Ghadiani: Khamenei Lies Big Like Goebbels

Abdolfazl Ghadiani, a senior member of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization, compared Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda, who believed that 'the bigger the lie, the more it becomes the truth.' In a statement published on the Kaleme website, Ghadiani compared the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic to Goebbels because, according to him, 'in a land where... the right to freedom of expression and opinion is openly suppressed... he claims there is freedom and the right to choose for the people and asserts that his government does not attack its critics.' He added that Khamenei and 'the officials of his security and judicial apparatus' should be asked, 'Where does the long list of prisoners whose crime is propaganda against the regime (read: criticism of his government) come from?' Ghadiani further questioned, 'What meaning can freedom of choice have in the presence of illegal supervisory oversight and the deprivation of the legal right to be elected and to choose? How can freedom of choice be realized in a land where the Guardian Council forms a religious tyranny by handpicking candidates for the Assembly of Experts, whose job is to flatter the tyrant instead of overseeing him?' This senior member of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization has asked Khamenei, 'If he is honest, he should come and submit himself to public election or at least allow elections for the Assembly of Experts where the candidates reflect the diverse political tastes present in the country.' He added in response to his own demand that 'of course, a tyrant will not do such a thing... such lies from the mouth of a tyrant only indicate the irreformability of the regime and the futility of submissive reformism.' Ghadiani also noted that the method of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic 'would have been effective for dictatorial regimes in the early and mid-20th century with absolute media monopoly, but it is absolutely impossible to fabricate and distort in the world of media and social networks today.' According to this political activist, 'the circle of the regime's insiders has become so narrow that imprisonment and bondage now include close associates of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who remained in power due to the 'fraud and coup' of the 2009 elections at Khamenei's command and by the hands of the IRGC, and who has also been complicit in closing the political, social, and cultural space.' Ghadiani added that everyone knows 'the punishment for resisting Khamenei and criticizing and assessing his disastrous record' is 'the fabrications of the security apparatus and ultimately imprisonment and jail... by the tyranny apparatus.' In another part of his statement, he introduced the main problem of the Iranian economy as 'institutionalized corruption, favoritism, and the grip of economic enterprises under the control of the tyrant and tyranny,' expressing surprise that in such a situation, 'Khamenei takes the lead and shouts support for domestic production.' This political activist added that 'if production is the goal, he must first cut the hands of economic enterprises dependent on himself, the office, and the IRGC from the economy... If job creation is the goal, inefficient economic enterprises that prevent competition by force and privilege must be placed under the care of a government arising from the people and under the supervision of free and independent media.' He added that the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic will not only not allow such a thing but will also not permit 'the oversight of independent supervisory and inspection bodies' over 'himself and his dependent economic enterprises.' Ghadiani's reference is to Khamenei's declaration of the year 2018 as the year of 'support for Iranian goods.' In a message, Ayatollah Khamenei identified the main issue of the year for Iran as the economy and people's livelihood, stating that if the focus is on national production, many economic and livelihood problems of the people and issues of employment and investment will be resolved. In the continuation of his statement, the member of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization referred to the global and regional conditions against Iran and accused reformists of having an 'unintentional role in expanding the shadow of war over this land' due to their 'submissiveness.' Ghadiani wrote: 'Those who have repeatedly retreated have run the ship of reforms aground, those who have legitimized Khamenei by bringing people to the ballot boxes of the ineffective elections under the blade of supervisory oversight, are in a way unwitting accomplices in Khamenei's crime of endangering the independence and territorial integrity of this ancient land.' He referred to several historical events after the revolution, including the events of 1999 and 2009, stating that 'historical experience has shown that a tyrant... whenever he finds political forces passive, he has attacked more and tightened the space for the active cultural, political, and social people.' This political activist expressed happiness that some 'reformists who justified surrendering to the unjust supervisory oversight in the last elections and even rejected the protests of December 2017 have finally realized the shock and message of the protests of those who are at their wits' end.' He wrote that 'these friends have come to the conclusion that the focus of criticism should be directed at the ruler of tyranny, namely Khamenei himself. For some time now, these friends have been calling for breaking the dam of supervisory oversight and free elections, which is a step forward.' Ghadiani had also called Khamenei 'the tyrant of today's Iran' in February 2018 and urged reformist figures in Iran not to 'compromise' any longer on 'the rights of the people' with the Supreme Leader. He had asked the reformist movement to open the door for a clear criticism of the record of the tyrant. His reference is to the open letter of Mehdi Karroubi, one of the leaders of the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election, to the Supreme Leader, in which he held him responsible for the current political, economic, cultural, and social situation in Iran. In this letter, Karroubi wrote to Khamenei that 'given your level of presence and influence in the highest layers of the power structure, you must accept that the current political, economic, cultural, and social situation of the country is a direct result of your strategic and executive policies.' Abdolfazl Ghadiani is also one of the 15 Iranian political and civil activists who recently called for a referendum for a peaceful transition from the Islamic Republic system to a secular parliamentary democracy.