Khamenei Voices Support for ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Protests

Iran’s Supreme Leader Denounces 2009 Street Protests in Iran, Calling on People to Follow Legal Channels during Upcoming Parliamentary Elections

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei today told a large crowd gathered in Kermanshah’s sports stadium that the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ protests in the US show that 99 percent of the American people are not supporting their government and only one percent of the country is imposing its rule over the people, using their treasure to wage wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and in support of Israel. Ayatollah Khamenei predicted that the capitalist regimes in the US and in the West will collapse.

Pointing to street protests in Tehran and other cities in Iran after the June 2009 parliamentary elections, Ayatollah Khamenei said the “troubles” (the Green Movement) were dealt with powerfully by the people and were defeated two days after the Ashura demonstrations. The ayatollah was referring to the day when he made a major speech at the University of Tehran’s Friday Prayer two days after one of the largest pro-Green demonstrations, during which he denounced the street protesters and publicly sided with the sitting president (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) in the disputed election.

Ayatollah Khamenei called on people’s vast participation in the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for 2 March 2010. Referring to the experience of the 2009 presidential election, Khamenei said even if some people would object to the outcomes of the 2012 parliamentary elections, they should channel their objection through legal means.

The supreme leader was clearly discouraging any future anti-government street protests in Iran, especially during the upcoming parliamentary elections, while wholeheartedly supporting the anti-government street protests in the US.

Ayatollah Khamenei, in a pointed and threatening remark, said if an official of the Islamic Republic wants to take a path opposed to the ideals of the Islamic revolution, the people will eliminate him.

In another part of his speech, Khamenei again called on the heads of three branches of the government to pursue the case of the recent multi-billion dollar banking embezzlement in the country to the very end by prosecuting all the guilty parties. He again emphasized the importance of waging a campaign against financial and official corruption in the country.

For a report on Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech, in Farsi, please see the official Iranian news agency, IRNA.

Iran Suspends Contract of China’s Oil and Gas Giant CNPCI

Action Comes after Suspension of Russia’s Energy Giant Gazprom

Iran said it had suspended a contract with Chinese National Petroleum Corporation International (CNPCI) for development of its North Pars gas field.

“We will decide on the continuation of CNPCI activities in the North Pars gas field when they fulfill their commitments in Iran's South Pars gas field, which is Iran's first priority,” said Mousa Souri, the managing director of Pars Oil and Gas Company [Mehr News Agency, 11 October].

On Tuesday, Iran also formally suspended Russia’s Gazprom from developing its Azar oil field.

Western companies have already pulled out from Iran’s energy sector due to the fear of sanctions. But the non-performance of CNPCI, the oil and gas giant owned by the Chinese government, and Gazprom, the Russian oil and gas giant, will have a chilling effect on the future of foreign investment in Iran’s oil and gas sector.

Iran’s Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi said after the suspensions that the Islamic Republic had no need for foreign investment in energy sector. Although there are serious doubts about the credibility of Qasemi’s statement. If Iran did not need such investments, they would not have awarded these huge contracts to the Russians and the Chinese in the first place, only to suspend them later.

Iran Sends Complaint Letter to UN over US Allegation

The Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Mohammad Khazaei today sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voicing "outrage" over the US allegations of the Islamic Republic's involvement in a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington.

Khazaei said in the letter that the allegation was politically-motivated and “warmongering” by the United States [IRNA, 12 October].

Iranians Charged in Assassination Plot in US

The US authorities said they have broken up a plot by two men linked to the Iranian government to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington. One of the suspects, Mansour Arbabsiar, was arrested last month in New York, while the other, Gholam Shakuri, is in Iran.

The Saudi Arabian government said the plot to assassinate Ambassador Adel al-Jubeir was “a despicable violation of international norms, standards and conventions” [Reuters, 11 October].

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also called the plot a “blatant violation” of international norms [Reuters, 11 October].

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast rejected US accusations.

“These threadbare attitudes, which are based on the age-old and hostile American-Zionist policies, are a ridiculous show in line with certain scenario fabrication of divisive ends on the part of the enemies of Islam and the region,” Mehmanparast said [Press TV, 11 October].

US Attorney General Eric Holder pointed to IRGC and its Quds force. The Justice Department chief said one of the suspects named in the indictment, Gholam Shakuri, is a member of the Quds Force.

“High-up officials in those agencies, which is an integral part of the Iranian government, were responsible for this plot," Holder said. "I think one has to be concerned about the chilling nature of what the Iranian government attempted to do here," he added.

According to the indictment, Arbabsiar said after his arrest in New York that he had been recruited and directed by men he understood were senior Quds Force officials. Arbabsiar, a 56-year old Iranian-American, apparently approached an individual in Mexico for help and paid him $100,000 as a down payment on the $1.5 million requested to execute the plot, but that individual turned out to be an informant for the US Drug Enforcement Administration [Reuters, 11 October].

The indictment also alleges that Shakuri approved the plan to kill the ambassador during telephone conversations with Arbabsiar.

The men are charged with conspiracy to murder a foreign official.

UPDATE: A senior IRGC commander, Brigadier General Hossein Salami, called US allegation of IRGC’s involvement in a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to Washington as “hilarious and baseless” [IRNA, 12 October].

Iran Exploring New Oil and Gas Fields

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) today announced the start of exploration of three new oil and gas fields. The new fields are the Khayyam gas field in Asalouyeh with in-place reserves of 227 billion cubic meters, Madar gas field, also in Asalouyeh, with in-place reserves of 495 cubic meters, and an unnamed oil field in the Iraqi border area where eight drilling rigs are already stationed.

SHANA, NIOC’s news website, reports that a budget of $350 million has been allocated for exploration of the new fields in the current Iranian fiscal year, ending in March 2012 [SHANA, 11 October].

OPEC Production Fell in September – Libya UP

OPEC’s oil production fell by 130,000 barrels per day in September to 30 million bpd. Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, UAE, Kuwait and Iran registered declines while Angola, Libya and Iraq reported increases in production.

“The main factor to watch in the next few months is just how much Libyan crude comes back on the market, and whether other producers need to make way for it," said John Kingston, Platts global director of news [MarketWatch, 10 October].

More Arrest Warrants in Growing Banking Scandal

Ahmadinejad’s Administration Also Seen as Target of Attacks

Iran’s Judiciary has issued arrest warrants for 14 more suspects in the largest banking fraud in Iranian history, these in addition to the 22 warrants issued last month. Today, the Judiciary spokesman, Hojjatoleslam Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, told reporters in Tehran that even though the banking laws might not have been strong enough to prevent the estimated $3 billion embezzlement, but the main culprits were those trusted to enforce the laws but chose a traitorous path to enrich themselves.

Mohseni-Ejei who is acting as the chief prosecutor in the case added that he was investigating the behavior of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) as well: Did the CBI exercise its supervisory role over the banks involved in the embezzlement and did its auditors performed their duties? [Fars news Agency, 10 October].

Any direct or indirect linkage of the CBI to the embezzlement case by the Judiciary would inevitably involve the most senior politicians in the government, including President Ahmadinejad, who has authority over the central bank. There were also parallel attempts by the conservatives to link the main suspect in the case to Ahmadinajd’s chief of staff and son-in-law, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, and his group that has already been branded as “deviationists” prior to breakout of the banking scandal.

There seems to be a two-prong attack on Ahmadinejad’s administration: Implicating it in the case indirectly for lack of supervision over the banks involved in the embezzlement and directly through linkage of the top suspect in the case to the group very close to the sitting president. The banking scandal is rapidly growing into a political scandal as well.

Correction: Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie is NOT Ahmadinejad's son-in-law. He is his son's father-in-law. Our apologies to our readers for the unintentional error made in this post, and thanks to one of our readers for catching it.

Majlis Seats to Increase by 20

Iran’s Interior Minister Mohammad Najjar said in Tehran today that the new Majlis (the Ninth Majlis) would have 20 more seats than the current one. The increase will put the total number of seats at 310. The elections for the Ninth Majlis will be held on 2 March 2012.

IATA Suspends Iran Air

BBC is reporting that the International Air Transport Association, IATA, the world aviation’s regulatory body, has suspended Iran Air after the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) included the airliner in its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List. The list includes individuals as well as companies owned or controlled by countries under US sanctions. IATA’s director of public affairs has told BBC that Iran Air’s suspension went into effect on 5 October.

The action means the country’s national airline would not be part of the global airlines clearinghouse. Iran Air still can fly but cannot use other airlines’ facilities and non-Iranian travel agents would not be able to book passengers on its flights. The action severely limits Iran Air’s ability to service its foreign destinations.

Rising Inflation in Iran

Ahmad Tavakoli, the influential member of Majlis and the chairman of the Iranian parliament’s research center, said in Tehran that the country’s rate of inflation has reached 27 percent.

“According to Statistics Center of Iran (SCI)’s Price Index, the annual rate of inflation for the period ending in Iranian calendar month of Mordad (21 August) reached 27 percent,” Tavakoli said [Alef, 9 October].

The SCI, the government’s statistics and census organization, had announced last month that the annual rate of inflation for the period ending 21 July was at 19.6 percent. The jump of more than seven percent in annual rate of inflation in just one month is very significant and explains the anecdotal evidence of rapidly rising prices, such as the sharp rise in the price of eggs in the recent days.

The SCI’s new inflation rate, as announced by Tavakoli, contradicts an announcement made yesterday by the minister of finance and economy, Shamsodin Hosseini, who serves as the government’s economic spokesman, that the annual inflation rate stood at “around 17 percent.”

“According to the latest statistics, the inflation rate is around 17 percent… which is normal considering the rise in energy and food prices and the global rate of inflation,” Hosseini said [Fras News Agency, 9 October].

The SCI, however, is theoritically the country’s sole authority to calculate and publish the official rates of inflation and economic growth.

The latest announcements on inflation also refute an IMF prediction last August that Iran’s annual rate of inflation would be at 12.4 percent.

Iran Parliamentary Elections Set for March 2012

The campaign season for Iran parliamentary elections will begin on 24 December when the candidates will have one week to register to compete for Majlis seats. The hopefuls, however, will be vetted by the government’s election supervisory body, the Guardian Council, which will release its own list of approved candidates to compete in polls, now scheduled to be held on 2 March 2012.

The 2012 elections for the new Majlis (the Ninth Majlis) are the first since the controversial June 2009 presidential race that gave rise to the Green Movement. It is not clear if the reformists would field any candidates for the upcoming elections. The leaders of the Greens, Mr. Mousavi and Ayatollah Karrubi, have been kept isolated and under house arrest for more than eight months. Many other movement activists are in prison or freed on bail, unable to run. It is not also clear if the Guardian Council would even allow members of the opposition who were not jailed to run for Majlis.

Ironically, the supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, himself a beneficiary of the controversial 2009 elections, might themselves be vetted out of running for Majlis by the Guardian Council. They are branded “deviationists” by the conservatives who have called for the arrest of their political leader, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff and son-in-law.

In some conservative circles, however, there are voices favoring tolerance towards the participation of a select group of reformist candidates. They fear a “one-party” election, conservative candidates running against other conservative candidates, would split their ranks and could lead to victories by the “deviationists,” if they were allowed to remain in race.

Gen. Safavi Harshly Criticizes Turkey

Maj. Gen. Yahya Safavi, senior advisor to Iran’s supreme leader on military affairs and former IRGC commander, has harshly criticized Turkish foreign policy, which he said was under the influence of Israel and the US.

In remarks carried by Kayhan and other major Iranian media, Gen. Safavi accused Turkey of deliberately creating tensions in Syria at the behest of the US and Israel. He also said that Turkey’s agreement with the US for deploying NATO missile defense system on its soil was a move against Iran and Russia. Safavi also criticized Turkish support for the establishment of a secular government in Egypt.

Turkey's increasingly assertive Middle Eastern policy, its stable and highly popular government and its phenomenal economic growth in a region beset by recession and crisis, has made Iran increasingly apprehensive of the growing Turkish influence in the region. Although other Iranian politicians have also expressed similar criticism of Turkey, but the harsh comments coming from an influential IRGC senior officer and a person so close to Ayatollah Khamanei show the degree of that apprehension at the highest leadership circles in Tehran.

Iran Announces Oil Pipeline Deal with S. Korea

The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) announced today that it has signed a 3.5 billion dollar deal with an unnamed South Korean company to construct a 1,680km oil pipeline linking Iran’s Caspian Sea port of Neka to Jask, an Iranian port in the Sea of Oman. The pipeline would facilitate oil swap between Iran and the oil-rich Caspian Sea littoral states. No dates for the start or completion of the project were released [Mehr News Agency, 7 October].

Iran is planning to raise the volume of oil swapping with the Caspian countries from the present 25,000 barrels per day to 200,000 bbp by the end of current Iranian calendar year (March 2012), and with the new pipeline it can substantially increase that volume. The Central Asian countries would benefit from the deal by selling oil at Jask.

Iran National Women Football Team Defeats UAE - UPDATE

Iran’s national women football (soccer) team defeated UAE in Abu Dhabi’s Sultan bin Zayed Stadium on Thursday. The match was part of the preliminary round of the Fourth West Asian Women’s Football Championship taking place in the UAE capital.

The Iranians had earlier overwhelmed the Lebanese by the score of 8-1 in the opener on Tuesday. Iran plays against Syria on Sunday in its last match of Group B and with two victories secured already, they will advance to the semi-finals. The championship match is set for 12 October.

Photo: The Iranian National Women Football (Soccer) Team. Abu Dhabi, UAE. 6 October 2011. Mehr Photo.

UPDATE: The Iranian women national football (soccer) team finished second in the West Asian Women Football Cup. The Iranian team lost to the host UAE team during the penalty phase after the two teams tied during the regulation time. Iran had defeated the UAE team 4-1 during the preliminary rounds. 12 October 2011, Abu Dhabi.

NAJA SWAT and ANTIRIOT Police exercise

click photos to enlarge

SWAT team equipped with Heckler & Koch MP5 and SIG Sauer P226

SWAT team forms up for mock assault. Note the lack of helmets and armored vehicle.

NAJA special unit with anti-ballistic body armor and G3 battle rifle (LMG)

NAJA law enforcement sniper team

Current incarnation of NAJA antiriot gear

NAJA armored water cannon vehicle (AWCV)

Theatrical performance (!) with NAJA police truck

NAJA Aviation Mil Mi-17-1(Sh) transport helicopter

Photos: Mahdi Marizad at Fars News Agency

Iran Renews Call for Nuclear Swap Deal

Iran said today that it is still willing to implement a swap deal worked out with France and Brazil last year to ship its low-enriched uranium to France in exchange for 20-percent enriched nuclear fuel rods for its medical research reactor. The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said Iran would expand its uranium enrichment program if the nuclear swap deal falls through.

“We will not only continue to do the enrichment by ourselves but also build a factory for manufacturing even the fuel rods by ourselves,” Ramin Mehmanparast said.

Mehmanparast added that Iran would halt its 20-percent enrichment if the swap were approved.

“As the 20 percent enrichment process is not even economical for us, we would be willing to halt this process and get the necessary fuel for the Tehran reactor from abroad,” Mehmanparast said.

The West has said in the past that Iran’s proposal does not go far enough, leaving most of the already enriched uranium inside the country and does not halt the enrichment process.

Khamenei on Banking Scandal

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a frank discussion of the growing banking scandal in the country told a group of visiting government officials that if in the past ten years the government had followed his edict on combating the economic corruption in the country, the country would not have witnessed scandals such as the recent banking embezzlement.

“Although the senior government officials welcomed (our edict of ten years ago) on combatting economic corruption in the country, if they had followed those suggestions, we would have never faced scandals such as the recent banking corruption incident,” Ayatollah Khamenei said [Fars News Agency, 3 October].

“Such incidents would affect the hearts and minds of our people, and break their hearts. Do they really deserve this? People getting upset over such incidents, even lose their hope (in their government), only because the government leaders did not act (to eliminate the corruption),” Khamenei added.

“From the very early years, I had warned everyone not to let corruption become endemic and grow roots (in the society). When passing of time, uprooting corruption becomes that much more difficult. The honest investors become disappointed. But unfortunately (the campaign against corruption) did not materialize,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

The supreme leaders promised the public that the three branches of the government would be committed to fight corruption and would monitor the recent banking scandal and similar incidents. He warned against misuse of the recent incident to bring the senior government leader under question. Ayatollah Khamenei added that the officials in the government, Majlis and the Judiciary are performing their duties.

“The people should know, the officials will monitor this latest incident carefully, and the hands of all the traitors will be cut,” Khamenei said.

Antonov-158 to Join Iran Passenger Fleet

Iran will purchase a fleet of the new Ukrainian Antonov-158 passenger planes to modernize its very old passenger fleet of US, European and Russian aircraft. An-158 is a 99-passenger variation of An-148 regional twinjet, with a range of 2,500km.

“Studies have shown that Antonov-158 suits Iran's climatic conditions and has been test-flown in certain parts of the country,” said Manouchehr Manteqi, the Managing director of Iran's Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO).

Ukraine’s Antonov-158 at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport during a demonstration ceremony. 2 October 2011

$28 Billion in Subsidy Reform Cash Payout

The Iranian government has paid out $28 billion in cash to over 73 million citizens (out of a population of 76 million) in the first eight months of the subsidy reform program [Kayhan, 2 October].

The cash payouts, estimated at $3.3 billion per month, is meant to soften the blow of the rapidly rising prices, mainly due to removal of government subsidies of energy and some food products.

Bank Melli ex-Chairman in Toronto

Mahmoud Reza Khavari, the former chairman of the board and managing director of Iran’s largest bank, the state-owned Bank Melli, has reportedly fled Iran and arrived in Toronto, where he owns a home. Bank Melli was one of the banks involved in a massive embezzlement scandal. Khavari resigned his post on Tuesday. It is not uncommon for the Islamic Republic’s elite to have dual citizenship or close relatives living in the West.

Bank Sedarat and Bank Saman are also implicated in the $2.6 billion fraud, biggest in the country’s history, and their chairmen were removed from their posts.

Toronto’s The Globe and Mail has published a picture of Mr. Khavari’s home in the city's affluent Bridle Path neighborhood and reports that the property is valued at $3 million.

Khavari's Home in Toronto. Photo: J.P. Moczulski /The Globe and Mail. 30 September 2011

Khamenei: Splitting Palestine is Doomed to Fail

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected the Palestinians' UN statehood bid, and asked Palestinians not to limit the State of Palestine to pre-1967 borders: “All land belongs to Palestinians,” Khamenei declared.

“Any plan that seeks to divide Palestine is totally rejected,” Ayatollah Khamenei told the “5th International Conference on Palestinian Intifada” held in Tehran on Saturday.

“The two-state scheme, which has been clad in the self-righteousness of the acceptance of the Palestinian government and membership at the United Nations, is nothing but a capitulation to the demands of the Zionists or the recognition of the Zionist regime on Palestinian land,” Khamenei added [Fars News Agency, 1 October].

“Governments that host Zionist embassies or economic bureaus cannot advocate support for Palestine," Khamenei said in an apparent reference to post-Mubarak Egypt.

Khamenei also harshly criticized President Obama for his policies on Israel.

“The US president says that Israel's security is his red line. What has drawn this red line? The interests of the American nation or Obama's need for the money and support of Zionist companies to secure his second term as the US president?” Khamenei said.