Khamenei – Page 11

Khamenei Rants Pose Obstacles for Iran Lobby

May 7, 2015 by admin

The Iran regime is a peculiar nation since it is by constitution a religious theocracy which places it in exclusive company in the world; the only other theocratic nations include the Holy See, more commonly known as the Vatican and headed by Pope Francis and the Central Tibetan Administration, which is the Tibetan government in exile headed up by the Dalai Lama. One could also argue ISIS is a theocracy in the territory it now claims and controls.

The reason virtually no other nation is theocratic in nature rests largely on the idea that people want to government by a secular set of laws accountable to them or at the very least to the dictators or monarchs ruling them. Vesting decision making into the specific interpretations of a higher power by religious authorities generally invites trouble throughout human history.

In Iran’s case, absolute power rests in the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei who has ruled the regime since 1981, a reign of 34 years exceeded in length only by a few African dictators. In his position, Khamenei’s whims carry the force of royal decree over virtually all parts of Iranian life including the military, judiciary, culture, economy and religion.

This absolute power also poses a significant problem for regime supporters who have spent a considerable amount of time covering up or spinning Khamenei’s more outrageous statements over the past three decades. Loyal supporters such as the National Iranian American Council have substantial experience in protecting regime leaders having ample experience with the wildly provocative speeches and comments made by former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who regularly denied everything including the Holocaust.

Khamenei’s more recent comments about ongoing nuclear talks have proven to be more problematic for regime lobbyists and spin doctors. His most recent remarks came the other day in a speech to Iranian teachers in which he reiterated sternly that the regime would not complete any deal under any military threats. He alluded to comments made by two U.S. officials, neither of whom could be identified by journalists or the statements Khamenei mentioned.

Besides creating fictionalized accounts of negotiations, Khamenei has also been busy denouncing any deal that did not immediately reward the regime with the lifting of all economic sanctions. He also directly contradicted talking points issued by the U.S. and French governments after the framework agreement was announced last month in Geneva.

The fact that Khamenei feels emboldened enough to make serious attacks at a proposed nuclear deal reflects how little regard he has for international opinion, let alone international action against the regime. This has been borne out by his recent military decisions to engage in proxy wars in Syria, Iraq and now Yemen, not to mention the seizure of a commercial vessel and engage in a game of chicken with the U.S. Navy.

This increased extremist behavior by Khamenei has been noticed by more news media who have sounded warnings about its implications.

Foreign Policy Initiative took note of this trend by saying “Iran’s behavior suggests that it sees no contradiction between its efforts to reach a nuclear agreement and its regional hegemonic ambitions.”

The Washington Post also noted efforts by Iran to leverage nuclear talks, writing “we already see that Iran is mastering ‘linkage’ — trying to intimidate the United States on other issues with the threat it will walk out of nuclear talks.”

A position reinforced by the Hill which noted Khamenei vented on Twitter with “Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, vowed on Wednesday that his nation would leave nuclear negotiations if it feels threatened by America’s armed forces.”

All of which proves troublesome for people like Trita Parsi and Reza Marashi of NIAC who have to go to great lengths to encourage journalists not to listen to Khamenei or spin that his comments are meant only for domestic consumption.

One would wonder why Khamenei would even bother with domestic audiences in which his word is law and any dissident is punished by a swift arrest and imprisonment in prison.

By Michael Tomlinson

The Top 1 Percent in the Iran Regime

May 6, 2015 by admin

A bright yellow Porsche Boxster GTS driven by a young woman from a poorer neighborhood of Tehran with the wealthy owner a grandson of a high ranking mullah next to her hit speeds of 120 miles per hour before losing control and slamming into a tree; instantly killing the 20 year old woman with the 21 year old owner dying hours later of injuries.

The crash, which otherwise might have drawn scant attention in New York, Paris or Tokyo, caused a firestorm in tightly controlled Iran where social media has fueled pent-up outrage over the chasm between the rich, wealthy elites of the ruling class and the hardscrabble lives of ordinary Iranians. To make matters worse, the man killed was engaged to be married, but not to his young companion, furthering the perception that the strict laws and harsh penalties imposed by the regime’s mullahs exempt their own families and supporters.

The glaring contradiction in having unmarried a man and woman together in a society where a woman found in the company of a man other than her family can result in a swift beating by Basiji paramilitary militia reveals the hypocrisy running rife through the regime’s leadership.

