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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iranian senior cleric dies from coronavirus as president says infections peak has passed

2020-03-17

[THEBAGHDADPOST] A senior Iranian holy man has died from coronavirus ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men... as the country continues to battle the pandemic, which has killed more people in Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... to date than any other country outside of China and Italia. Ayatollah Hashem Bathaei-Golpaygani died Monday, according to multiple Iranian news outlets. The 79-year-old holy man was a member of Iran's Assembly of Experts, the body that chooses the country's supreme leader‐currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini... Bathaei-Golpaygani was taken to the Shahid Beheshti Hospital in the city of Qom to the south of Tehran on Saturday. Despite treatment, he passed away on Monday morning, Mehr News Agency ...And if you can't believe Mehr News Agency who can you believe?... reported. The chairman of the Assembly of Experts, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, said his late colleague had "devoted his life to serving the Islamic establishment, promoting the teachings of the Prophet and lecturing in seminary and university." The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, also expressed his sadness at the news. He said Bathaei-Golpaygani had been devoted to "compiling valuable intellectual and religious works, and educating students" in his role. Iran has been one of the nations worst affected by coronavirus. The Iranian health ministry said Monday the number of confirmed cases had risen to 14,991 with 853 deaths. The pandemic has taken hold at every level of Iranian society, infecting and killing normal citizens as well as senior regime officials.

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Europe

Europe demand for more talks does not help Iran nuclear deal, cleric says

2018-09-05

[AlAhram] Europe ...also known as Moslem Lebensraum... is not helping preserve the agreement on Iran's nuclear programme by asking for additional negotiations on issues like missiles, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a powerful anti-Western holy man, said Tuesday, according to the Islamic Theocratic Republic News Agency. Jannati is the head of the Assembly of Experts, an influential body that can select and dismiss the supreme leader, the highest authority in Iran. Last week, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Tehran should be ready to negotiate on its future nuclear plans, its ballistic missile arsenal and its role in wars in Syria and Yemen. Iran's foreign ministry rejected the idea. President Donald Trump ...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States... pulled the United States out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers in May and is re-imposing sanctions on Tehran. The other parties to the accord - China, Russia, Britannia, La Belle France and Germany- are trying to find ways to save the agreement. "Europe has announced that they won’t leave the deal," Jannati said, according to IRNA. "In practice, by bringing up a discussion of missiles and other issues they are not following an appropriate path." Last month, the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... decided to provide 18 million euros ($21 million) in aid to Iran to offset the impact of U.S. sanctions, part of efforts to salvage the deal.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Meet Iran’s Quds Force rising stars : Ali Asghar Hejazi and his son

