Ebrahim Raisi Establishes Protection Unit for Astan Quds Razavi

Reports from Iran indicate that the administration of Astan Quds Razavi has formed a protection unit for the shrine of the eighth Imam of Shia Muslims in Mashhad, an initiative that began with the appointment of Ali Akbar Afrasiabi as the commander of this unit on Thursday, October 10. According to Tasnim News Agency, the appointment order for Mr. Afrasiabi was signed by Hossein Ashtari, the commander of Iran's police force, and his introduction ceremony was held in the presence of Ebrahim Raisi, the head of Astan Quds Razavi. In this ceremony, Raisi addressed the reasons for establishing this protective unit, stating, "One of our missions is to protect sacred places from any harm, as these places are always coveted by malicious and deceitful individuals." He did not specify who these "malicious and deceitful individuals" are. This is the first time a protective unit has been established for the shrine of the eighth Imam and other sacred figures of Shia Islam in Iran. Raisi also mentioned the unprecedented nature of this initiative in his statements on Thursday. He continued, "The tranquility of the pilgrims is a very key point, and this tranquility cannot be achieved through speeches and directives; rather, a process must be followed to ensure that pilgrims experience a pleasant pilgrimage with peace of mind." The shrine of the eighth Imam was targeted by a bombing in 1994, resulting in the deaths of 26 people and injuring over 300 others. There are still many ambiguities regarding the perpetrators of this incident, as the Islamic Republic initially blamed the People's Mujahedin Organization, which they denied. In subsequent years, names such as Al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Sipah-e-Sahaba emerged as suspects. Some reports suggest that the Ministry of Intelligence and its key figure at the time, Saeed Emami, were involved in the incident. Emami is known as the architect of the serial killings of intellectuals and political opponents in Iran, who was removed from his position as deputy in the Ministry of Intelligence and "was killed in prison by ingesting cleaning agents." Last year, the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, was also targeted in an armed attack that left 22 dead, for which ISIS claimed responsibility. Meanwhile, Ebrahim Raisi stated that the formation of the protection unit for Astan Quds Razavi is "a lawful pursuit of activities that have a policing nature." Raisi was the main candidate of the principlists in the 2017 presidential election, where he was defeated by Hassan Rouhani. He was also a member of the four-person committee appointed by Ayatollah Khomeini that executed many political prisoners in Iran in 1988, most of whom were members of the People's Mujahedin and leftist groups.