--- This Page is Still Under Construction -- Ayatollah Khamenei: - Supreme Leader of Iran since 4 June 1989 and was president of Iran from 2 October 1981 – 2 August 1989. - De-facto Dictator (His powers are almost as extensive as the Fuhrer's in Nazi Germany) Powers and Duties: He is more powerful than the President of Iran and appoints: 1. The commanders of the armed forces, 2. The director of the national radio and television network, 3. The heads of the major religious foundations, 4. The prayer leaders in city mosques, 5. And the members of national security councils dealing with defense and foreign affairs, 6. The Chief Justice, 7. Attorney General, 8. Special tribunals, 9. And with the help of the chief justice, the 12 jurists of the Guardian Council – the powerful body that decides both what bills may become law and who may run for president or parliament. Also dictates foreign policy, the armed forces and the nuclear policy of the Iranian state. Personal: Hard-line conservative. Has repeatedly stated that he does not want any liberalization of the Iranian society. Has had an active hand in the violent repression of minorities in Iran - especially Baha'is. Has remained a strong supporter of Ahmadinejad. More on his powers: http://tinyurl.com/lpsjaz More on Khamenei: http://tinyurl.com/2a8wo8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: - President-Select of the Islamic Republic - De jure president 3 August 2005 - June 2009 ~~ De-fact president June 2009- Powers and Responsibilities: Responsible for the "functions of the executive", such as signing treaties, agreements etc. with other countries and international organizations; the national planning and budget and state employment affairs; appointing ministers, governors, and ambassadors subject to the approval of the parliament. Personal Mir Hossein Mousavi: Hashemi Rafsanjani: Mohammad Khatami Mahdi Karroubi:
If my information is wrong, call me on it, correct me. But for now, the biographies I am posting are going to be somewhat short, until I have time to improve on them. Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi -Voted into Assemby of Experts in 2006. The Assembly of Experts is the governmental organisation responsible for choosing the Supreme Leader, and dismissing the Supreme Leader should he be unable to perform his duties. In 2006, He and Rafsanjani competed for the position of Chairman, and he sought to have his past students become a majority in the Assembly of Experts. He did not succeed, and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is the Chairman of the Assembly of Experts. -Has been referred to as Ahmadinejad's spiritual mentor, as far back as 2006 in the English-language media. -He runs the Haghani School in Qom, which is financed by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Political views: Mesbah-Yazdi holds that Islam is incompatible with democracy or elections, and considers democracy to be the uneducated holding power over the educated. He has called people sheep to be led by the government--and that, should elections or referendums be held, their results should reflect what hardliners like him want, by fraud if necessary.
Who's who in Iran Today I've gone back to Aug 15 and re-read the Green Briefs, gleaning as many names as possible. Then I categorized them as best I could. Here's what I got: ------------------------------------------------------------ HARD LINERS Mahmoud Ahmadinejad former president and the government's "President Select" who the populace believes stole the election General Abdullah Araqi - IRGC Commander in charge of Tehran Province Mohammad Araghi – the commander of IRG in Tehran Hasan Bayadi, the deputy chairman of Tehran's city council Alauddin Boroujerdi, Chairman for the Committee for Foreign Policy and National Security Morteza Bakhtiari – a former head of Iran’s Prisons Department, to replace Saeed Mortazavi as Tehran’s Attorney General Marzieh Dastjardi – the proposed Minister of Health Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi - the former head of Khuzestan province's Judiciary, appointed Tehran's Attorney General. Mohseni Ejaie - Former Minister of Intelligence, accused of being one of the main forces behind the brutal suppression of peaceful protesters Hossein Fedaie – an MP from Tehran reportedly directly involved in the prisoner abuse in Kahrizak Reza Foladgar – a member of the Article 10 Commission on Political Parties Brigadier General Mohammad Hejazi - IRGC Commander-in-chief of the Mobilized Basij force Imam Hojjatoleslam Seyyed Yahya Jafari - Conservative Cleric Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari - IRGC Commander-in-chief Saeed Jalili – the Secretary General of the National Security Council Ayatollah Khamenei - Iran's "Supreme Leader" Sadegh Ardeshir (Hojatoleslam Agha Shaykh Sadegh Amoli) Larijani - a hard-line cleric, politician and current head of the judicial system of Iran, brother of Ali Larijani Ali Larijani – the head of the Parliament Saeed Mortazavi - jurist, former prosecutor of the IRC & Prosecutor General of Tehran, "butcher of the press", "butcher of Evin" and "torturer of Tehran" Brigadier General Abdol-Ali Najafi - IRGC Secret unit Hamid Rasa - a Conservative MP Mohsen Reza'ie - former head of the Revolutionary