2016-06-16

[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Sources have revealed how Iran's Assembly of Experts has elected the well-known hardliner Ahmad Jannati in its rank to head the council of holy mans, which is responsible for selecting the successor of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Although not well-known in the West, Ali Asghar Hejazi is a very powerful man in the Iranian leadership. The shadowy holy man’s high position, heading up security for the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gives him direct access to the Islamic republic’s most authoritative figure. In the previous three decades, he served in several senior intelligence roles. The older Hejazi has been also been busy. Recently, he helped an ally and hardliner take a post in a top governmental council. Sources revealed how Iran’s Assembly of Experts last month elected the well-known hardliner Ahmad Jannati in May in its rank to head the council of holy mans, which is responsible for selecting the successor of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. A majority of the 88-member council voted on Tuesday in favor of Jannati, keeping the council in the hands of ultra-conservatives, countering the gains by reformists and moderates during the February elections. Jannati’s election came as a surprise. He had previously been the minority holder in the council, and sources said that he was about to lose the election until the older Hejazi met the chairman of Iran’s expediency council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ... the fourth President of Iran. He was a member of the Assembly of Experts until he was eased out in 2011 He continues, for the moment, as Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council. In 2005 he ran for a third term as president, ultimately losing to rival Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was in Khamenei's graces back then. In 1980 Rafsanjani survived an assassination attempt, during which he was seriously injured. He has been described as a centrist and a pragmatic conservative without all that much reason. He is currently being eased out of any position of actual influence or power and may be dead by the end of 2012... , who is also the former president of Iran. The source said that a decision was taken then to knock another candidate, known only as "Sejadi," off the list of the assembly’s key figures. This move paved the way to Jannati to jump in the council’s rank. His new status puts him on the list to run for the Assembly of Expert’s top post ‐ its presidency. Primed for power A source said "We can now disclose that alongside his official position, Hejazi serves as a prominent link between Iran’s leadership and the murky operations of the Quds Force, the special forces unit of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards." Despite his high profile, one of Hejazi’s children manages to maintain a very secretive, yet important role. Uncovered information reveals that his son, Mohammad Hassan Hejazi, is a key Quds Force operative. The 29-year-old serves as a high-ranking field operative in a unit responsible for intelligence gathering and reconnaissance for the Quds Force’s activities abroad. In the last few years, he headed covert operations in several countries around Europe, South-East Asia and in the Middle East. Growing up amongst Tehran’s wealthy, connected elite, Mohammad Hassan reportedly has a taste for luxury ‐ with a passion for expensive cars and fine dining. He is also not afraid to pull strings in the capital’s corridors of power. While the young Hejazi lacks a dazzling social media presence like some of the internet-famous Rich Kids of Tehran, his ilk are commonly nicknamed "Aga-Zadeh," or "spoiled brats." Like many other Quds Force operatives, Mohammad Hassan is known to use aliases and fake passports to conduct his operations. If his powerful father stays in his position - and the son continues on this same path - it would seem likely that the young Hejazi could soon become one of the leading and most influential figures in the Quds Force.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hardliner Elected to Head Iran's Assembly of Experts

2016-05-25

Om May 24th, the Assembly of Experts elected Ahmad Jannati, the best-known hardliner in its ranks, to run the influential governing body. Fifty-one out of 86 members voted in his favor. Most important among the Assembly’s responsibilities is selection of the Islamic Republic’s next supreme leader. With almost 60 percent of the vote in Jannati’s favor, hardliners have demonstrated that they command considerable power in the new assembly, which was elected in February 2016. Ahmad Jannati's success this time shows hardliners’ determination to rebuild their powerbase after a lackluster performance in recent parliamentary elections. It could also signal greater organization among hardliners, and more widespread support for hardliner agendas across the assembly in general. On the other hand, in the elections, Jannati was a candidate representing Tehran, which has 16 representatives in the Assembly. He squeaked through with the lowest number of votes among the 16 candidates. Jannati’s election is also a mark of political vengeance against Hashemi Rafsanjani. When senior hardliner figures Mohammad Yazdi and Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi failed to get re-elected to the assembly, Rafsanjani and his allies did little to suppress their joy — so today’s victory for hardliners will come as a bitter blow, with the prospect of future political battles clearly set out. Hardliners suffered humiliating defeats in both parliamentary and assembly elections in February, with moderates closely connected to both President Hassan Rouhani’s administration and Hashemi Rafsanjani shifting the power balance away from hardliner agendas. But with Jannati’s win, the balance of power has once again shifted. The election of the chairman of the assembly, however, is not a purely internal affair. External political lobbies play an important part, and regularly pressure members of the assembly to vote in a way that will benefit them. Again, the success achieved by such lobbies demonstrates greater organization on the part of hardliners. Jannati’s election to the presidency, and the hardliner victory it represents, does not mean hardliners will necessarily have a dominant voice when it comes to selecting the next supreme leader when the time comes. After all, members of the assembly are highly prone to pressure from political groups, and from members of Iran’s military and security establishments, and are liable to change their positions. But Jannati’s victory is a clear reminder that hardliners have no intention of backing down on the fight against reformists and moderates. They may have suffered a terrible blow earlier this year, but they have more than enough ammunition to continue the battle.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Early Results: Rouhani, Moderates Make Big Gains In Iran Polls

