
Exposing Grand Corruption: Behind the Scenes of Power Struggle / Reza Haghighatnejad
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Reza Haghighatnejad
Mojtaba Zolnoor, the representative of the hardline faction in Qom city, warned Hassan Rouhani, the president of Iran, on August 19th to declare his position on the accusations against his brother, Hossein Fereydoun. Three members of the tenth parliament have also written a letter to the president with the same content. Four members of parliament have also revealed in a letter to the Minister of Economy that Hossein Fereydoun had 40 trips to Dubai and Istanbul during the sanctions and it must be clarified what role he played in the financial transactions of 10 to 12 trillion tomans through several exchange offices. Some representatives are also pursuing the academic case of Hossein Fereydoun and claim that he was illegally accepted into the doctoral program. Previously, Ahmad Tavakoli, a former member of parliament, had asked Rouhani to respond to these accusations. In the past 9 months, similar requests have been repeated dozens of times
Mohammad Atarayanfar, a reformist political activist, recently told Fars News Agency that the influence of Hossein Fereydoun has decreased and this decision has been made by President Hassan Rouhani himself. Can such a decision satisfy critics of the Rouhani government?
For a better understanding of the subject, it is better to take a look at the interview with Mojtaba Zolnour by Basij News Agency. He is a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament and the head of the clerical faction in the Parliament. Zolnour was a senior advisor to the representative of the Supreme Leader in the Revolutionary Guards before entering the Parliament. He can be considered the most famous hardline figure in the Parliament, as well as one of the closest representatives to the Revolutionary Guards.
Based on his background and the subject of discussion, it cannot be considered a personal opinion of Zolnoor. A media and political movement close to the Sepah (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) is currently pursuing this issue. Monitoring the backgrounds of the representatives in the parliament who are following up on this matter also clearly demonstrates this.
Zolnoor also told Basij News Agency that if Rouhani does not respond, “some of the representatives who have a lot of information in this regard” will resort to “disclosure”. Therefore, the most important tool for threatening the follow-up of the Hossein Fereydoun case is “I’ll tell you”. Zolnoor also said that “after the disclosure of the representatives”, the institutions that carry out inspection and judicial duties will “fulfill their duty”. In other words, after these disclosures, Hossein Fereydoun will be summoned or arrested.
Three members of parliament who have written a letter to Hassan Rouhani have emphasized that the President has “distanced himself” from Hossein Fereydoun, but “he continues to try to be by your side and interfere in affairs.” They have requested that Hossein Fereydoun be banned from entering the Presidential institution and this be announced to the nation.
Therefore, it is clear that the flow of support for the President’s brother will not back down, especially since the election season is approaching, due to the limited scope of Hossein Fereydoun’s activities.
Hamid Rasaei, the representative of the ninth parliament who is an old enemy of Hossein Fereydoun, said on August 3rd in an interview with Fars News Agency, “In private gatherings, it is said that according to judicial authorities, Hossein Fereydoun should be arrested.” However, “due to resistances that are being made,” no action has been taken and he warned, “Is it planned for another Mehdi Hashemi to be created in the country?” Of course, the more accurate story is that currently, one Mehdi Hashemi has been created and the situation of Hossein Fereydoun is very similar to the case of Mehdi Hashemi.
On March 2015, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani discussed his son’s case. He said in the bribery case related to a government oil deal during Khatami’s administration, “They sent a few groups and Ayatollah Khamenei’s brother [Hassan Khamenei] was also among them. There were MPs and intelligence agents who went and when they returned, they said they didn’t see anything. They also investigated in the parliament… They said they didn’t find any evidence… The parliament questioned Mr. Zanganeh as the Minister of Oil… The representatives said they were satisfied… The Ministry of Intelligence also declared Mehdi innocent in a report… So far, the court has not found any evidence for Mehdi’s crime.” Despite these records, the judiciary sentenced Mehdi Hashemi to imprisonment and monetary penalties on March 2015, including in the case of bribery in the oil deal.
