The Week in Iran
Abdolraouf Rigi: arrested or not? Last week, Iranian media happily reported the seizure by Pakistan of the spokesman for Jundullah, a terrorist group claiming to fight for the rights of the Iranian Baluch minority. The news was alternately confirmed and denied. However, on Tuesday Iran’s Minister of Interior Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar put an end to the rumors by saying that his Pakistani counterpart had not confirmed the news in their meeting on the sidelines of the ECO summit in Istanbul.
Former FM Manouchehr Mottaki may have been dismissed in a humiliating way –while handing Ahmadinejad’s message to the Senegalese president- but he received a shot in the arm last week when an unprecedented number of MPs, that is 260, released a statement on Sunday thanking Mottaki for his “revolutionary, religious and committed” character and his “glorious management record”. Mottaki need not worry now, since according to an unwritten rule in the Iranian style of management, an executive never retires, rather moves from one position to another. Considering his close relations with speaker of the parliament Ali Larijani (Mottaki was spokesman for his campaign during the 2005 presidential election), the hapless minister can secure a position in the Majles.
Privatization is still a thorny issue in the Iranian economy which is dauntingly dominated by governmental or quasi-governmental agencies. The private sector has been quite frail in post-Revolution Iran. During the presidencies of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami, privatization came into sight, though in more than a few cases it proved futile due to non-transparent disinvestment and ineffective management. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has also voiced support for a privatized and entrepreneur-driven economy, and he issued a seminal statement in the Spring of 2005 calling for inclusion of the private sector in strategic industries. His directive, known as the Article 44 Directive, has been, however, overlooked by Ahmadinejad’s government. On Sunday, the Article 44 Committee of the parliament released a report that claimed that only 13.5% of state-run enterprises have been disinvested into private companies.
The 9th of Dey demonstrations were commemorated around the country and the Islamic Republic flexed its muscles for the latent Green Movement supporters once again. The event was, however, not as high profile as last year’s gatherings. In Tehran, hard-liner cleric Mahdi Taeb called Mir Hossein Mousavi a “pathetic agent of imperialism” and a “liar”. Mansour Arzi, the best-known maddah (reciter of religious hymns) inside Iran and who is an orthodox supporter of the Islamic Republic, called for the Judiciary to hand over the leaders of Fetneh for execution by people. But the most controversial incident was the alleged presence of Seyyed Ali Khomeini, grandson of Ayatollah Khomeini (whose household signaled support for Mousavi and the Green Movement last year) in the ceremony. While the news of his attendance was published by pro-government news (including an interview said to be made with the young Khomeini), Ayatollah Khomeini’s office denied the news, stating that Seyyed Ali Khomeini had spent the day in Qom. No other news, or photos as proof positive, has been published so far to confirm the claims of either side.