The flow of cash and wealth to a select few, the regime’s own 1 percent, is the product of efforts by the regime to circumvent economic sanctions put in place to slow down Iran’s nuclear program, but have turned into a lucrative illicit trade benefitting just a few and helping to fuel the regime’s support for terror groups and its many proxy wars it is engaged in, most recently in Yemen.

The allocation of wealth within the regime based on family connections or need to fund overseas expansion of its extremist religion leaves ordinary Iranians struggling amidst the excessive display of wealth by family members of mullahs and those connected to the Revolutionary Guards Corps which controls vast sections of Iran’s economy and industry.

All of which is another reason why the ruling mullahs, including top mullah Ali Khamenei, have been absolutely adamant on the unconditional and total lifting of all economic sanctions, including U.S., European Union and United Nations penalties because they want to open the floodgates to foreign investment further enriching them and their families.

But the regime is a master of contrary perceptions to suit its needs. Another example was a speech by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in New York where he chastised Sunni Arab nations’ air campaign against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, and yet refused to accept the regime’s $35 billion annual support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a similar vein, even with Iranian Quds Force fighters actively fighting on the ground.

But it seems Zarif has become as adept at speaking out of both sides of his mouth as his loyal supporters in the U.S. such as Trita Parsi of the National Iranian American Council. In an interview on Charlie Rose’s show, Zarif insisted the regime did not imprison people for mere opinions.

“We do not jail people for their opinions,” Zarif said. His comments were met by derision on social media from former political prisoners to call him a liar pointing out dozens of political prisoners including journalists, bloggers, political activists and other dissidents languishing in Iranian prisons.

In the most blatant example of these flip-flops, the regime moved forward with the arrest of human rights activist Narges Mohammadi this week. She was scheduled to appear in court in connection with a new case filed against her by regime authorities, but a request for a delay in that case was denied, leaving her lawyer no time to study the charges against her. Her situation remains in doubt.

While the regime continues to enrich its own members, at the expense of Iranian citizens, it also continues to oppress the same people it is depriving of an economic future. Unfortunately, there can be no Occupy Wall Street movement in Tehran since protest is likely to send you straight to Evin Prison like so many others.

By Laura Carnahan

Iran Regime Rulers Undermine NIAC Claims…Again

April 10, 2015 by admin

It seems the National Iranian American Council can’t catch a break from its Iran regime taskmasters. Just as NIAC is ramping up a new campaign to try and sway one or two Democratic Senators away from the building coalition in favor of the Corker-Menendez bill to place any nuclear agreement with Iran under Congressional review, the regime’s top mullah, Ali Khamenei and his handpicked president Hassan Rouhani blasted the U.S. version of the framework agreement.

Khamenei strongly denounced two bedrock American principles in nuclear negotiations declaring all economic sanctions from the U.S., European Union and United Nations had to be lifted immediately and military sites would remain strictly off-limits to foreign inspectors.

His comments echoed similar statements made by Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, the regime’s nuclear chief and military officials, all of whom within the past few days have similarly denounced the U.S. position on the framework agreement and reiterated the regime’s red lines in the sand before the June 30^th deadline for a final agreement.

The contradictions to U.S. positions extended to Central Intelligence Agency director John O. Brennan who believed Khamenei had been persuaded to approve a deal to avoid economic free fall in Iran, but Khamenei disputed that contention.

“There was no need to take a position,” Khamenei said. “The officials are saying that nothing has been done yet and nothing is obligatory. I neither agree nor disagree.”

Khamenei even took to Twitter claiming that an American fact sheet on the framework deal was “contrary to what was agreed.”

“We will not sign any agreement, unless all economic sanctions are totally lifted on the first day of the implementation of the deal,” Rouhani said during a ceremony marking Iran’s nuclear technology day, which celebrates the country’s nuclear achievements.

The fact that Khamenei is empowered under the regime’s constitution to be the final and authoritative voice on all foreign policy matters leaves its lobbyists like the NIAC in a pickle. While spokesmen such as Trita Parsi have been loud in praising the framework, they’ve been as mute as a monk taking vows of silence over the broad and vociferous denunciations of the same agreement by the Iran regime’s top leadership.

