A New Appointment Heralds 'Pakistanization' Of Iran's Regime

Media speculations in Tehran about new dynamics in Iran's politics started on Monday as vice president for economic affairs Mohsen Rezaei resigned his post.

Rezaei, a former chief commander of the IRGC, was immediately appointed by President Ebrahim Raisi as the secretary to the coordination council of the heads of the three powers of the government, an extra-constitutional body created by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei after the United States imposed sanctions in 2018.

He became yet another top IRGC figure to pocket a political post, in what some called the "pakistanization" of Iran, with the military faction running the show.

Khabar Online influential website reminded its readers of some of Rezaei’s strange views. He wanted to make Iran’s rial the region's strongest currency exactly when it was experiencing the worst devaluation in its history.

Rezaei, who was four times a candidate for presidency but never came close to winning, promised during his campaigns to increase the cash handout to Iranians by ten-fold. Another one of his big ideas was suggesting to take thousands of US soldiers hostage in the Persian Gulf and demand a million dollars for each one of them.

Given his previous career in the IRGC perhaps Rezaei’s silly idea of taking US troops hostage made sense to him.

Although Rezaei claimed to lead Raisi's economic team following his appointment as vice president for economic affairs, in fact, it was first vice president Mohammad Mokhber who led the economic team, a major humiliation for Rezaei. The tension even gave him a heart attack at one point. Nonetheless, he remained an outcast as a vice president and no one, not even the news-thirsty Iranian media took him seriously. The government never paid attention to any of his ideas about saving Iran's ailing economy.

In another report, Khabar Online wrote that what appears to be important for Rezaei is to elevate his profile and increase visibility perhaps for the next presidential election.

Khabar Online added that he might even run for the parliament in March from his hometown of Masjed Suleiman in the hope of winning the seat of the parliamentary speaker.

Following his resignation from the post of vice president, former Central Bank Governor and presidential candidate Abdolnaser Hemmati wrote ironically in a tweet: "The man who wanted to make the Iranian currency the strongest money after the US dollar and the euro has resigned as rial was facing a 50-percent devaluation. Congratulations to Mr. Raisi and his economic team!"

Meanwhile, Iran International's senior political analyst Morad Veisi pointed out that Rezaei was isolated in the government's economic team for a long time. His new appointment shows that the Islamic Republic is creating illegal institutions within the government. The coordination council of the heads of the three powers of the government is an illegal entity the regime has created" having no other recourse for trying to deal with the economic crisis triggered by US sanctions.

Veisi added that with Rezaei’s new appointment now an increasing number of IRGC generals are being appointed to mobilize the government to do its job in which it has had no success so far. He said: "Gradually, the Islamic Republic is moving from a joint government of the clerics and the IRGC, to an absolutely military government." Veisi further called this "The Pakistanization of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

The coordination council of the heads of the three powers of the government has had no success in solving some of the daunting economic problems. Now, the council is an institution with an official secretariat and a high-profile secretary such as Rezaei. While so far, the council has evaded responsibility for the economic mess, from now on it would be difficult to conceal the council.

It is highly likely that the new post will further damage ambitious Rezaei’s image and his unlikely chance of winning a higher position in the government.