UPDATED Iran Special: Have Ahmadinejad and Ali Larijani Kissed and Made Up?

UPDATE 1120 GMT: The latest signals, brought to us by EA contacts inside and outside Iran....

The Islamic Republic of Iran News Network is loudly featuring the "co-operation" proclaimed at yesterday's Larijani-Ahmadinejad press conference. At the same time, Iranian media are highlighting the appointment of Ahmadinejad Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai as special representative for the Middle East, while largely ignoring the other three special representatives who were named.

There has no mention of the suspension of Saeed Mortazavi as a Presidential aide, apart from the opposition site Rah-e-Sabz. Media in Iran continue to say only that three officials have been removed from their posts because of alleged complicity in the Kahrizak Prison abuses.

UPDATE 0930 GMT: We have rounded up the developments around the Ahmadinejad-Larijani press conference, assessing whether they point to co-operation or further tension, in our LiveBlog at 0650 GMT.

The two pieces of news that livened up --- yes, even more than the President's "Ambassador of Death For Peace" speech introducing a model of Iran's drone bomber, Karrar --- our Sunday....

1. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, after a formal meeting between the Government and the Parliament, hold a joint press conference in which they stress the need for co-operation between the Presidency, the Majlis, and the judiciary to address Iran's internal problems.

2. Saeed Mortazavi, who was Tehran Prosecutor General during the 2009 election and until the autumn, who found refuge under pressure as an aide to Ahmadinejad, has been suspended from his post --- along with two judges --- for his alleged role in the post-election abuses at Kahrizak Prison.

And a reminder....

3. On Wednesday, after months of tension between the heads of his three Government branches, the Supreme Leader met with Ali Larijani, Ahmadinejad, and head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani.

Ayatollah Khamenei hasn't sent me a morning e-mail to confirm this, but I'm still going to play Make-the-Connections....

The Supreme Leader tells his three politicians that enough is enough. The factional quarrels within the establishment are preventing a common front at a time when Iran faces serious economic problems, in part because of sanctions, and the decision whether to proceed with talks --- including with Washington --- on the nuclear programme.

But both Larijanis, apart from any personal rivalry and difficulties with the President, have a long set of grievances against Ahmadinejad's men going back to last summer. There have been accusations of economic mismanagement, corruption, mis-handling of the post-election crisis, and complicity in the abuse and killing of detainees.

It's not going to be possible to address all those issues, even with the Supreme Leader as the mediator, at a single session. So a sign is needed. A sign that can come through a sacrifice of one of the President's men, someone who symbolises the problems caused by the Government's own mis-steps.

Three nominees for Fall Guy spring to mind. There is Ahmadinejad's Chief of Staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, who has brought some serious dislike upon his head with his statements, his protection from his brother-in-law (M. Ahmadinejad), and his accumulation of posts with both nominal and very real influence and control of money. He has already been at the centre of a dispute between the President and the Supreme Leader, which ended last summer from his step-down from 1st Vice President only to become Ahmadinejad's top aide weeks later.

There's current 1st Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, who is suspected by many conservatives of involvement with suspect financial schemes, including the Fatemi Street insurance fraud. Rahimi has also played Foreign Policy Expert with some curious statements in recent weeks and succeeded only in unsettling Iran's diplomacy, as well as looking a bit of a fool.

And there's Mortazavi, who is blamed by key conservatives for the Kahrizak debacle, which in turn is a symbol for the sprawling system of detention and alleged abuse that has continued long past the summer of 2009. One of those who died in Kahrizak was the son of the campaign manager, Abdulhossein Ruholamini, of the 2009 election bid of Mohsen Rezaei, former head of the Revolutionary Guard and current Secretary of the Expediency Council.

Rahim-Mashai, because of personal ties, his accumulation of influence, and his symbolic position as Presidential right-hand-man,  is still too important for Ahmadinejad to let go of him. The departure of Rahimi, despite the dislike he has provoked and the seriousness of the corruption charges, might not have enough political significance to make an impact.

So Mortazavi was tapped on the shoulder, the sacrifice that brings a respite in the squabble between Ali Larijani and Ahmadinejad, Parliament and Government.

But is that a long-term lull? And is more of a public show at a time when Iran's international opponents as well as the supposedly-dead opposition movement are drawing conclusions from the rifts within the establishment?

