Khamenei Ordered Arrests of Ahmadinejad Loyalists

The Friday prayer leader of Kashan, a city in central Iran, told his seminary class May 31 that recent arrests of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s close associates were ordered directly by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Ayatollah Abdolnabi Namazi, who is also the Supreme Leader’s representative in Kashan, told his students that the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had asked Khamenei for permission to arrest many more people, including Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaiee, a very close associate of President Ahmadinejad, but the Supreme Leader did not grant such permission.

According to Ayatollah Namazi, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the IRGC, asked Khamenei for permission to arrest many more individuals including Mashaiee, but Khamenei ordered him only to arrest those who are “operational forces.” It is not clear what Khamenei meant by ‘operational forces.’ Namazi also quoted Ayatollah Khamenei as saying, “Interrogate those operational forces with energy,” implying that the Supreme Leader gave a green light to interrogate and incarcerate Ahmadinejad’s friends.

Ayatollah Namazi told his students that he was revealing this information only “in order to enlighten the public about the deviant faction,” in the government. The term “deviant faction” has been used to refer to President Ahmadinejad’s close advisor Mr. Mashaiee. Ayatollah Namazi said that he was trying to ‘prepare’ the people by ‘enlightening them’ about the so-called deviant faction in case there is a showdown in the future between forces loyal to the Leader and those close to Mashaiee.

Ayatollah Namazi said that President Ahmadinejad removed Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi because Moslehi had prepared a long report about President Ahmadinejad’s associates and had presented it to the Supreme Leader. Namazi claimed that the Supreme Leader paid a visit to the Ministry of Intelligence following the receipt of that report and thanked the Ministry’s workers for their efforts.

According to Ayatollah Namazi, the Minister of Intelligence decided to remove a high-ranking ministry employee named Mr. Abdollahi because he was accused of being a close associate of Mr. Mashaiee. It was after firing Abdollahi that President Ahmadinejad decided to remove Moslehi as Intelligence Minister but faced the Supreme Leader’s strong opposition.

Ayatollah Namazi said that Mashaiee was surprised by the Supreme Leader’s harsh reaction to Moslehi’s removal. According to Ayatollah Namazi, Mashaiee was warned that he was not going to be allowed to run for the presidency in 2013 and that the Guardian Council was never going to grant him clearance to run as a candidate. Mashaiee allegedly responded: “Ayatollah Jannati [the chairman of the Guardian Council] will not be here for more than two years; and the Great Leader won’t be here either to deny my candidacy.”

Ayatollah Namazi said, “Maybe Mashaiee knew all this from the demons with whom he was talking.” Namazi said that Western countries use demons for metaphysical purposes and asserted, “There is a military organization in the US that operates using magic and witchcraft. Even the Europeans are now turning to [such forces].”

Source: Inside Iran