The Iran Primer

        In widely diverse responses, Iran discounted Osama bin Laden’s death while at the same time calling for a faster U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan since the pretext for going to war was eliminated. But officials and media generally did not mourn bin Laden’s passing. Iran’s defense minister charged that the bin Laden operation was not worth the enormous costs financially and in human life during the 10-year war in Afghanistan—and thus was ultimately a failure.

 

        In May 2010, Ahmadinejad dismissed claims that Bin Laden was hiding in Iran by telling ABC news that the al Qaeda leader was in Washington D.C. because bin Laden “was a previous partner of Mr. [George W.] Bush.”

 

        Iran has long had serious differences with both al Qaeda and the Taliban. Iran is a Shiite Muslim State and bin Laden was a member of al Qaeda, an extremist Sunni organization that did not accept Shiism as a valid form of Islam. Al Qaeda has also been responsible for the deaths of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in Iraq.

 

        But bin Laden’s son and other al Qaeda members also reportedly spent years in Iran—under house arrest, according to some accounts--after fleeing the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan. Iranian officials reportedly wanted to use al Qaeda operatives to pressure the United States to act against the Mujahedeen-e Khalq, the leading Iranian opposition group headquartered in Iraq. After she escaped in 2010, Iman bin Laden, the al Qaeda chief’s daughter, said family members were allowed to live in comfortable conditions but they were not allowed to leave the country.

 

         Below are statements by Iranian officials and individuals on bin laden’s death:

 

Ahmad Vahidi, Defense Minister

         “By announcing the news of bin Laden's death, the United States tried to claim that they have been successful, but with a closer look at news reports and other relevant issues, we notice that this has been a major failure for the Americans.”

         "Americans stepped in Afghanistan under the excuse of killing or arresting bin Laden, they came to Iraq with the same excuse. Statistics say one million people have been killed in the region, some 1,000 billion dollars were spent and they imposed 10-year war to the region under the excuse of killing one person."

         "They (Americans) inflicted much damage to the region to kill only one individual."

"Why did not they allow to an impartial observer to confirm that the body belongs to Osama Bin Laden." May 4, 2011

Kazem Jalali, member of parliament

         "Americans used the life of bin Laden as an instrument and we believe that the issue of terrorism and its spread across the region is rooted in the United States presence in the area. Americas used the terrorists who were trained by them as instrument to fight terrorism."

         "Americans should confront state terrorism, best signified by Zionist regime, if they really intend to battle terrorism.” May 3, 2011

 

Ramin Mehmanparast, Foreign Ministry spokesman

         "We hope that this development will end war, conflict, unrest, and the death of innocent people, and help to establish peace and tranquility in the region...This development clearly shows that there is no need for a major military deployment to counter one individual...Iran, as one of the main victims of terrorism, strongly condemns any act of terror in the world including organized terrorism in the Zionist regime [of Israel]." May 2, 2011

 

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the parliament’s National Security Commission

         “The U.S. only used bin Laden, Mollah Omar and the Taliban as an excuse to invade Afghanistan.”

         “Despite the passage of 10 years since the invasion, they have accomplished nothing substantial, and even this latest news is not yet fully corroborated…What is certain is that they used this as a pretext to justify their presence in Afghanistan.”

 

Javad Jahangirzadeh, member of parliament

         “The West has been very pleased with bin Laden's operations in recent years…Now the West was forced to kill him in order to prevent a possible leak of information he had, information more precious than gold." May 2, 2011 

 

Ismail Kosari, member of parliament

         "[Osama bin Laden] was just a puppet controlled by the Zionist regime in order to present a violent image of Islam after the September 11 attacks."

         "Bin Laden's death reflects the passing of a temporary U.S. pawn, and symbolizes the end of one era and the beginning of another in American policy in the region." May 2, 2011

 

Alef, website affiliated with conservative parliamentarian Ahmad Tavakoli

         "If one looks at Bin Laden's photo carefully, one concludes that he is not dead. Only the mouth and nose of the person shown in the photo agrees with his previous photos. The rest appears to have been modified by Photoshop." May 2, 2011 (The U.S. opted not to release pictures, although photo-shopped pictures of bin Laden did circulate on the Internet.)  

