No Plans to Deploy Ground Forces to Syria – IRGC Gen. Rezaie

IRGC Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaie said in Tehran today there were no plans to deploy Iranian troops to Syria. The Syrian pro-regime newspaper as-Safir reported on 3 June that 20,000 Iranian and Iraqi fighters were being deployed to Syria. The newspaper report came after Quds Force Commander Gen. Qasem Soleimani had reportedly said on 31 May that the world would be “pleasantly surprised” by what his forces were preparing with Syrian military commanders.

Rezaie’s comments today were meant to dispel expectations that Iran was prepared to deploy tens of thousands of ground forces to Syria in response to recent battlefield victories by the opposition. The number of Quds Force and IRGC advisers and specialists currently deployed to Syria is probably in hundreds not thousands. The Quds Force has so far relied on Hezbollah and other foreign Shia militia fighters to provide the ground troops to do the fighting. Deploying thousands of ground troops would have been a major shift in that strategy, which has been in use for more than four years of the Syrian civil war.

File photo: IRGC Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaie (second from right) at a commencement ceremony at Imam Hossein Military academy in Tehran, 20 May 2015 (leader.ir/ISNA)

Rezaie Returns to Active Duty in IRGC

Former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaie has retuned to active duty. He was seen today in uniform at the commencement ceremony at Imam Hossein Military Academy in Tehran. Rezaie was IRGC commander during the Iran-Iraq War in 1980s. He will be teaching at military academies. His other duties at IRGC has not been announced.

For the past 18 years, Rezaie has been the Executive Secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council, headed by Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani. He has also published a popular news website now known as Tabnak. Rezaie unsuccessfully ran for president in the 2009 and 2013 elections.

Photo: IRGC Maj. Gen. Mohsen Rezaie (second from right) at the commencement ceremony at Imam Hossein Military Academy in Tehran, 20 May 2015 (Leader.ir/ISNA)

Sanctions Cost $100 Billion in Oil Revenues

Secretary of Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaie said today that sanctions over the past three years caused $100 billion damage to Iranian oil revenues. He added that oil prices at $50 per barrel would cause another $100 billion loss in revenues over the next three years.

Rezaie made the comments in a groundbreaking ceremony for a petrochemical complex in Masjed Soleiman, Khuzestan, which will be built by the Chinese. (IRNA, 11 January)

File photo: Iran's oil export terminal at Kharq Island (Getty Images)

The Need to ‘Save the Country’ - Rezaie

Mohsen Rezaie, former IRGC commander, 2009 presidential candidate and publisher of the popular news site Baztab, said in an interview with Mosalas magazine that a politician outside the old hardliner and reformist political factions is needed to run in the June 2013 presidential election to “save the country.” Rezaie said that both hardliners and reformists are on the “verge of collapse.”

“If I become president, I will definitely try to bring all capable and committed forces into the government in order to put the country’s current situation behind us,” said Mirzaie. (Baztab, 13 January)

“Iran’s political factions, operating under the names of hardliners and reformists, have not been able to establish an stable and lasting (political) system in the past 20 years and are on the verge of collapse. They cannot help the people, it’s actually them that need the help,” Rezaie added. 

“Iranian society is ripe for a social movement focusing on economic and cultural issues. The society is eagerly awaiting the return of ethics, honesty and loyalty, and families are in need of better life and normalcy.

“Today, lack of stability reigns in the markets… and the youths is suffering from unemployment and lack of livelihood. From ethical point of view, lack of ethics and honesty is prevalent everywhere.

“The upcoming (presidential) election, like the 2005 election, will be multi-factional and competitive. Otherwise people would think that the competition was a formality and staged. I believe that turning this election into a formality will undermine the religious-based democracy.” 

File photo: Mohsen Rezaie (ISNA)

Rezaie on Israeli Threat

Mohsen Rezaie, the publisher of the popular news site Tabnak and former IRGC commander who is now the Secretary of Expediency Council became the latest Iranian official to predict Israel’s ‘annihilation’ if it attacked Iran.

“If the Zionists (Israel) commit the folly and attack Iran, they will receive a crushing response from Islamic Republic's armed forces which will lead to their annihilation,” Rezaie said on Monday.

Rezaie added, however, that the recent threats by Israeli officials about attacking Iran are ‘psychological warfare’ and not real. He linked them to an attempt by Israel to undermine the importance of the upcoming summit of non-aligned nations (NAM) in Tehran. 

Iran Criticizes U.S. for Supporting UAE On Three Islands

Iran today denounced Washington’s support of the UAE in its dispute with Iran over the three Persian Gulf islands of Abu Musa, the Greater and Lesser Tunbs, calling it “flagrant interference in Iran’s domestic affairs.”

“The islands have always been and will always be inseparable parts of the Islamic Republic,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian. “The intervention by third parties (U.S.) in the region is aimed at creating rifts and tensions,” he added.  (IRNA/Press TV translation, 29 June)

On Wednesday, the U.S. voiced its strong support for the UAE initiative to resolve the dispute through “direct negotiations, the International Court of Justice, or another appropriate international forum.”

Today, Mohsen Rezaie, the former IRGC commander and the publisher of the popular new site Tabnak, also said the West is provoking UAE over the islands to create division in the region.

“(Western countries) follow a new style of colonialism and use this stratagem to create division (among regional nations) and dominate over the region,” said Rezaie, who is currently the executive director of Iran's Expediency Council.

“Lack of awareness on the part of regional counties will help Western leaders to dominate all energy resources in the region and this is exactly what the US and Britain are looking for,” Rezaie added. 