Let's go with "temporary" respite. And let's watch to see if Mortazavi is only the first Fall Guy.

The Latest from Iran (22 August): Ahmadinejad Aide Mortazavi Suspended?

2055 GMT: The Suspension of the President's Man. Radio Zamaneh is now carrying the report from Rah-e-Sabz that former Tehran Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi and two judges have been suspended by the judiciary because of an alleged connection with the post-election abuses in Kahrizak Prison (see 1310 GMT).

The attorney of Amir Javadifar, one of the Kahrizak victims, gave the news to Rah-e-Sabz. Mortazavi has not been named, to our knowledge, by any media inside Iran.

2040 GMT: Larijani & Ahmadinejad Striking a Deal? This will be our lead update in the morning, given its potential significance, but might as well bring it out tonight.



Islamic Republic News Agency is claiming, from its "political reporter", that President Ahmadinejad and Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani --- after a meeting between Government and the Majlis --- have held a joint press conference, calling for the co-operation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Larijani noted the need to work together for solutions on political, economic, and agricultural issues.

After the escalating friction over months between Larijani, accompanied by high-powered Parliamentary allies, and Ahmadinejad and his inner circle, has the Supreme Leader brought reconciliation with his meeting on Wednesday with both men and with the head of Iran's judiciary, Sadegh Larijani?

NEW Iran: Today’s Shiny Object for Media? Why, It’s an Ambassador-of-Death Drone Bomber!
Iran Video: BBC Interview with Human Rights Lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei
The Latest from Iran (21 August): Nuclear Games and Questions

1920 GMT: Nuclear Front. Tucked away in The New York Times report on Saturday's opening of the Bushehr nuclear plant was this intriguing statement from the head of Russia’s Rosatom state nuclear power company, Sergei Kiriyenko:

He....announced that Russia would provide Iran with iodine and molybdenum, nuclear isotopes used in medicine. It was unclear what effect this would have on efforts to dissuade Iran from enriching uranium to a higher grade than is needed in electrical power plants so that it could be used in a research reactor in Tehran that produces medical isotopes.

In other words, will Iran withdraw its demand that it be allowed to enrich uranium to 20%, at least while discussions proceed on a long-term deal over the nuclear programme? And is Washington up-to-speed and supportive of the Russian move?

1900 GMT: Supreme Leader's Corner. Parleman News, drawing from Ayatollah Khamenei's website, offers a full summary of his three-hour meeting today with representatives of 12 different student organisations.

1800 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Ali Jamali and Hassan Asadi-Zaidabadi, two senior members of the student alumni organisation Advar Tahkim Vahdat, were arrested this afternoon.

1310 GMT: Mortazavi Falls? Forget the Bushehr nuclear plant and the "Ambassador of Death" drone bomber: this could be the news of the weekend.

Rah-e-Sabz is reporting that former Tehran Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi and two other senior officials have been suspended from their posts after an Iranian court ruled they had a part in the post-election abuses at Kahrizak Prison, in which three detainees are officially acknowledged to have been killed.

There is political significance far beyond the legal decision. Mortazavi moved from the prosecutor's post to the President's office, where he was an aide offically overseeing campaigns against drugs and smuggling. For months, as we have highlighted on EA, opponents of the President --- both amongst reformists and within conservative ranks --- have been aiming at Mortazavi. Removing him would put a chink in Ahmadinejad's political armour.

1200 GMT: Nuclear Sideshow. Iranian state media --- Islamic Republic News Agency, Fars News, Iranian Students News Agency --- highlight repeated allegations from the Ministry of Intelligence that Hossein Mousavian, Iran's Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council (and thus deputy negotiator on nuclear issues), "has provided aliens with classified information and this is a clear case of espionage".

Moussavian was jailed in 2007 on espionage charges but later released on bail.

The statement points to a continuing internal battle over the nuclear position: earlier this week the head of Iran's atomic energy organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi, said there was no proof that Moussavian has ever been involved in espionage.

1005 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran details the campaign against student activist Abed Tavancheh, which includes not only arrest and a one-year prison sentence but also confiscation of the family home.