Guards Azizollah Rajabzadeh - Tehran's Police Chief Hojatoleslam Ali Saeedi - Khamenei’s representative to the IRG Grand Ayatollah Sane'ie Brigadier General Hossein Salami - IRGC Revolutionary Guards' Air Force Rear Admiral Morteza Saffari - IRGC Revolutionary Guards' Navy Brigadier General Qassem Soleimani - IRGC Quds Force, was responsible for negotiating several accords between Iraqi political figures. Parvez Sorouri - conservative MP aware of the tortures in Kahrizak Hossein Ta’eb – the head of the Basij Ahmad Tavakkoli - Conservative MP Moteza Tamaddon - The governor of Tehran province, Ahmad Vahidi - Ahmadinejad’s pick for Defense Minister Ayatollah Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah Yazdi Ahmadinejad's spiritual mentor Alireza Zakani - conservative MP aware of the tortures in Kahrizak Mojtaba Zonnouri - Khamenei's representative in the IRGC Ezzatollah Zarghami - has been the head of the media corporation, IRIB Brigadier General Mohammad-Reza Zahedi - IRGC Revolutionary Guards' Ground Forces Daoud Zare’eyan – an official in Iran’s government-owned telecommunication company ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AHMADIMEJAD'S CABINET (PROPOSED, CONFIRMED & REJECTED) Agriculture: Sadeq Khalilian Commerce: Mehdi Ghazanfari Communications and IT: Reza Taqipour Cooperatives: Mohammad Abbasi (Retains his post) Culture and Islamic Guidance: Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini Defense: Brigadier Ahmad Vahidi Economy and Financial Affairs: Seyyed Shamseddin Hosseini Education: Sousan Keshavarz (Female) rejected Energy: Mohammad Aliabadi rejected Foreign Affairs: Manouchehr Mottaki (Retains his post) Health: Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi (Female) Housing and Urban Development: Abdolreza Sheikholeslami Industries and Mines: Ali Akbar Mehrabian (*See note (a) below) Intelligence: Heyder Moslehi Interior: Mostafa Mohammad Najjar Justice: Morteza Bakhtiari Labor and Social Affairs: Ali Nikzad Oil: Masoud Mir Kazemi Road and Transportation: Hamid Behbahani (Retains his post) Science, Research and Technology: Kamran Daneshjoo Welfare and Social Security: Fatemeh Ajorlou (Female) rejected ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ REFORMISTS/MODERATES Abtahi - accused by Jafari of directly taking part in the elections, solely to replace Khamenei Qudratullah Alikhani -reformist MP & member of Foreign Affairs Commission Mohammad Atrianfar - accused by Jafari of directly taking part in the elections, solely to replace Khamenei Seyyed Mohammad Ali Abtahi - theologian, scholar, pro-democracy activist, chairman of the Institute for Interreligious Dialogue former VP & close associate of Khatami. Morteza Alviri - Karroubi’s representative on the vote supervision committee, Sayed Alireza Beheshti - a member of a reformist commission, close aide of Mir Hossein Mousavi Ayatollah Ali Mohammad Dastegheyb Shirin Ebadi - lawyer, human rights activist and founder of Centre for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran Arash Geety, a student activist from Zanjan-arrested Hamzeh Ghalebi - former manager of the youth wing of Mousavi’s campaign and has been in prison for almost two months. Mohammad Javad Haghshenas - the editor-in-chief of Etemaade Melli Fatemeh Hashemi - Rafsanjani's daughter Mehdi Hashemi - Rafsanjani's son, accused by Jafari of directly taking part in the elections, solely to replace Khamenei Mohammad Hojjati – reformist & a former Minister of Agriculture Ali Hekmat - a reformist Mohammad Khatami - cleric, former president, former Cultural Minster, supporter of Mousavi Mehdi Karroubi Presidential candidate & head of the Etemaade Melli Party,brought up the issue of prisoner rapes Hossein Karrubi - Karroubi’s son Ayatollah Mousavi Khoyeni - accused by Jafari of directly taking part in the elections, solely to replace Khamenei Ghomahossein Karbaschi – reformist and a former mayor of Tehran Grand Ayatollah Montazeri Mir Hossein Mousavi Presidential candidate who the populace believes really won the election founder of "The Green Path of Hope" Hojjatoleslam Abdul Majid Ma’adikha - a reformist Abdollah Nouri - Reformist leader Dariush Qanbari - a spokesperson for the Imam's Way faction of MPs, who are mostly reformists Hashemi Rafsanjani - a past president of Iran Abdullah Ramezanzadeh - a former spokesperson during Khatami's presidency Fatemeh Rake’ie - the Secretary-General of the Innovative Muslim Women’s Society Zahra Rahnavard – Mousavi’s wife Grand Ayatollah Sane’ie - supports the reformists Faizullah Arab-Sorkhi – a reformist leader Hasan Souri – a reformist from Borujerd – was arrested Amir Hossein Sarhadi – a student activist – was arrested Nasrullah Torabi - reformist MP Roshanak Siasi - a member of the Kargozaran Party and a women's rights activist. Tajzadeh - accused by Jafari of directly taking part in the elections, solely to replace Khamenei Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani - has released a statement in support of Karroubi