2016-02-28

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani earned an emphatic vote of confidence and reformist partners secured surprise gains in parliament in early results from elections that could accelerate the Islamic Republic's emergence from years of isolation. While gains by moderates and reformists in Friday's polls were most evident in the capital, Tehran, the sheer scale of the advances there suggests a legislature more friendly to the pragmatist Rouhani has emerged as a distinct possibility. A loosening of control by the anti-Western hardliners who currently dominate the 290-seat parliament could strengthen his hand to open Iran further to foreign trade and investment following last year's breakthrough nuclear deal. "The people showed their power once again and gave more credibility and strength to their elected government," Rouhani said, adding he would work with anyone who won election to build a future for the industrialized, oil-exporting country. The polls were seen by analysts as a potential turning point for Iran, where nearly 60 percent of its 80 million population is under 30 and eager to engage with the world following the lifting of most sanctions. Millions crowded polling stations on Friday to vote for parliament and the Assembly of Experts, which selects the country's highest authority, the supreme leader. Both bodies have been in the hands of hardliners for years. Supporters of Rouhani, who promoted the nuclear deal, were pitted against hardliners close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who are wary of detente with Western countries. ACUMEN Rouhani and key ally and former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani were leading the race for the Assembly of Experts with most votes counted, and appeared to be sure of winning seats, early results released on Saturday showed. Until now, the contest for this seat of clerical power was an unremarkable event, but not this time. Because of Khamenei’s health and age, 76, the new assembly members who serve eight-year terms are likely to choose his successor. The next leader could well be among those elected this week. Rafsanjani is among the founders of the Islamic Republic and was its president from 1989-1997. Nearly always at the center of Iran's intricate webs of power, the arch-fixer is famous for his pragmatism and political acumen. Two prominent hardliners were on course to be elected with lesser scores in the experts assembly race: Ahmad Jannati was in 11th place and the assembly's current chairman, Mohammad Yazdi, was 15th. Arch-conservative Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi appeared unlikely to win a seat, according to partial results. The results were initially announced as final in an official statement. A later statement said the results were partial and a final tally would be announced in due course. INFLUENCE A Reuters tally, based on official results published so far, suggested the pro-Rouhani camp and allied independents were leading in the parliamentary vote. Some moderate conservatives, including current speaker Ali Larijani, support Rouhani. A breakdown of the results had independents on 44, reformists on 79, and hardliners on 106, the tally showed. A number of seats will be decided in run-offs in late April because no candidate won the required 25 percent of votes cast. Eight of the initial winners were women. Analyst say the large number of independents may be significant as they could cooperate across ideological lines with Rouhani's government. Whatever the outcome, Iran's political system places much power in the hands of the conservative Islamic establishment including the Guardian Council, which vets all laws passed by parliament.

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Arabia

Imam blasted for joy over King Abdullah's death

2015-02-03

[Gulf News] Dr. Anwar Mohammad Gargash, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said that Iran's Guardian Council Chairman, Ahmad Jannati is compounding Tehran's relations with the Arab capitals. On Friday, Jannati congratulated Moslems over the death of Saudi king Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz. "We should express condolences to the Israelis and Americans and congratulation to Moslems," Jannati said on during his Friday sermon in Tehran, Iran's Mehr news agency reported. However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... Gargash blasted the rejoice over the death of the King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques as fuelling sectarianism. "The attack by the mosque imam Jannati on our departed King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and on his life has sectarian overtones," he posted. "It targets all of us and compounds Iran's relations with Arab countries," the minister posted on his Twitter account. Dr. Gargash said that mosques should not be used to target the dead.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iranian cleric praises atom talks, signals shift