Rassoul Badaghi, a member of the Board of Directors of the Iranian Teachers’ Association and of the Unity Council for Democracy and Human Rights in Iran, has been sentenced to six years in prison and a five-year ban on partisan activities.

The wife of labour activist Mansour Osanloo has confirmed that he has received an additional one-year sentence for "propagating against the regime", added to his earlier five-year sentence. Osanloo has been in detention since July 2007.

1000 GMT: The Nuclear Talks. Is this the answer to our head-scratching this week about the apparent conflict between the Supreme Leader's statement on Wednesday (my reading: "No talks until the US pulls back sanctions) and President Ahmadinejad's Thursday interview ("Talks as early as late August or early September")?

Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, who took a firm line against Ahmadinejad when the President pushed multilateral discussions last autumn, said Sunday that Iran is keen to hold negotiations with the world. That is, with all the world except the United States.

“The US's fraudulent arrogance has led to its fake narcissism. The Americans falsely think that their overstatements about regional nations and the Iranians will bear fruits," Larijani said.

On the surface, that appears a blunt attempt to split European powers from Washington. It's also, I suggest, a futile attempt since France, Germany, and the UK are not going to sit down at the table unless the Americans are supportive.

So is Larijani too short-sighted to note this or did he effectively put out a "spoiler" against any discussions? And did he consult with Ayatollah Khamenei before making the statement?

0940 GMT: Tough Talk Today Special. We've posted a special feature on Iran's unveiling of a new drone bomber which, we happily predict, will soon be called an "Ambassador of Death".

0715 GMT: The Music (of Protest) Still Plays. In July 2009, weeks after the Presidential election, we posted a video of U2 playing "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" in Barcelona as a tribute to demands for justice and rights in Iran.

From Helsinki on Friday:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ5_M-iPw7U[/youtube]

0635 GMT: Is This the Definition of Irony? An Iranian blog claims that during Saturday's celebration of the introduction of uranium rods into Iran's first nuclear plant at Bushehr, parts of the city lost power in 50-degree Celsius (122-degree Fahrenheit) heat.

0615 GMT: We begin this morning by noting yet another attempted intimidation of senior clerics who have been critical of the Government. Kalemeh reports that a crowd surrounded the main mosque in Shiraz after Friday Prayers, shouting slogans against Grand Ayatollah Dastgheib.

There have been several gatherings since the election against Dastgheib. In December, the protestors damaged and defaced the walls of the mosque complex, and Dastgheib temporarily left his offices.

Meanwhile....

Sanctions Watch

Peyke Iran claims that foreign automobile manufacturers Mercedes, Toyota, and BMW have stopped trade with Iran and that Hyundai might follow.

The Mothers of Protest

An Iranian website has published the statement of the Mothers of Mourning, who have restated their opposition to the post-election injustices, abuses, and killings and have renamed themselves the Mothers of Laleh Park.

The mothers, many of whom have had children who were imprisoned or slain during the conflict, began gathering last summer in Tehran's Laleh Park every Saturday, despite pressure from security forces and occasional detentions.

The Latest from Iran (18 August): A Letter and A Call for Bombing

2055 GMT: Sports Section. Football star Ali Karimi, who was released by his club Steel Azin this week, apparently for drinking water during training and thus breaking the daylight fast of Ramadan, was in the stadium tonight for Steel Azin's match with Kerman Copper. He was applauded by the crowd.

2035 GMT: Speech Round-Up (Opposition Edition). Rah-e-Sabz has more on Mir Hossein Mousavi's latest statement that 30 years of the Islamic Republic are being challenged to "save the cobwebs of tyrants". And the website summarises Mehdi Karroubi's on-line chat with readers: he will participate in a Qods Day rally in September, for which planning is under way. He said that the current Government is not religious nor a republic, and the Iranian people will have decide about a a religious or secular government in the future.

The Facebook page supporting Mousavi has an English translation of his statement.

NEW Iran Document: Nourizad’s Last Letter to Supreme Leader “The 10 Grievances”
NEW Iran Feature: Sanctions, Iranians, and YouTube’s “Life in a Day” (Esfandiary)
UPDATED Iran Special: Have Fars (& Revolutionary Guard) Faked a Reformist “Confession” on Election?
Iran Video: “His Excellency” Ahmadinejad Interviewed by George Galloway (15 August)
UPDATED Iran Analysis: What Has Green Movement Achieved? (Sahimi)
The Latest from Iran (17 August): The Green Movement, Ahmadinejad, and a “Confession”

2030 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The Revolutionary Court has confiscated the house belonging to the parents of student activist Abed Tavanche.

