IRGC Commander Criticizes Rouhani: Be More Measured in Your Speech

The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), without naming Hassan Rouhani, referred to his remarks on Wednesday as the "beginning of the erosion of the independence and dignity of the Islamic Republic system" and accused the Iranian president of attempting to "weaken" the Guardian Council. Hassan Rouhani, the president, emphasized in a speech on Wednesday: "We should not think that after reaching an agreement, we can speak and act however we want, and that others will not react to this change in our behavior." In a sharp response to these remarks, Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the IRGC, stated on Thursday, August 29, that "some... say we cannot speak and act however we want because others will react to us." According to Tasnim News Agency, he added: "This is the first sign of questioning the dignity of the system and... the intelligence of our revolutionary society and resilient nation that... we must adjust our behavior based on the actions of the enemy." Jafari continued: "In clearer terms, this means the beginning of the erosion of the independence and dignity of the Islamic and revolutionary system of Iran." The IRGC commander emphasized that this institution "will never allow the growth and implementation of a thought" in Iran that, according to him, "wants to open new avenues for foreign infiltration into the country with these remarks." Jafari's statement recalls remarks made by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, who on Tuesday, August 26, accused the U.S. of seeking a way to "infiltrate the country" through the nuclear agreement. In his remarks on Wednesday, Rouhani also noted that the Guardian Council is the overseer and the government is the executor of elections, reminding that the Guardian Council "is an overseer, not an executor... and oversight and execution should not be mixed." He also emphasized that the next parliament will not belong to "one party or faction," stating that "everyone is equal in the eyes of the government" and that the election executive bodies will not approve one political faction's qualifications and disqualify another. The IRGC commander on Thursday labeled this part of Rouhani's remarks as "weakening the Guardian Council" and "damaging national unity," advising him to speak "more measuredly." He added: "Those who have found the opportunity to emerge in the management of the country through this council and with the broad-mindedness and non-factional demeanor of its members should have more measured speech." In addition to the IRGC commander, the Kayhan newspaper also criticized Rouhani's remarks on its front page on Thursday, accusing him of "determining the fate" for the Guardian Council. Meanwhile, Ahmad Tavakoli, a representative from Tehran in the parliament, also advised Rouhani regarding his comments about the Guardian Council not to "follow in the footsteps" of former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. According to Tasnim News Agency, Tavakoli stated: "Mr. Ahmadinejad had a sentence that disqualified him; that sentence was that he said he did not accept such and such law." He also advised Hassan Rouhani to resolve the potential disqualification of "qualified individuals" through "political interactions." The Guardian Council of Iran has set March 7, 2016, as the date for the upcoming elections for the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Assembly of Experts. Meanwhile, reformist groups in Iran have also reported planning to introduce candidates in these elections and have called for guarantees for conducting free, lawful, and competitive elections. In response to this kind of positioning from reformists, some principlists and members of the Guardian Council have spoken for months about rejecting the qualifications of protesters from the 2009 presidential election. Meanwhile, Ali Saeedi, the representative of the Supreme Leader in the IRGC, on Tuesday, June 9, described the change of the principlist parliament to "another parliament" as a "threat" to the "interests of the system" and also to the "ideals" of Ayatollah Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamenei.