Dismissal Of Prominent Sunni Cleric Draws Outrage In Northern Iran

In recent months Israeli officials, nervous about a new agreement between the United States and Iran, have repeatedly said they will take action to defend their nation if Iran is believed to be close to producing a nuclear bomb.

But The New York Times reported Saturday that current and former Israeli military figures and experts doubt Israel has the capability to destroy or significantly delay Iran’s nuclear program, which is dispersed throughout the large country and some hidden underground.

Experts and officials said that a small-scale attack damaging parts of Iran’s infrastructure might be possible in months while a large attack would take two years to prepare and are currently beyond Israel’s capabilities. One former Israeli general said the only air force capable of a sustained attack is the US Air Force.

Since July 2020, many mysterious sabotage attacks have hit Iran’s sensitive installations, including two devastating explosions at Natanz uranium enrichment site, widely attributed to Israel. These have caused some slowdown, but Iran continues to enrich uranium at higher levels, getting closer to having enough fissile material for a bomb.

The Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog vetting candidates and supervised by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, offered 7 explanations about Ali Larijani’s disqualification, some simply political in nature and others less than substantiated or not representing any legal prohibition.

One reason given by the Council is a vague reference to Larijani past remarks regarding the disputed 2009 election, when millions protested the decision to announce Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of the presidential race. Conservatives suppressed the protests and called the demonstrators provocateurs. But there is no record of Larijani defending the protesters.

The Council also cited accusations including his son's involvement in dubious contracts with the parliament, some of his relatives' residence in the United Kingdom and the United States which the council described as "belligerent states," frequent visits to foreign countries by Larijani's family members, following a luxurious lifestyle, and sharing responsibility for the undesirable situation of the country.

The letters were exchanged by Larijani and the Guardian Council in September, but they were released by the press on Saturday.

The Council also disqualified other strong candidates in what the many saw was a blatant attempt to ensure a win for Ebrahim Raisi, the current president.

Earlier, Larijani had repeatedly called on the Council to let the public know why he was barred from running, but the council replied that it would not be in Larijani's interest.

Following the disqualification, his brother Sadeq Larijani who was a member of the Guardian Council, protested the decision and charged that it was based on wrong information given to the council by IRGC's intelligence organization.

Later Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called on the Guardian Council "to make up for its unfair treatment" without actually mentioning Ali Larijani.

Meanwhile, Ali Larijani wrote a strongly worded reply to the Council's Secretary, hardline cleric and politician Ahmad Jannati explaining that one of his children lives in the United States where he or she is studying, and this is different from frequent visits.

He also asked the Council whether the family members of "qualified" candidates have not been visiting foreign countries frequently.

Larijani also said he has asked the Judiciary Chief to launch an investigation into his son's involvement in construction contracts with the parliament. He further explained that he has always been living in his grandfather's luxurious home in north Tehran since 1977.

Responding to the charges of "sharing responsibility for the undesirable situation of the country" Larijani asked if the Guardian Council believed Khamenei was also responsible for that when he was Iran's President in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, he did not mention Khamenei's responsibility as the Islamic Republic's leader during the past 30 years.

Larijani concluded: "Just say that you wanted to get rid of me," and questioned the Council's competency to make such judgements.

Iranian analysts Mehdi Mahdavi Azad and Jamshid Barzegar told Iranian International Television on Saturday that both Jannati and Larijani know the real reason why he was disqualified. The true reason for the whole episode is that Ali Khamenei decided to purge some of the individuals in his inner circle. He got rid of Larijani in the same way he got rid of former Presidents Akbar Rafsanjani and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said Mahdavi Azad.

The Associated Press reported earlier this week that evidence points to Iran preparing a space launch and Iranian media offered a list of upcoming planned satellite launched.

In his first press conference, communication minister Issa Zarepour said that Iran’s space program was put on the backburner during former president Hassan Rouhani’s eight-year administration (2013-2021), but now its budget has increased. He added that the country needs a ten-year plan to expand its satellite program to put vehicles at a higher orbit.

