Baghaei: If the accusations are true, why aren't the Quds Force commanders being tried?

Hamid Baghaei, former deputy to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his presidency, without detailing his accusation of receiving "large amounts of foreign currency" from the Quds Force, questioned why the Quds Force commanders are not being tried if these accusations are true. On Saturday, February 10, the third session of the appellate court for Hamid Baghaei and Habibollah Jozr Khorrasani, the financial officer of the presidency, was held. On Friday, February 9, Baghaei wrote on his Telegram channel that the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps accused him of receiving "large amounts of foreign currency to donate to the leaders of African countries without any documentation or receipt" on July 5, 2013, and that he "embezzled" this amount for himself. He posed the question that if this accusation is true, why did the Quds Force give him this amount when he held no government position at that time. The former deputy of Ahmadinejad described the accusation as "utterly false" and emphasized that the Quds Force has not filed a complaint against him. He added, "If the claims of the IRGC Intelligence are correct, then why are the Quds Force commanders who gave me currency without accounting or documentation not being tried?" Baghaei concluded by asking, "Has the expiration date for some come to an end and is there going to be a purge in the IRGC soon, and am I to be the excuse and victim of internal conflicts within the IRGC?" He had previously denied accusations of embezzling "several million euros and dollars" from the Quds Force. The accusations against Baghaei include "requesting a total of 300 million tomans in bonuses for 16 members of the government," "assisting the International University of Iranians," "supporting the Iranian House Organization," "aiding the state newspaper Iran," and "colluding in contracts and transactions of five companies." The former deputy of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was sentenced in the initial court to 15 years in prison and ordered to return 40 billion tomans, has rejected these accusations. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad previously described Baghaei's case as a "conspiracy" to eliminate himself and his associates from Iranian politics. In a letter to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic written on December 25 and published on January 25, he called for Ayatollah Khamenei's intervention in Baghaei's case to prevent "injustice" against him. The former Iranian president, in a message on the anniversary of the 1979 revolution, accused the Larijani brothers of seeking future presidency and leadership. Sadeq Larijani is the head of the judiciary, Ali Larijani is the speaker of the parliament, and Mohammad Javad Larijani is the international deputy of the judiciary. On Friday, Ahmadinejad also stated in a speech in Rasht, "Those who exploit the opportunities created by the revolution must go and will go. By God, there is no one worse than them on earth." He added, "Those who resist and obstruct the improvement of the country's situation and the interests of the people and the revolution actually give free opportunities to foreigners to interfere in the country's affairs, and this is an anti-revolutionary act." The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic implicitly accused Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday, January 26, of "doing the enemy's work inside." One day after these remarks, during a trip to Bushehr, Ahmadinejad responded to criticisms from a number of Basij youth, saying, "If the leader had an opinion and someone else had a different opinion, should they die?" Some of Ahmadinejad's critics question why he remained silent during his presidency against the actions of the judiciary and the crackdowns of 2009. Nevertheless, he told a group of students that "we did not know some issues. We really did not know and later became aware." In this context, Ahmadinejad once again attacked the head of the Iranian judiciary.