Hashemi had sent Mehdi Hashemi out of Iran before for the purpose of releasing water from the mill. He had also discussed it with Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, but ultimately all of these negotiations and efforts failed and Mehdi Hashemi was sent to prison. The same can be imagined for Hossein Fereydoun. In fact, hardliners are seeking to repeat the same pattern and for this reason, they are not satisfied with Hassan Rouhani’s less than public stance against his brother.
The spread of news about the possibility of the arrest of Cyrus Nasiri, a member of Rouhani’s nuclear team in the Khatami government, as well as the announcement of the dissatisfaction of the leader of the Islamic Republic with Mohammad Nahavandian, the head of Rouhani’s office, are other indications that the pressure on Hassan Rouhani has been extremely high in the past two months.
Hassan Rouhani has previously faced similar accusations against his nephew, Ismail Samavi. However, the extent of these accusations was limited and with the disappearance of Ismail Samavi and the closure of cases such as Jason Rezaian, which were linked to Samavi, he was able to escape from that noose. Repeating this pattern about Hossein Fereydoun has not been successful so far. In this situation, how long can he remain silent?
This question is important in the sense that the opponents of the government do not want the case of Hossein Fereydoun, as a bone of contention, to remain until the elections. They remember well how Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in the debate with Mir Hossein Mousavi, dealt a strong blow to the rival camp by bringing up the names of Hashemi’s children and accusing them of corruption, and brought the election competition to a boiling point. Perhaps this scenario can be repeated in the 1996 elections. Despite such a risky factor, it may be in Hassan Rouhani’s favor to quickly close the case of his brother and not let it become a hot topic in the elections.
But the reality is that this action is not beneficial. For the opponents of the President of Iran, the target is not Hossein Fereydoun; just as the target was not Mehdi Hashemi. The number one target is Hassan Rouhani. Discrediting politicians has been a well-known method in politics since the 1979 revolution. The disclosure of the case of Hossein Fereydoun has been carried out with the aim of discrediting Hassan Rouhani from the beginning until now. Now, a member of his family has also been accused of theft, embezzlement, illegal payments, moral corruption, etc.; it doesn’t matter if these accusations are proven or not, what matters is that he is a member of Hassan Rouhani’s family.
In February 2013, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad released a video of Fazel Larijani asking for a bribe, his intentions were clear. He played the video in the parliament and in the presence of Ali Larijani, but the main target was Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary. Ali Larijani said after the video was played, “I have no connection with my brother.” It was clear in the video that the main subject that Saeed Mortazavi was pursuing in his conversation with Fazel Larijani was Sadegh Larijani. Therefore, if Ali Larijani had reached an agreement with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in that case, the video would still have been released, because another stamp of corruption would have been placed on the forehead of the Larijani family. Just as they had previously placed a stamp of corruption on Mohammad Javad Larijani in his land-gr
This complex competition has multiple layers and significant dimensions, and is a clear indication of the increasing danger of power-focused competitions in the political structure of Iran, and it is not new. However, its peak in one of the most difficult political challenges has given it a special meaning. In the Islamic Republic, another season of greed has arrived, and whoever has more greed, has a better chance of survival. Political legacy is not wealth, it is credibility. Hossein Ferdowsi was a symbol of discrediting Hassan Rouhani; a symbol of pain until now.
Of course, there is no guarantee and it is not even expected that in this new season of corruption, all cases of economic corruption by officials and their associates, including embezzlement and land grabbing, will be revealed. First, there must be a motive to weaken the opposing party and create conflicts over political power in order for any disclosure to take place. There may be many cases that will never be included in this equation and will always remain hidden.

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Administrative corruption Greediness Hamid Rasai Hassan Rouhani Hossein Fereydoun Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mehdi Hashemi Mojtaba Zolnoor Monthly magazine issue number 64 Monthly Peace Line Magazine Political competition Rent Reza Haghighatnejad Tandaruhā The translation of "" to English is "fast-paced". ماهنامه خط صلح