2025 GMT: Speech Round-Up (Khamenei Edition). The Supreme Leader's focus --- despite all the tensions within the Iranian system, including the challenges to the President --- was beyond Tehran today. It was all about the US and Iran's nuclear programme: "What they say, our president and others are saying, that we will negotiate -- yes we will, but not with America because America is not negotiating honestly and like a normal negotiator. Put away the threats and put away the sanctions."

So the line is drawn: unless Washington pulls back both unilateral and United Nations sanctions (or gives private assurances to Tehran that they will be withdrawn if progress is made on an uranium enrichment deal), there will be no post-Ramadan negotiations: "On one hand they threaten us and impose sanctions and show an iron hand, and on the other hand they want us at the negotiating table. We do not consider this as negotiations. Experience has shown that when they cannot answer logic, they bully... we will not budge under pressures and we will respond to these pressures in our own way."

2005 GMT: Controlling the Net. Global Voices Advocacy documents the Iranian regime's crackdown on bloggers and social media.

2000 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Mohammad Reza Jalaeipour, a postgraduate student at Oxford University, has been released from detention after 60 days in solitary confinement.

1910 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Almost as soon as his latest letter to the Supreme Leader --- published in EA today --- appeared, journalist and filmmaker Mohammad Nourizad has been summoned back to Evin Prison.

Nourizad was on temporary leave from his 3 1/2-year sentence for the letters to Ayatollah Khamenei and the head of the judiciary, Sadegh Larijani.

Women's rights activist Mahboubeh Karami has been released on $50,000 bail.

1805 GMT: Khamenei Speaks. The Supreme Leader is currently setting out Iran's foreign policy in a speech. Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic News Agency has summarised his line --- denouncing the "stupidity" of the "military threat" to Iran --- in a meeting earlier today with the heads of Iran's three branches of Government.

More later....

1745 GMT: US-Iran Front. Has the Supreme Leader just thrown cold water on discussions over Tehran's uranium enrichment? This just in from his office's Twitter feed: "Iran's Leader emphasized that negotiation with USA under threat and pressure is not possible. We won't negotiate with anybody in this way."

1735 GMT: Nokia Siemens and Iran. An interesting twist on the claim, highlighted in a lawsuit by detained journalist Isa Saharkhiz (see 0830 GMT), that Nokia Siemens sold and provided to Iran "surveillance technology and equipment for monitoring of wireless networks and the internet".

Fars News claims that the malicious Stuxnet worm has been introduced onto Iranian computer systems via Siemens software.

1715 GMT: Parliament v. President. MP Heshmatollah Fallahatpisheh, a member of the Majlis National Security Commission, has linked the 1953 coup --- whose anniversary is tomorrow --- to today's events. Fallahatpisheh claims Iran's main problem is mismanagement and that the overthrow of the Mossadegh Government almost 60 years ago "shows that the biggest harms were inflicted upon the country when Parliament was weak". The Majlis, he asserted, must be at the head of affairs.

From the reformist side, Nasrullah Torabi has stated, "A sand fog of sedition and flattering prevents the truth from being revealed," and maintained, "Patience and victory are old friends."

But Ahmadinejad's camp has struck back. MP Hamidreza Taraghi of the Motalefeh party has criticised "some conservatives want to pass over the President and many senior officials". And the President's spokesman Ali Akbar Javanfekr declared, "During the 9th Presidential elections [of 2005], people didn't vote for conservatives, but for Ahmadinejad." (An EA correspondent asks, "But what about the 10th elections of 2009?")

1710 GMT: Women's Rights and the Green Movement. A challenge to leading activist Zahra Rahnavard from a blogger, who claims that Rahnavard has distorted "feminism" by saying that hijab can be imposed by the system like traffic laws, but women should accept it "with love" and not by force.

1705 GMT: Economy Watch. Deutsche Welle follows up the latest news from Iranian media on unemployment by noting that the jobless rate has doubled since President Ahmadinejad took office in 2005.