Who's who continued ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ UNDETERMINED ALEGIENCE Ali Larejani – the speaker of the Iranian Parliament Grand Ayatollah Seyed Mousa Shabiri Zanjani – a cleric who has been a teacher of Khamenei and his sons Grand Ayatollah Lutfullah Safi Golpaygani Grand Ayatollah Montazeri - cleric who has been instrumental in freeing Montazeri from house arrest Mohammad-Reza Bahonar - Vice Parliament Speaker Iqbal Mohammadi – an MP from Marivan Hossein Entezami – the representative of editor-in-chiefs in the Committee to Oversee the Media Hojatoleslam Shahrestani Mojtaba Khamanei - son of Ayatollah Khamenei and accused of having taken part in the post election violence Hamid Katouzian – a member of the parliament’s committee on assessing the condition of detainees Hasan Rohani, a member of the Assembly of Experts and a former national security chief (leans toward the reformists) Reza Tabish - the Secretary General of Imam's Way faction of MPs (leans toward the reformists) Mohammad Reza Bahonar - The Deputy Speaker of Parliament Parviz Sarvari – a member of the parliament’s committee for assessing the condition of detainees -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MYRTARS Saeeda Pour-Aghaie, a young girl, was raped and killed in detention Sohrab A’rabi Alireza Azadpour - a reisdent of Kermanshah Hossien Beg Araghi, was killed on June 20 by a single bullet to the heart Mostafa Ghanian Taraneh Mousavi Mahmoud Raiesy Najafi - Mohsen Rohulamini Neda Agha-Soltan --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THOSE ABUSED SEXUALLY AND TORTURED Ghaim Montazer raped with a bottle Dr. Ali Mohammad Dadkha – A lawyer & human rights activist – is under pressure, to make a confession, stating that the human rights organization he works for is working against the government. Faizullah Arab-Sorkhi – a reformist leader Reza Rastagar had shown torture wounds on his body to the committee members and spoken openly about the torture of other detainees. Majid Mogheemi had shown torture wounds on his body to the committee members and spoken openly about the torture of other detainees. Abbas Begdili, had shown torture wounds on his body to the committee members and spoken openly about the torture of other detainees. Hangameh Shahidi, has been repeatedly harassed by guards and told that she is going to be hanged. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ THOSE ON TRIAL Mehdi Karami Saeed Hajjarian ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRESTED/RELEASED Mansoor Asanlo - a labor leaderMehdi Hosseinzadeh - a journalist and analyst who had previously worked for Etemaad Farshad Azizi - political activist and member of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s campaign. Mohammad Azadi - Journalist Emsael Azadi’s son Abbas Mirza Aboutalebi has been released from prison after nearly three months Hedayat Aghaie has given a confession, stating he had a hand in the unrest. Dr. Hosseinali Arab was released from Evin Rasool Badaqi - Human rights activist Clotilde Reiss , French citizen, was released on bail Mohammad Ali Dadkha - Members of the organization, The Defense of Human Rights Ali Ehsani - a Baha'i from Semnan arrested Stayar Emami - Photographer reportedly released Naseh Fareedi - a member of the committee to defend political prisoners - has been released Hamzeh Ghalebi - former manager of the youth wing of Mousavi’s campaign and has been in prison for almost two months. Fatemeh Hashemi - Rafsanjani's daughter Mir Hamid Hasanzadeh, the manager of the website Ghalam was released. Zoya Hasani was released from prison Mohammad Reza Jalayeepour - expected to have been released on Aug. 20 Shahpour Kazemi – Mousavi’s brother-in-law, has been detained for months Saeeda Kurdinejad - student arrested Ali Asghar Khodayari was released from Evin., Caspian Makan - the fiancé of Neda Agha-Soltan, is in detention and might be facing torture. Kaveh Mozafari was released Amir Mohsen Mohammadi, was released from Evin Kaveh Mozaffari was released from Evin Saeed Noormohammadi was released from prison Farbia Pajooh - journalist was also released Abdollah Ramezanzadeh - reformist, moved to hospital Amir Hossein Sarhadi – a student activist – was arrested Isa Saharkhiz - Journalist arrested Haleh Sahabi - Human rights activists and Kaveh Mozafari was released Kivan Samimi has been tortured so badly in detention, he had to be taken to hospital Abdolfattah Soltani - Human rights activist and lawyer finally released from Evin on bail Faizullah Arab-Sorkhi - currently in prison 45+ days Hesamat Salamat - Azad University student was mreleased Hasan Souri – a reformist from Borujerd – was arrested Saeed Shirkavand – a former Deputy Minister of Finance and a lecturer at Tehran University, has been released, he had been in prison for 50 days Mostafa Tajzadeh - currently in prison Ahmad Zeidabadi - Journalist, currently in prison
Someone needs to verify this Great list, commendable effort. Before people distribute info of this nature it really should be verified by someone else, just in case of fresher news, inaccuracies, mis-cataloguing etc that can all happen by accident. Not a criticism, just my pov.
As I stated, all names (and implied affiliations) were gleaned from Green Briefs #55-#69 (from Aug 15- Sept 5), so if you believe what NiteOwl writes in GB, then this is accurate. I will be away on business for the next 2+ weeks, but will try to update this list as information becomes available. I will also be adding it to my web site, Iran News Central ASAP.