2012-04-20

Analysts point to change in strategy, say Iranian leaders may be paving the way and preparing their public for a deal with West. An influential Iranian cleric praised recent nuclear talks between Iran and world powers on Friday, the latest in a series of positive statements from senior figures that analysts said could signal Tehran is softening its stance. Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, secretary of the powerful Guardian Council, said the talks showed "success and progress" but added Tehran would break off the negotiations if Western countries carried on imposing sanctions while negotiating.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Head of Iran's Guardians Council Now The Principal Butt Of Jokes

2012-01-25

Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the head of the powerful Guardians Council, is Iran’s oldest man. No one knows when he was born. He is said to have been on planet Earth before all of us, even before Adam and Eve..." That's the gist of numerous jokes that are making the rounds about the senior cleric who is in his mid- eighties. “Jannati has a copy of the Torah signed by Moses,” is how one joke goes. Another one has Jannati speaking to scientists: "For you the Big Bang is just a theory," he says. "For me it's a memory.” In a similar vein, another joke has Ayatollah Jannati talking to the Fars news agency about his memories of the extinction of the dinosaurs. The jokes seem to be a reaction to Jannati’s three decades on Iran’s political scene and his status as one of the country’s key players. As the chairman of the Guardians Council since 1988, Jannati has played an active role in banning any attempt at political reform and disqualifying reformist and liberal election candidates. Sociologist Saeed Peivandi believes the continuation of Jannati's “negative role” and his disconnectedness with the realities of Iran and its young population are among the main reasons for the many jokes making fun of his age.

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Arabia

Hardline Iranian Cleric: Saudi 'Pharaoh' will have Same Fate of Mubarak

2011-11-26

[An Nahar] Soddy Arabia's ruling al-Saud dynasty should give up power, a hardline senior Iranian holy man said Friday, warning that the fate of Egypt's toppled president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... awaits King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands #65;bdullah ... Fifth out of 37 sons of King Abdulaziz to ascend to the throne. He is, after his half-brothers Bandar and Musa'id, the third eldest of the living sons of Abdul Aziz ibn Saud. Abdullah's mother is from the Rashid clan, longtime rivals of the Saud. He has 6 sons and 15 daughters and about $20 billion. His youngest son is just seven years old... "You should give up power and leave it to the people. They will establish a people's government," Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said in the weekly Moslem prayers at Tehran University. "It is better for the al-Saud to awaken. The fate of the Egyptian pharaoh (Hosni Mubarak) and that of the (fallen) strongmen in Libya and Tunisia, ultimately, awaits the Saudi pharaoh (King Abdullah)... You should be careful," he said, as worshippers chanted "Death to al-Saud." His remarks, broadcast on state radio, follow protests this week among the Shiite minority in Soddy Arabia's oil-rich east, resulting in four deaths since Sunday. Shiite activists in Arab states of the Gulf are frequently accused of having links with their co-religionists in the Islamic republic. On Wednesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal accused Iran of interfering in neighboring Gulf states. Tensions have heightened between Tehran and Riyadh following a U.S. allegations of an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington, something Tehran has repeatedly denied. Another point of contention between the two has been the Saudi military intervention in March in the Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdom of Bahrain to help its government quash pro-democracy protests led by the Shiite majority there.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran cleric warns Egyptians of US plots