1635 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Daneshjoo News claims that intelligence officials are behind the transfer of student activist Majid Tavakoli from Evin Prison, where he was seen as the leader of the "riot" of the 17 hunger strikers, to Rajai Shahr Prison.

1620 GMT: Breaking (and Significant?) News. Fars News is reporting that the heads of the three branches of Government --- President Ahmadinejad, Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani --- have met with the Supreme Leader. And it appears that Hashemi Rafsanjani, as head of the Expediency Council, was also there.

No details of the discussion are posted.

1505 GMT: Opposition Remarks. Green Correspondents features comments by Mehdi Karroubi in an on-line conversation with readers, and Kalemeh carries a statement by Mir Hossein Mousavi --- with a clear eye on the furour surrounding Ahmadinejad top aide Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai --- on Iran and Islam.

1445 GMT: War Chatter. The US talking-shop on a possible Israel attack on Tehran continues, though --- apart from the Bomb Iran editorial in The Washington Times (see 0700 GMT) --- the fever seems to have lessened today.

Gary Sick makes an incisive intervention on the Command Central set up at The Atlantic magazine --- "[This] is so transparently pushing the 'threat' of an Israeli attack in order to get the US to do something utterly foolish, that I have a very hard time even writing about it" --- before handing over to Joshua Pollack's commentary, "Some Straight Talk About Iran".

1300 GMT: Iran's Ramadan Music Ban. For days, we have been following the story that an Islamic prayer called "Rabbana,” sung by musical legend Mohammad Reza Shajarian and traditionally aired on Iranian state television and radio during the holy month, has yet to be broadcast during Ramadan.

This year, another version of the prayer, sung by a different singer, is reportedly being aired, leading to speculation that Shajarian has been "blacked out" because of his post-election criticism of the Government.

Now a twist: an Iranian state television official in charge of religious programming, Parviz Farsijani, said Shajarian's version has not been banned and that it could be aired in the coming days. However, Fars News is devoting its headling story to a lengthy denunciation of Shajarian's views on politics and religion and his association with the "Great Satan".

1255 GMT: Economy Watch. The Iranian Labor News Agency reports that unemployment of workers aged 15 to 29 has reached 26.1%.

1245 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Switzerland has imposed new economic restrictions against Iran.

1225 GMT: Parliament v. President. Key member of Parliament Ali Motahari says that the initiative by some conservative MPs to summon the President to the Majlis, to answer questions on his refusal to implement laws and on other subjects, is proceeding.

At least 1/4 of the Parliament --- 73 members --- have to join the initiative for Ahmadinejad to be compelled to appear.

According to MP Vali Esmaili, a protest letter against Presdiential chief of staff Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, written by the reformist Mohajedin of Islamic Revolution party and signed by 183 MPs, will be sent to Ahmadinejad's office tomorrow. The letter was written and circulated after a discussion between 20 MPs and the President failed to find a resolution.

1220 GMT: The University Crisis. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, after a meeting with the head of Iran's judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, has said --- contrary to reports in outlets like Fars News --- the status of Islamic Azad University has not been decided and must be resolved by the Supreme Leader.

Control of the University system, which has 1.2 million students, is between disputed between Rafsanjani, the Parliament, and President Ahmadinejad.

1214 GMT: The Hunger Strike. Kayvan Samimi, Abdollah Momeni, and Bahman Ahmadi Amoui --- three of the 17 political prisoners who were on hunger strike --- have been moved out of solitary confinement. Thirteen other detainees (one was recently released) were put back into the ward for political prisoners a few days ago.

1210 GMT: Tough Talk This Week. The head of the operations department of Iran’s armed forces, Ali Shadmani, says Tehran has three contingency plans to confront “any possible aggression”, “undoubtedly” bringing an enemy to its knees: 1) closing the Strait of Hormuz and controlling it; 2) dealing with US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan; 3) "Israel is the U.S.A.'s backyard. Therefore, we will destroy the peace at that backyard."

1205 GMT: Bank Squeeze? Rah-e-Sabz offers an overview of what it claims is a crisis in Iran's banking sector.

1155 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Rah-e-Sabz reports that the latest session in the trial of journalist Emad Baghi was held yesterday.