The imposition of a sanctions red-line by Khamenei may again sink nuclear talks for a third time and may very well be the eventual aim of Khamenei unless he gets what he desires most – the immediate lifting of all economic sanctions so he can replenish the coffers of a treasury bled dry by four proxy wars and a plummeting oil market.

“The supreme leader is saying all sanctions must be lifted as soon as a deal is signed, which is an impossible hard line,” said Michael Singh, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former senior director for Middle East affairs for the National Security Council. “President Obama can agree to almost anything, but he cannot promise immediate and total sanctions relief because that’s up to Congress and Congress is not going to do that.”

All of which explains NIAC’s desperation to persuade one or two Democratic Senators to switch and support the regime in order to avoid a veto override by Congress. Like the jury in the trial of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the object is to not defend on guilt or innocence, but to simply convince one jury to not impose the death penalty. The NIAC could care less what Iran’s leaders say in denouncing the deal, but what they care about is pressuring just one or two Senators enough to preserve the Administration’s ability to deliver a win for the mullahs.

The real prize for the regime is not nuclear weapons – that would be a bonus – the real win is the lifting of economic sanctions which have placed the mullahs in the uncomfortable position of trying to hold a lid on a dis-satisfied population asking the question: “Why not have regime change and make things better?”

It’s a question worth supporting.

By Michael Tomlinson

Khamenei Shows True Colors

February 19, 2015 by admin

Benjamin Franklin famously said “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” If Franklin were alive today, he might add mullah’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to the list of certainties.

Yesterday in a public speech in Tehran carried by the official IRNA news agency, Khamenei once again vowed Iran would resist global sanctions in its pursuit of nuclear capability and threatened to cut off natural gas exports in retaliation to any continued sanctions.

“Serious work must take place. We can withstand the sanctions and neutralize and foil the enemy’s goals. If we don’t, the enemy would proceed and place conditions on our nuclear program and impose sanctions,” Khamenei said.

“If sanctions are to be the way, the Iranian nation can also do it. A big collection of the world’s oil and gas is in Iran so Iran if necessary can hold back on the gas that Europe and the world is so dependent on,” he added.

It is noteworthy Khamenei still refers to the West and especially the U.S. as the “enemy.” His worldview is clouded by the long-simmering extremist view he has nurtured for the past several decades and seems unable to move forward into a new era of peace and prosperity. He clings to the notion Iran must resist all attempts at compromise and maintain a virtual war footing.

But Khamenei’s threats ring hollow when you consider Iran’s total oil production is estimated at 2.7 million barrels per day, mostly for domestic use. It also produces 600 million cubic meters of natural gas, of which 500 million cubic meters is used at home, meaning Iranian regime’s ability to “punish” Europe with a natural gas embargo is about as real as finding a unicorn.

But Khamenei didn’t stop there. He went on to accuse the U.S. of secretly supporting ISIS and criticized the European Union for placing sanctions on the National Iranian Tanker Company, the regime’s largest tanker company for carrying its petroleum overseas.

All of which flies in the face of recent frantic efforts by the Iranian regime’s lobbying and PR machine to convince the American public Iran does indeed want a compromise in current nuclear talks, even after two previous rounds of talks failed largely because of Khamenei’s hardline position and refusal to accept any deal compromising Iranian regime’s ability to generate large quantities of enriched uranium for use in nuclear warheads.

One might even feel slightly sorry for Iranian regime loyalists such as Trita Parsi of the National Iranian American Council who wax poetic about Iran’s desire for compromise only to be torpedoed on a regular basis by a new rant by Khamenei that reinforces and reminds Americans how mad the guy really is.

But any sympathy evaporates when we realize the stakes involved in this tense game of chicken Khamenei is playing. For all his bluster, he acts like he has virtually no interest in a deal. He regularly dumps on the U.S. He pushes for harder crackdowns at home in gross human rights violations. He has directed a foreign policy and controls a military and intelligence service involved in conflicts in almost a dozen countries now.

Just as ISIS has designs on a new fanatic Islamic caliphate, Khamenei shares the same vision for an Iranian-controlled sphere of influence. It is a dream born out of his virulent hatred of all things from the West including gender equality, free speech, an uncensored media and an unfettered internet.

As negotiators continue talks, they should not ignore the latest outburst by Khamenei because in most people’s minds, three strikes is usually enough to call someone out.

By Michael Tomlinson