Rezaie’s Son Found Dead in Dubai; ‘Suspicious Circumstances’ - Tabnak

Ahmad Rezaie, the son of Mohsen Rezaie, the former IRGC commander and the publisher of one of the most popular news sites in Iran, Tabnak, has died in a Dubai hotel in what the news site called “suspicious circumstances” [Tabnak, 13 November].

The young Rezaie was sympathetic to the reformist movement in Iran. His sudden death, away from his home and family, will bring suspicions and tensions to an already fractured political system in Iran. Tabnak has set the stage by its declaration and the promise of bringing out the truth of Ahmad’s death.

The senior members of the traditional conservative factions in Iran have sent messages of condolences to Mohsen Rezaie and his wife, which are being published by Tabnak. The list includes Ali Larijani, the speaker of Majlis, and Ali Akbar Velayati, former foreign minister and Ayatollah Khamenei’s foreign policy advisor. Hassan Khomeini, Imam Khomeini’s son and himself a sympathizer of the reform movement in the country, has also sent his message of condolences.

Photo: Ahmad Rezaie with his father in a recent but undated photo published on Sunday by Tabnak.

Criticism of Iran Trials by Former IRGC Commander

Criticism of Iran's mass prosecution of political activists widened today with former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaie demanding that the trials must be held for anyone linked to deadly attacks on the streets or torture of detainees.

"Otherwise, justice will not be realized and it is possible that unrest will not end," said Rezaei [Tabnak, 2 August].

Rezaie, one of the founders of the IRGC and a long-time conservative figure in Iranian politics, becomes the first major public figure on the right to criticize the trials.

Presidential Debates: Karrubi vs. Rezaie

Karrubi (left) facing Rezaie to start presidential debates
Tehran. 2 June 2009

Fars photo; Press TV logo

In the first of six debates between the four presidential candidates, former Majlis speaker Mehdi Karrubi faced former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaie. The debate, televised by IRIB Channel 3, was cordial and friendly. Both candidates reserved their sharpest attacks against the policies of the sitting president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, especially in regards to the worsening economic condition in the country.

Rezaie proposed the creation of National Development Trust (NDT) to invest profits from the country’s huge oil exports in development projects. Rezaie’s NDT will be run as a public trust whose shares will be divided among the Iranian citizens. Karrubi wanted to distribute the oil profits among the citizens by directly paying $73/month (700,000 rials a month) to all citizens above the age of 18, an approach that has been widely criticized as hyper inflationary.

On political front, Karrubi emphasized the importance of implementing all the existing laws guaranteeing basic freedoms of the citizens, and creating new laws to expand those freedoms. Rezaie believed the implementation of the current laws can guarantee the basic freedoms in the country. Rezaie also emphasized the importance of forming a government of national unity to tackle the mounting problems facing the country.

On Wednesday, former premier Mir-Hossein Mousavi will debate President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They are the two leading candidates in the 12 June elections.

Iran Chooses Acceptable Candidates for President

From top left: Karrubi, Ahmadinejad, Rezaie and Mousavi

Iran announced today that four current and former officials have been approved from a long list of candidates to run for president in the 12 June elections.

• Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the sitting president
• Mir-Hossein Mousavi, a former premier
• Mehdi Karrubi, a former speaker of Majlis
• Mohsen Rezaie, a former IRGC commander

The irony of the announcement could not be overlooked: the Islamic Republic is empowering its citizens to choose the head of their government, but the very same government first must approve who can run for presidency! Another sad day for the proponents of democracy in Iran.

Rezaei: Saving Iran from “Path of Destruction”

Mohsen Rezaei Entering the Presidential Race

Tehran . 3 May 2009 . Press TV Photo

Presidential candidate and former IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaei accused Iran’s sitting president of leading the country into “the path of destruction.” [Press TV, 3 May].

“The truth is that our nation has two very different paths at hand. If President Ahmadinejad gets his way, we will fall off the cliff … we will be defeated," Rezaei said.

Rezei made the comments during a press conference in Tehran on Sunday after officially announcing his bid in the upcoming presidential elections.

Rezaei commanded the IRGC during the war with Iraq. But his popularity among the current IRGC officers and troops is questionable. He is also the executive secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council, a body headed by Ayatollah Rafsanjani charged with building consensus among the warring political factions within the Islamic Republic.

Rezaei vowed to stay on the electoral scene to “the bitter end,” challenging Ahmadinejad from within the principlist (conservative) camp in the June 12 elections.

In his press conference, Rezaei also cast doubts on viability of the platform offered by the reformist candidates.

"I reviewed the literature of the Reformists, but unfortunately I could not find any plan for the reform of the past. They created a contrast between religion and freedom, but this contrast has not served the interests of the people," he noted.

Former IRGC Commander Joins Presidential Race

Election's Logo by Press TV

Mohsen Rezaie, the former IRGC commander, today declared his candidacy in the upcoming presidential elections. Rezaie is currently the Executive Secretary of Iran’s Expediency Council.

Rezaie ran for president four years ago but withdrew his candidacy days before the elections. His withdrawal helped the candidacy of his fellow hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His candidacy this time is seen as a direct challenge to Ahmadinejad as the leading “principlist” candidate for president.

Ahmadinejad is also being challenged by a centrist candidate and former premier, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and a reformist candidate, Mehdi Karubi, a cleric and former speaker of Majlis.

Rezaie, who commanded the IRGC from 1981 to 1997, including his command during the 8-year war with Iraq, last week proposed the formation of a national unity government to include the principlist as well as reformist cabinet members to tackle the growing economic, political and foreign relations challenges facing the new president.