Iran Hardliners Launch Petition Over Politician's Anti-IRGC Remarks
A petition by the hardline news website Fars has collected over 50,000 signatures for the prosecution of former lawmaker Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani for remarks against the IRGC.
A petition by the hardline news website Fars has collected over 50,000 signatures for the prosecution of former lawmaker Faezeh Hashemi Rafsanjani for remarks against the IRGC.
Hashemi, who is the daughter of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and a pro-reform politician, recently said that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) (FTO), arguing that its removal is not in Iran's interest.
The petition page of the Fars news agency, affiliated to the IRGC, is designed with a maximum target of 50,000 signatures that Fars claims it would be enough to make the case considered for a public discussion in Iran’s parliament. The petition for Hashemi’s persecution has collected nearly 53,000 signatures in one day.
Echoing similar sentiments, conservative politician Hamidreza Taraghi, a senior member of Motalefeh (the Islamic Coalition party), also told the news agency that prosecution of Hashemi is a public demand now and “people are completely dissatisfied with and complain about her repeated stances”.
Taraghi added that when such remarks are not dealt with seriously, Ali Motahari, a former deputy speaker of the parliament, dares to make “nonsensical” comments about the country’s nuclear program “in order to be seen”.
Motahari had said on Sunday that Iran’s aim from the beginning was to produce nuclear weapons as a deterrent force, but it failed to keep the project secret after the Mojahedin Khalq (MEK) opposition group revealed the program to the world.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in a meeting with government representatives on Sunday said, “Rising prices in the country have become indefensible,” and “people face hardship.”
A scandal broke on April 20 when videos and images emerged that Ghalibaf’s wife and daughter visited Turkey and allegedly bought luxury items for the baby his daughter expects. His son and chief aide tried to smooth things over by apologizing but the Speaker remained silent.
A journalist also made a more serious allegation that the family bought two luxury apartments while in Istanbul for $1.6 million.
Many politicians and ordinary Iranians have criticized Ghalibaf, some even calling for his resignation as he and other top officials constantly speak of ‘resistance economy’ and people’s resilience in the face of United States’ sanctions, but their families take foreign trips for shopping.
The scandal has also revealed a rift among ‘revolutionary’ hardliners or “principlists” as some like to call themselves. Reports in the media say that ultra-hardliners in the parliament representing the Paydari group may have even been involved in exposing the Ghalibaf family’s trip to Turkey.
Vahid Ashtari, a journalist who first revealed the scandal, is considered a “principlist” who say they campaign for justice.
But other hardliners have come to Ghalibaf’s defense, attacking his critics. One hardliner quipped that “The enemy has planned to weaken unity among government institutions,” a reference that conservatives and hardliners control both the presidency and the legislature. He added that “The revolutionary forces are more alert than to be deceived by these kinds of conspiracies.”
Mohammad Aghamiri, another hardliner, tried to defend Ghalibaf by saying that his family went to Turkey “with four bags and returned with five,” while Ashtari insists he has evidence the family returned with more than 20 pieces of luggage.
Aghamiri went on to say that there is nothing wrong with a young enthusiastic couple travelling to Turkey “and buying a few things that were on sale.”
However, critics ask how Ghalibaf’s family can afford a foreign trip and luxury shopping when the Iranian currency has substantially dropped, and many people do not have enough food to eat.
Ghalibaf has been involved in numerous financial corruption cases over the years, especially during his tenure as Tehran mayor from 2005-2017. As a former Revolutionary Guard general, in many of his corruption cases there is a thread connecting to other high ranking IRGC figures, including Qasem Soleimani, the Qods Force commander killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad in 2020.
Fars news agency affiliated with the IRGC attacked Vahid Ashtari and others who have exposed and pursued Ghalibaf’s scandal. “Psychologists believe that an identity crisis and an urge to be noticed…” leads to “deviations”, it said.
The ultra-hardliner Kayhan newspaper financed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that the scandal is the creation of “anti-revolutionaries abroad”, reformists and “deviant forces”, an indirect reference to followers of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Paydari group in parliament is made up of mostly former Ahmadinejad officials, although the former president has not spoken about the scandal.
Some lawmakers have also insisted that the revelations about Ghalibaf are a “political and security project” aimed at damaging his reputation and political standing.
Ashtari has responded on Twitter, telling Ghalibaf’s supporters to end duplicity in their lives “and everything will be solved.”
