Ejei's Warning About the 'Enemy's' Success in Recruiting Among the 'Aghazadeh'

On Friday, the Deputy Chief of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic claimed that the 'enemy' has managed to recruit from among the families of certain individuals associated with the revolution and the 'Aghazadeh' in Iran. According to a report on Friday, October 1, by Fars News Agency, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, in the closing ceremony of the conference of public, revolutionary, and military prosecutors in Khorasan Razavi, referred to those who, through 'silent movement,' seek to downplay the 'enemy' as 'internal hypocrites.' He pointed to what he called the 'soft war of the enemy alongside the hard war' against the Islamic Republic and called for the identification of the 'officers and soldiers of the enemy' in the country. He described these individuals as 'internal hypocrites and weak-willed people' who, using 'silent and quiet movement,' are seeking 'infiltration and decision-making.' According to Mohseni Ejei, these individuals want to lead us to decisions that the enemy desires and pretend that our known enemy is not an enemy. He added that they want to convey that America is no longer the Great Satan and that there is no need to chant 'Death to America'; they want to limit their crimes to cooperation with hypocrites and terrorist groups and some actions of Saddam, diverting minds from his enmity. Ejei did not refer to any individual or group by name in his remarks. However, his reference could be an attack on the détente policies of Hassan Rouhani's government. Supporters of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic have repeatedly criticized him over the past three years for pursuing friendly relations with the West and the United States. Ali Khamenei's remarks that 'any individual or group that trusts America has made a great mistake and will be slapped' have also increased criticism of the eleventh government. Supporters of Khamenei are also protesting against the statements of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council, and some of his family members. In one instance, Hashemi controversially spoke of Khomeini's 'agreement' to remove the slogan 'Death to America,' but this statement faced a strong reaction from conservatives and the office for publishing the works of the founder of the Islamic Republic. The actions and statements of Mehdi and Faezah Hashemi, two of Hashemi's children, have also always been criticized by conservatives, the most recent being Faezah Hashemi's meeting with Fariba Kamalabadi, a leader of the Baha'i community, after her release from prison. Mohseni Ejei, in this context, referred to what he called 'enemy recruitment from families and some Aghazadeh' and stated that 'the enemy was able to infiltrate the thoughts and political views of individuals associated with the revolution and triggered the sedition with the code of fraud in 2009.' He stated, 'The enemy uses our tongue and pen to achieve its goals in the soft war, to downplay the danger of the enemy and to make the crimes of the Great Satan forgotten.' The spokesperson for the Judiciary added, 'They say the revolution is over, and why does the leadership insist on continuously emphasizing the need to maintain revolutionary spirit with all groups, classes, institutions, currents, the government, parliament, clergy, students, professors, workers, farmers, and various classes? These actions are aimed at distracting from the enemy.' Mohseni Ejei also criticized the 'destruction and weakening of revolutionary and effective institutions in the system' and attributed the 'onslaught' against institutions such as the Revolutionary Guards and the Judiciary to the fact that 'they are the biggest obstacle to soft and hard war and those who stand against their plans.' According to him, 'the enemy's officers in the soft war are not only opposed to revolutionary institutions but also to the revolutionary spirit.' The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic has described 'the only way to advance Islamic Iran as the revival of the revolutionary spirit' and called for dealing with 'arrogant enemies' with this same spirit. Some clerics close to the Supreme Leader, including Ali Saidi, the representative of the Supreme Leader in the Revolutionary Guards, also claim that 'the enemy' seeks to 'deplete the revolutionary spirit in society, and some inside are helping the enemy.'