Currently, Iran can reach 500 kilometers into space, which is considered a lower orbit. President Hassan Rouhani ordered officials to aim for the 36,000-kilometer orbit and increased the space program budget up to 12 times.

Foreign observers and governments have charged that Iran's space program is a cover to justify its testing of ballistic missiles. Israel and the United States have said that Iran's space program is against a UN resolution banning Iranian missiles with nuclear weapons capability.

In his Friday Sermon in Mashhad on Friday, Ahmad Alamolhoda, who is a stauch supporter of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, accused some of the media in Iran of taking advantage of “freedom of expression”, aiding the enemies of the Islamic Republic, and trying to obstruct the propagation of Islam.

Meanwhile he called on Iranian journalists to propagate Shiite Islam following orders by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Elsewhere in his speech, Alamolhoda said that "The enemies are using their media arsenal to advocate ignorance and to create chaos that would pave the way for their onslaught."

Alamolhoda said the media are trying to distort reality and while it was the West that withdrew form [the nuclear] deal with Iran, the media affiliated with the enemies are trying to portray the case in a way that would lead to the condemnation of Iran." He added that those who echo the enemy's statements in the press and social media are infiltrators who should be put on trial as the enemy's fifth column."

Iran’s hardliners often regard most criticism about domestic and foreign affairs, as well as defense of social and political rights as incendiary, although media in Iran is tightly controlled and hundreds of journalists have been jailed throughout the 43-year existence of the clerical regime.

Meanwhile, Iran’s state TV and Tasnim news agency were forces to slam another cleric and a member of parliament who tried to deny his controversial remarks that Iranians who do not like Islamic restrictions should leave the country.

The cleric, Seyyed Kazem Mousavi later claimed that he never made those comments, and they were fabrications by the media. However, as a tape containing his remarks was leaked on social media, the state television and Tasnim harshly criticized the cleric for portraying Islam as a fundamentalist religion that cannot tolerate modern lifestyle.

A commentator at the state TV lashed out at Mousavi and said" "Who are you to decide about whether people are or are not allowed to live in Iran. This is everybody's home, and they should live here as they like."

According to Aftab News, a moderate conservative website in Iran, Mousavi still owes an apology to Iranian journalists, adding that it is becoming a common practice among Iranian officials to attribute their own comments to the media as soon as they realize what they have said was controversial and counterproductive. "This undermines conservative politician's ethical values and is not a practice consistent with religious ethics by any standard."

The website reminded Mousavi that exposing the hypocritical behavior of politicians is one of the reasons why media exist. The website added that it was easy in the past for politicians like Mousavi to deny what they have actually said or done, and it was difficult for reporters to tell the truth to the public. But nowadays, journalists can always publish a recording of the politician's statement on social media to prove their case.

However, Aftab News added that still, some politicians try to get away with the consequences of their controversial statements or behavior claiming that they made the comment during an off-the-recordprivate conversation.

To provide an example, Aftab New shied away from quoting politicians, and brought an example about an Iranian filmmaker who called film critics idiots during a conversation with several journalist. He even insisted that reporters may quote him on that. However, when his comment became controversial, he criticized several reporters for having fabricated the comment. The website reminded that "Actual quotations remain for a long time while denials are short-lived."

Shaqayeq Bapiri told Voice of America in an interview on Thursday that she decided to stay in the West because of forced hijab rules in Iran and other restrictions. She disappeared from the sports camp a few days ago.

She also disclosed that each member of her team was forced to leave a 15 billion rial guarantee-of-return with Iranian authorities before travelling to Spain for the games. The money, similar to a bond, is more than $50,000 in current exchange rates, but a huge sum for ordinary Iranians. This means Bapiri forfeited the money to be able to seek asylum abroad.

She said in the interview, “We are really restricted. If the [handball] federation had not secured the 15 billion rial guarantee [from players], no one would have returned [to Iran].

Several Iranian athletes in the past two years have defected and sought asylum in other countries. Some took part in this year’s Olympics in Tokyo as non-state athletes.

In addition to dress code restrictions, another issue forcing Iranian sports people to defect is Tehran’s policy of not allowing them to compete against Israelis.