2011-02-19

[Iran Press TV] A senior Iranian holy man has praised the Egyptian Revolution against Western-backed geriatric President Hosni Mubarak, but warned against replacing a puppet leader with another. "Egyptian people felt humiliated for being a subsidiary to Israel and could not take it any longer and thus the youths took action," Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said during a Friday sermon in Tehran, IRNA reported. Ayatollah Jannati criticized the "imprudent" US policy to adopt an ambiguous stance in support for Mubarak despite their better knowledge that the countdown had started for the dictator's rule. "Our concern is that lest only pawns might be replaced," he said, warning of an "enemy" plot to sweep new US puppet into power to parry the pro-democracy uprising in Egypt. "The Egyptians should listen to our message. Many such acts were carried out in our country but resistance and reliance on God stopped them all." The Iranian holy man expressed dismay at the Egyptian clergy's failure to "move ahead of people and side by side with them." Recalling the holy manal leadership in the 1979 Islamic theocracy in Iran, Ayatollah Jannati called on the Egyptian holy mans to play a more active role and have share in the formation of the government in-the-making. "Act like in Iran, do not sit on your hands," he urged. Tehran's interim Friday Prayers leader also criticized the Western-backed Arab leaders especially in Bahrain and Yemen. In January, a popular uprising in Tunisia sent President Zine El Abedine Ben Ali fleeing to Soddy Arabia after 23 years of authoritarian rule. Egyptians followed suit to oust geriatric President Hosni Mubarak -- widely viewed as Israel's closest regional ally. The revolutions have inspired popular protests in Bahrain, Jordan, Libya, Soddy Arabia, Yemen and other Arab and North African nations.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Israel, US nearing their fall: Jannati

2010-08-12

[Iran Press TV Latest] Israel and its main supporter, the US, are speeding toward their decline, while Islamic countries such as Iran and Turkey are rising, says a senior Iranian cleric. In a Wednesday meeting with Turkish Ambassador to Tehran Umit Yardim, secretary of the Guardian Council Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati urged Muslim countries "to unite, set aside their differences, use their vast potentials and not fear threats made by the US and its allies." "After suffering successive defeats over the past years from Lebanon's Hezbollah and Hamas, the Zionist regime (Israel) is seeking to take revenge on the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine," Fars News Agency quoted Ayatollah Jannati as saying. Ayatollah Jannati said the recent border clashes between Israeli and Lebanese soldiers were a move on the part of Tel Aviv to assess their readiness for a confrontation. "Despite such efforts, Hezbollah, the Lebanese government and people are united [when it comes to] resisting any assault by Israel." Yardim for his part said Turkey considers Iran a key player in the region and the world, and is interested in expanding ties in all sectors. "Cooperation between Iran and Turkey is essential to establishing peace, stability, welfare and security in the region and throughout the world," the Turkish envoy was quoted as saying.

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Iraq

Iran top cleric says dogs unclean as pets

2010-06-20

[Al Arabiya Latest] A senior Iranian cleric has decreed dogs are "unclean" and should not be kept as pets -- a move aimed at discouraging Western-style dog ownership in the Islamic state, a newspaper reported on Saturday. Dogs are considered "unclean" under Islamic tradition but, while relatively rare in Iran, some people do keep them as pets. By issuing a fatwa -- a religious ruling -- Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi has sent a clear message that this trend must stop. "Friendship with dogs is a blind imitation of the West," he was quoted as saying in Javan daily. "There are lots of people in the West who love their dogs more than their wives and children." Guard dogs and sheep dogs are considered acceptable under Islamic law but Iranians who carry dogs in their cars or take them to public parks can be stopped by police and fined. The Quran does not explicitly prohibit contact with dogs, Shirazi said, but Islamic tradition showed it to be so. "We have lots of narrations in Islam that say dogs are unclean." The interpretation of religious rules on personal conduct is a constant source of debate and potential conflict in Iran which has been an Islamic republic since a revolution ousted the Western-backed Shah in 1979. In a television interview last week, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad weighed in on the issue of the Islamic dress code, saying women who fail to cover their hair completely should not be harassed by the police. Morality police are conducting their annual crackdown and women who reveal strands of hair are liable to be stopped in the streets for failing to respect the dress code, or "hijab". Ahmadinejad's surprisingly liberal view was condemned by fellow hardliner politicians and senior clerics "I wish he had not said those words about the hijab," Grand Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati told the faithful during the week's Friday prayers, in a rare criticism of the president. "We are grappling with many problems including economic and political ones but the issues of morality and ethical security are among the important issues that cannot be ignored," he said. Tehran University has set up a think-tank "to investigate the problems related to hijab", the representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to the university announced on Monday.

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