 

Sa’adollah Zare-i, editorial in Farda News, website close to conservative Tehran mayor Mohammad-Bagher Qalibaf

        “Obama’s party needed to rectify the reputations of the Democratic Party and the U.S. military’s foreign policy with an apparent successful military operation, in order to avoid [the democrats’] defeat [in the upcoming presidential elections] as much as possible.” May 2, 2011

 

 

           In an unusual public spat, Iran’s top two leaders have split over the future of intelligence chief Heider Moslehi. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly wanted him sacked and accepted Moslehi’s resignation on April 17. But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei overruled the president—first in a letter to Moslehi and then in a public address--effectively rebuking the decision and even announcing that he was praying for Moslehi.

 

 

           The public spat is important--and unusual--for several reasons. The first is that it reveals the conflict over the control intelligence ministry--a critical ministry in dealing with both domestic tensions and Iran’s escalating showdown with the outside world. The second is that the flap has been so public in normally secretive Iran, rippling into media splits as well. Pro-Ahmadinejad media outlets initially refused to report on Khamenei's rejection of Moslehi's sacking and it was only after Khamenei's official letter to Moslehi was published in other outlets that they acknowledged Khamenei's order. The third is a subplot centered around the president’s controversial chief of staff, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie.

 

            Iranian media reports imply that Mashaie, a potential contender in the 2013 presidential election, had urged the president to fire the intelligence chief, at least partly over his assessments the Intelligence Ministry. Mashaie is related to Ahmadinejad through the marriage of their children and is a major influence on the president.

 

            In the past, Khamenei has provided critical support for Ahmadinejad. The leader was decisive after the disputed election results of the 2009 vote, when the opposition charged massive fraud. The supreme leader sided with the president and allowed security forces to brutally repress street protests by millions of Iranians in several cities for six months.

 

            Iran’s supreme leader traditionally approves key posts, such as the intelligence and foreign ministry posts. The supreme leader did not interfere when Ahmadineajd sacked Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in December 2010.

 

            Parliament has even been sucked into the dispute, with more than 200 members signing a statement April 20 urging the president to adhere to the supreme leader’s order. Senior ayatollahs also pressed the president to accept the leader’s instructions.

 

            The political skirmish between Iran’s top religious and political authorities comes at a particularly awkward time. The regime faces serious internal discontent on both political and economic issues as it nears the second anniversary of the disputed presidential election and with parliamentary elections looming early next year. The region is also in turmoil over pro-democracy protests; Syria, Iran’s closest Arab ally, faces unprecedented internal unrest.

 

            It is not yet clear how the president will manage his relationship with intelligence minister. Moslehi did not accompany the president and the rest of cabinet ministers in the government's provincial trip to Kurdistan on April 20.

 

            The following are public comments by key politicians on the Moslehi affair.

            “Look at the foreign media propaganda about this matter and how they have created a controversy; [They] claim that a split and dual government has been created in the Islamic Republic, and the president is not obeying the leader.”

 

            "I won't allow, as long as I'm alive, the slightest deviation in the great movement of the people of Iran toward its ideals."

 

            "In principle, I have no intention to intervene in government affairs ... unless I feel an expediency is being ignored as it was the case recently." Apr. 23, 2011 

 

            “I ask you to put more effort than before in carrying out important missions inside and outside the country…Do not allow even the smallest weakness in carrying out the legal duties of that important organization. I pray for you...and all of my dear revolutionary children in the Intelligence Ministry.” In a letter to the intelligence minister, Apr.19, 2011

 

            "Replacing the intelligence minister…under the current sensitive circumstances is not at all in the country's interests. Thank God the supreme leader resolved the problem with his wisdom. To the parliament, Mr. Moslehi continues to be the (intelligence) minister. You are expected, in adherence to the supreme leader, to end the enemies’ abusage by explicitly supporting of the respectable intelligence minister.” Signed by 216 members of the 290-seat parliament Apr. 20, 2011

 

           “Mr Ahmadinejad should follow the leader's orders and not allow certain circles to influence him.” Apr. 20, 2011

 

           “The parliament expects nothing but total obedience to ... the order without any question. (The Leader) is above the three branches of power and the executive branch is defined under the Supreme Leader." Apr. 20, 2011

 

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, vice president under reformist President Mohammad Khatami