Leader of the Regime or Leader of the Opposition?

In a meeting with workers, the first person of the Islamic Republic system reiterated statements that should naturally be made by the opposition. Ayatollah Khamenei criticized many economic and social disorders without acknowledging the broad scope of his own powers and responsibilities, forgetting that he has been at the top of the political hierarchy for over a quarter of a century. In his remarks, he emphasized that for improving job security for workers and dealing with profiteers, 'the judiciary is responsible, the government is responsible, various agencies are responsible, intelligence agencies are responsible.' However, Ayatollah Khamenei did not mention what his own responsibility as the leader of the Islamic Republic is. What effective steps has he taken to oversee the judiciary's performance and ensure justice, independence, fairness, and courage in this important institution? According to the constitution, the leader of the Islamic Republic appoints the head of the judiciary; the records of the heads of the judiciary from Larijani to Shahroudi and Yazdi are directly and indirectly tied to the oversight and selection of the supreme leader. The judiciary has clearly been concerned with suppressing independent media, journalists, critics, and questioning experts, rather than addressing the entrenched corruption within the Islamic Republic. Ayatollah Khamenei criticizes the intensity of imports in his speech; however, he does not criticize the record of his close and favored president (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad), whose government income is estimated at nearly $700 billion. Based on official statistics from the Central Bank, the total imports from 2005 to 2013 amounted to about $419 billion. Is the leader of the Islamic Republic, who presents himself as a defender of workers' rights and a supporter of domestic production, unaware of these statistics? What practical steps has he taken to change this trend and approach, other than supporting Ahmadinejad during the 2009 election coup and voting for his incompetent and ineffective government for four more years? In his recent remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei stated: 'I do not know if the claim that imports of cosmetics in the country amount to several billion dollars is true or not; I have not investigated; if it is true, it is bad.' Regardless of the fact that the leader's admission of ignorance regarding billion-dollar imports of cosmetics is noteworthy, does he not know why Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, Ahmadinejad's health minister, resigned from her position? The former health and treatment minister, who is a well-known figure in the conservative camp, stated that during the sanctions, Ahmadinejad allocated currency to the import of cosmetics, Porsches, and even dog food and shovels, but not to medicine. She said: 'The head of the Central Bank confirmed that currency was allocated to cosmetics. Why was health, which is more important than anything, not prioritized?' An even more interesting point in the leader's speech is his strong criticism of smuggling; Ayatollah Khamenei stated: 'We must seriously address smuggling. We have not acted seriously in the fight against smuggling; act seriously in the fight against smuggling. By smuggling, I do not mean some weak Baluchistani porter who goes over there to pick something up and brings it back here; these are nothing, they are of no importance; it does not matter if we do not fight them. I mean large organized smuggling; dozens or hundreds of containers of various smuggled goods entering the country? Well, we must go and confront them...' While the leader of the Islamic Republic criticizes organized smuggling, the Revolutionary Guards, a military-security and economic branch under his command, are considered one of the main culprits of smuggling, according to independent observers and critics. Mehdi Karroubi announced during his presidency of the sixth parliament that the Guards had established 60 unauthorized docks in the south of the country; Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, in 2004 as the head of the anti-smuggling headquarters, reported on the activities of 37 unauthorized docks; Ahmadinejad's government in 2006 spoke of 24 unauthorized docks in the country; and later, at the end of his government, the deputy of the anti-smuggling headquarters announced that the number of docks not under the supervision of government institutions was 167. Ahmadinejad even stated during a period of his presidency when he had noticeable disagreements with the leader and the Guards that the amount of smuggling was 'not a penny, not a dime.' He also noted that the two thousand billion tomans spent on cigarette consumption in Iran would tempt all the top smugglers in the world, let alone our own smuggling brothers. It is unlikely that Ayatollah Khamenei did not understand Ahmadinejad's reference to 'our smuggling brothers.' Ahmad Tavakoli, a prominent representative of the conservative camp, stated: 'Military personnel have entered the market with greetings and prayers, and it is no longer possible to remove them.' A vast array of entities operating under the leader of the Islamic Republic (from the Khatam al-Anbiya headquarters to the Cooperative Foundation, and from their affiliated companies to the Astan Quds Razavi and the Martyrs Foundation and the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation) are free from any formal oversight and auditing; they do not pay taxes and exploit the opportunities available to benefit from Iran's ailing economy. In this same speech, the leader expressed his dissatisfaction with the term 'brand' and said: 'I really dislike this word brand. The sale of foreign goods and the consumption of foreign goods should be recognized in society as an anti-value.' He also added: 'I do not know what this issue of importing American cars is that has now become a topic of discussion and some say... We must stand firmly against these. Who should stand? The officials themselves.' Meanwhile, as a witness, the Martyrs Foundation and the Foundation for the Affairs of Veterans is among the most important institutions involved in the issue of importing foreign cars—under the pretext of granting privileges to the disabled—which is an institution that is under the leader's command. Ayatollah Khamenei, in his capacity as the first person of the regime, with the strange powers that Article 110 grants him, and with the extent of the hidden government he has organized based on the Guards and major institutions like the Astan Quds Razavi, continues to stand as a creditor to the regime and Iran, merely criticizing. He considers everyone 'responsible' except himself. It is unclear to whom the leader of the Islamic Republic should answer for the stagnation of production, the economic crisis, the terrifying unemployment, the intensification of poverty and class differences, and the social issues and harms arising from them (including addiction, prostitution, theft, and violence). He does not answer anyone for the nuclear policies and the consequences of sanctions, nor for the ineffective intervention of the Islamic Republic in Syria, nor for the continuation of authoritarianism within the country and the suppression of critics and journalists, nor for the performance of his subordinate institutions (from state television to the Guards and the Martyrs Foundation). Ayatollah Khamenei, who should be accountable to the press and society as the leader of the Islamic Republic, stands in the position of the opposition leader and critics, demanding accountability and criticizing other power structures. This is a bitter irony that only occurs in authoritarian regimes suffering from despotism.