0920 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Press TV, from Iranian Students News Agency, reports on an address by former President Hashemi Rafsanjani to academics and students at Tehran University on Tuesday: “People, parties and statesmen should be prudent in maintaining unity against foreign meddling and mischief so as to disappoint enemies in fulfilling their vicious objectives....Unity and trust prevents the arrogant powers from taking advantage of their psychological warfare and safeguards the Islamic Republic ensuring the future of the country."

0830 GMT: Lawsuit. Radio Zamaneh has further information on the lawsuit filed in a US federal court by detained journalist Isa Saharkhiz and his son Mehdi against Nokia Siemens and its subsidiaries for the “sale and provision of surveillance technology and equipment for monitoring of wireless networks and the internet to Iran”.

0730 GMT: "Blogfather" on Trial. The sister of Hossein Derakhshan, journalist and one of the first prominent Iranian bloggers, writes that the third session of his trial was held in late July.

Derakhshan was arrested in November 2008 after he returned to Iran from Canada, where he had been living for eight years.

Some Iranian media have stoked up pressure for a heavy sentence on Derakhshan by claiming he is part of a UK intelligence network. An article in Mashreq, quoted by outlets such as the Revolutionary Guard-linked Javan, claims that the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London trains British diplomats and intelligence operatives, with funding from UK intelligence agencies. The report alleges 13 "escaped" Iranian journalists have applied for scholarships to take courses in the SOAS Centre for Media Studies --- Derakhshan is listed as one of the alumni of the programme.

0715 GMT: Iran MediaWatch. Asia newspaper has been banned and Sepidar and Parastou have lost their licences to publish.

0700 GMT: We begin this morning with two features. We have posted the "sixth and last" letter from Mohammad Nourizad, the journalist and filmmaker detained and now sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison, to the Supreme Leader. And we have a story by Negar Esfandiary on Iranians, YouTube, and US sanctions.

Meanwhile....

Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran

The statement of John Bolton, former Assistant Secretary of State and Ambassador to the UN, about the start-up of Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactor (see yesterday's updates) may have been wildly inaccurate --- it has nothing to do with any pursuit of a military nuclear programme --- but his call for an Israeli airstrike on Iran by 21 August has had an effect.

This morning, the editors of The Washington Times pronounce, "Bombs Away in Three Days: It's Time to Strike Iran's Nuclear Program", concluding, "The time has come to demonstrate resolve in face of an imminent threat from Iran. The Free World depends on Israeli power."

Iran Document: Nourizad's Last Letter to Supreme Leader "The 10 Grievances"

Since the disputed 2009 election, journalist and filmmaker Mohammad Nourizad has written a series of letters to the Supreme Leader. One of those letters, asking Ayatollah Khamenei to apologise for the suppression of post-election protest, contributed to Nourizad's arrest in November 2009; however, he continued to write the Supreme Leader from prison. In April 2010, he was sentenced to 3 1/2 years for the open letters to Khamenei and to the head of Iran's judiciary, Sadegh Larijani.



This week the "sixth and last" letter from Nourizad, who is currently free on bail while his sentence is appealed, to Khamenei appeared. (Note that the filmmaker does not address the Supreme Leader as "Ayatollah" but as "Seyed", a lower religious title.) Translation by Persian2English:

Death shall inevitably arrive and swallow you and I. We, the lost and the unknown, will soon be obliterated from memory, but you have played a role in making part of the history of this land and it will be talked about for a long time. Despite all that we do not have and all that you have, a common destiny joins us, and that [destiny] is dying and rotting and will be held accountable on Judgment Day.

They will have us and you stand on Judgement Day so that those who were happy and those who were discontent may voice their grievances. Not many people will know us, but you will have many content friends and discontent complainants.

Your friends and followers will talk about your virtues: Oh God, we witnessed that Seyed Ali Khamenei was a courageous, brave, and influential orator. He would always call us to piety. He gathered no worldly possessions and single-handedly clashed with the U.S.A. and Israel. He led our country through labyrinths of sedition, and on every occasion, warned us against the enemies who are in ambush . During his long leadership, although our country was struggling in deep-rooted poverty and corruption, we accomplished stem-cell research, Shahab missiles, uranium enrichment, the launch of Omid Satellite, and even gained victory of Hezbollah over Israel in the 33-day war.

