad's senior advisor Samareh Hashemi told reporters curious about the ‎news to wait a few days. ‎

Elham provided reporters with a thorough explanation about why he was unaware of the news: "I ‎was unaware of these changes until Sunday, even though rumors about possible changes were ‎published on some websites on Thursday. But in the long cabinet meeting on Thursday, which ‎lasted from morning till evening, the gentlemen who were the subject of the rumors were present ‎and very active… On Saturday morning I tried to briefly meet with Mr. President, like I usually ‎do before press conferences, but he was attending the meeting at the Expediency Council and we ‎were not able to converse on the phone either. In any case, the changes were not finalized by the ‎time of my press conference." ‎

The reaction of domestic publications to the news of the most recent cabinet changes was almost ‎identical. Tabnak website spun the most recent changes, implemented with fewer than 17 ‎months left from Ahmadinejad's term, as a move to "purify" the administration. ‎

Tabnak reported, "Though many described the ninth cabinet as the weakest cabinet in terms of ‎output, they viewed Danesh-Jafari and Pourmohammadi as more experienced; however, what the ‎two shared in common was their affiliation with one of the regime's centers [office of the ‎supreme leader], where they spent a lot of their time." ‎

Below is a list of some of the most prominent figures that have resigned or been removed by ‎Ahmadinejad:‎

Ali Larijani, top nuclear negotiator and head of the National Security Council;‎Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh, Minister of Oil;‎Mahmoud Farshidi, Minister of Education;‎Farhad Rahvar, head of the Planning and Management Organization;‎Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, deputy Minister of Interior in political affairs;‎Rahmani Fazli, deputy head of National Security Council;‎Ali Reza Tahmasebi, Minister of Industry;‎Ebrahim Sheibani, head of Central Bank;‎Mohammad Nazemi Ardakani, Minister of Cooperatives;‎Parviz Kazemi, Minister of Welfare; and ‎Jamal Karimirad, Minister of Justice (who died on the job). ‎