Former Chief of Armed Forces General Staff 'Has Seized a 10,000 Square Meter Villa in Lavasan'

A conservative student group has requested the Tehran prosecutor to reclaim a seized '10,000 square meter' villa from Hassan Firouzabadi, the former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran, stating that the Supreme Leader has 'issued an order to vacate this villa.' The 'Justice-Seeking Student Movement' announced in a letter to the Tehran prosecutor on Sunday, June 17, that since 1993, one of the confiscated villas in Lavasan has been 'freely' in the possession of Hassan Firouzabadi. According to this student group, Mr. Firouzabadi 'despite numerous warnings and follow-ups, is unwilling to vacate the mentioned villa.' Based on this letter published on the group's website, the ownership of this villa is under the 'Executive Headquarters of Imam's Command,' an economic institution affiliated with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. The Justice-Seeking Student Movement stated in its letter that the Supreme Leader has also 'issued two orders for the eviction' of this villa and that 'legal actions and eviction orders have been obtained from the courts,' but the police, as the judicial authority, 'have not yet executed this order and vacated the mentioned property.' This student group has threatened that 'if the relevant authorities continue to delay' regarding the eviction of this villa, 'it reserves the right to take revolutionary actions to compel the aforementioned individual to vacate the Lavasan villa.' If the narrative of the 'Justice-Seeking Student Movement' regarding the Supreme Leader's office order for the eviction of this villa is accurate, it is unclear how Mr. Firouzabadi has managed to avoid executing this order. Some social media users have written that the mentioned villa belonged to Ashraf Pahlavi, the sister of Mohammad Reza Shah, and was confiscated after the 1979 Revolution. After the February 1979 Revolution in Iran, in addition to buildings belonging to relatives of Mohammad Reza Shah and officials of the former regime, many buildings and properties related to Bahá'ís and Jews were confiscated, and their ownership was transferred to foundations affiliated with the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. Some of these buildings were allocated to Islamic Republic officials, while others were provided for free use. Hassan Firouzabadi served as the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran for 27 years from 1989 to 2016. On July 8, 2016, the Supreme Leader appointed Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri as the new Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran. Regarding the reasons for changing the Chief of the General Staff, although some commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, including Ismail Kowsari, referred to Mr. Firouzabadi's health condition and illness, the Tabnak website, close to Mohsen Rezaei, referred to this change as a 'dismissal' and implicitly linked it to Mr. Firouzabadi's positive positions on issues such as the JCPOA. Firouzabadi is on the European Union's human rights sanctions list, which was imposed following the crackdown on protesters against the results of the 2009 presidential election and has been extended since then.