Dear leader,

….Aside from your friends and followers who are mostly those who are profiting from your leadership, there will be those who will voice their grievances. Out of friendship, and since I wish you a good future, I will repeat some of these grievances….Perhaps your friends who have closed their eyes and who serve in the judicial and security system will be enraged at the questions that I have posed here and will do to me what they have done to hundreds of innocent people.

On Judgment Day, your complainants will carry grievances from you to God and say:

1) Oh God, Seyed Ali Khamenei, aside from the virtues that he should have had and did have and the good deeds he had to perform and did perform, he beat on the drums of schism from the beginning of his leadership. He raised the flag of ”those who belong to the inner circle of the regime” and “those who do not belong to the inner circle”, and thus society was led down the path of division and fission…Oh God, why did those who selected and vetted on his behalf deny our civil and social dignity and respect?

2) Oh God…during the years of his leadership, some groups of people faced imprisonment and torture for the smallest protest and the slightest criticism of senior officials who imposed on them. These groups of people were subjected to great psychological and social harms.

3) During his rule, the law and observing the rule of law by officials was looked down upon and belittled….An unknown miserable person would be sent to prison for owing $1000, while the leader’s favourite President, the Vice President, some of the ministers, and his government officials were involved in multi-million dollar embezzlements and extortions. They would compete in a marathon of demagoguery and mock the people and the law. This very law has become the carpet on which the coward deputies of parliament walk. It is slaughtered by the scared and corrupt judges. It was skinned and devoured by a group of Ministry of Intelligence agents. And the the law was finally pillaged and looted out of its content by the Revolutionary Guards who pretended to be acting within its frame, but instead painted it and portrayed it as they wished.

4) ….During his reign, addiction, unemployment, and consumerism became the main parts of society. The country’s reputation on the world stage was damaged and deteriorated….

5) During the time of Seyed Ali Khamenei, hypocrisy, flattery, deception, and the lack of accountability on people and officials became the common trend and (anti) culture. The officials constantly lied and took the wrong path, and the people, by looking at them, learned and followed suit. In a place where an unbalanced person such as the president tells lies, takes away the people’s money, and burns opportunities, why would the people not do the same?

6) The experts and the elite had no choice but to take refuge in foreign lands because those who held no merit and did not deserve were at the helm. They took refuge because the rule of law was not observed…puerile management based on oil money indicated that shallow words were not the drive for the non-petroleum based economy…the country was run by those who had no expertise and knowledge. Consequently, the wealth and resources of the nation were wasted.

7) In the time of Seyed Ali Khamenei, especially in the last years of his life, people, who according to the law are entitled to criticize, protest, and launch strikes, were never given the chance to express their demands. The slightest attempt to dissent and protest was deemed as an act of hostility, espionage, and an attempt to overthrow the regime…all the protesters were subjected to torture, prison, and solitary confinement. And in ludicrous verdicts, they would receive predetermined sentences of imprisonment and execution.

8) Oh Lord, did you see how Khamenei, next to his virtues, introduced and institutionalized a concept called “seeking the approval and piety of candidates by the council of religious jurisprudence”…lest an independent and free thinker deputy be elected to the Parliament and protest against the leader’s mistakes?...This resulted in the leader to be wrapped in a halo of sanctity and made Seyyed Ali inaccessible to the people….The absolute power he built for himself does not allow anyone or any movement to engage in benevolent pathology of leadership, and as a result, corruption infiltrated the pillars of society….The country, year after year, descended into the trash of contemptible tribal ties….

9) ….State television and radio resorted to the most violent lies…and other media turned into a pump which would suck sewage instead of clean water from the well….

10) Oh God, Seyed Ali entered the arena in defense of a dim-wit like Ahmadinejad and damaged the image of an impartial leader….Khamenei shut down the roads to any change so that he could continue to control the power.

Our dear leader,

I wish you would leave a good name after your death and right the wrongs…so that tomorrow people could say: “Khamenei was a wise and enlightened leader…Although toward the end of his rule, he lost control and some harms were done…he, like Nelson Mandela, gave up key posts and paved the way for the rule of law."

If you ask where you can start, I shall answer: with one noble order from you, all the innocent prisoners can return to the arms of their loved ones….