New Managers for Harder Times

Iranian blogger, Hamid Ahadi, Rooz Online:

While the president and his cabinet are busy making changes to the 3,000 posts that are normally changed when a new administration come into office, an in this case are bringing in the sworn-in ideologues, major changes are also under way in the judiciary, the armed forces, and the national TV network all of which report directly to the leader of the Islamic Republic. These changes also herald changes in policy in these spheres.

Observers believe that with the exit of cleric Mohseni Ejeyi (Ministry of Intelligence), and cleric Abbasali Alizadeh (head of Tehran Province Justice Department) who has been responsible for the closure of numerous newspapers and arrest of journalists during president Khatami’s eight presidential years, conditions are set for the departure of Saeed Mortazavi, the notorious prosecutor of Tehran to take place any time now. READ MORE

The imminent departure of Mortazavi, which coincides with a resolution that the Canadian government plans to present to the UN General Assembly about Iran’s dismal human rights record, especially as it pertains to an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi who was murdered in 2003, bears special importance as he has been responsible for the closure of some one hundred newspapers and arrest of tens of journalists, but even more importantly is his reputation as being responsible for Iran’s dreadful record of human rights at the international level. The cases of Zahra Kazemi who had been interrogated by Mortezavi just before being announced dead and Akbar Ganji, the revolutionary guard turned writer who has been calling for reforms, liberalization, and constitutional amendments and has even gone on a hunger strike to publicize the inhuman conditions of Iranian prisons was also under Mortezavi’s judicial jurisdiction and both cases been international issues of significant human rights attention. International groups such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Reporters without Borders, and others that include international personalities have been publicizing Iran’s violations and calling on the authorities to improve their respect for human rights in the country. Some political observers believe Iran’s international human rights image is now similar to what it was in mid 1997 when the Mykonos restaurant case in Germany where exiled Iranian-Kurdish leaders were murdered named the highest Iranian leaders as accomplices and responsible for the murders of the Kurds.

Last Monday also witnessed changes in the upper echelons of the military, which coincides with many Passdaran Revolutionary commanders taking government posts in Ahmadinejad’s government. The most important change in this regard was the demotion of Defense Minister Admiral Ali Shamkhani last month to the post of deputy. While Iranian observers, commentators and even politicians have been cautious in publishing their views on these changes, most of what is written is about the impact these changes are likely to have on the international scene, which is short is that the country may be getting ready for some type of military defense.

Other deep changes that are taking place are the lower levels in the oil and foreign affairs ministries. For example many old hand Iranian ambassadors are being recalled back and changed. The immediate candidates that are tipped are the ones in New York (UN post), London, Paris and Berlin, the three last ones are the countries that took the initiative in the recent IAEA resolution against Iran. The case of the ministry of oil is a bit different as until a new oil minister is announced, the changes at the lower echelons of the agency cannot be anticipated. But if changes come, then the current veteran directors will probably leave, individuals such as Kazem Pourardebili and Torkan.

Another important change at the mid-level deputies is the deputy at the Interior Ministry that is now in the hands of Ali Jannati, who although the son of conservative hardliner ayatollah Jannati, has been supportive of the Kargozaran Sazandegi group that has been supportive of Hashemi Rafsanjani and is made up of moderate thinking technocrats. The departure of the current deputy at Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, which has been at the center of the recent sensitive international talks on the future of Iran’s nuclear programs and policies, has created uncertainties because no replacement has been announced yet. So Dr Ghanadi’s unexpected departure is not interpreted positively by his colleagues in the organization. He had been in charge of the Isafahan and Natanz nuclear programs. There are reports that the current deputy for power plants currently held by Dr Sabouri will be replaced by Dr Sharifloo, the current director of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

As an observer has noted, since the Alizadeh, Mortezavi and Ejeyi group is associated with Iran’s human rights record, their departure along with the changes in the Atomic Energy Organization and the National Security Council are strong signals of major changes in policy that have come up since the recent nuclear program crises.