Leaders and Lifetime Rulers of the Islamic Republic

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 78 years old, was born on April 29, 1939. He became the lifetime successor to Ayatollah Khomeini on June 4, 1989. In about four months, his twenty-ninth year of leadership will begin. As long as he is alive and the Islamic Republic is in power, he will lead it. It may be assumed that the lifetime responsibility in the Islamic Republic is solely limited to leadership. However, this is not the case in practice. Consider the following three examples: First - Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati: Jannati was born on February 21, 1927. He will soon turn 91 years old. He has held and continues to hold important positions in the Islamic Republic: Secretary of the Guardian Council, Chairman of the Assembly of Experts, member of the Expediency Discernment Council, member of the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, temporary Friday prayer leader in Tehran, Secretary of the Coordination Council for Islamic Propaganda since 1981, Chairman of the Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue since its establishment in 1993, and more. At the beginning of the revolution, he was one of the judges who issued and executed the death sentences for some officials of the previous regime. Although he faced negative votes from the people of Tehran in the Assembly of Experts elections, he fraudulently entered the Assembly, and Khamenei, seeking revenge on the people - in his own special ways - elevated him to the leadership of the Assembly of Experts. Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati has been appointed as a member of the Guardian Council since its first term in 1980 by Ayatollah Khomeini and has served as its Secretary since 1992. He is a lifetime member of the Guardian Council for disqualifying opponents, critics, and rivals. In August 2010, Jannati falsely claimed, "I have obtained a document indicating that the United States, through Saudi Arabia, has given one billion dollars to the 'leaders of sedition.' These Saudis, who were speaking on behalf of the U.S., told the leaders of sedition that if you manage to eliminate the regime, we will give you another 50 billion dollars, but God extinguished this sedition through His righteous servants." In 2014, Jannati compared the leaders of the Green Movement to Mussolini, who should be executed upon identification, and asked, "Why should two other leaders of sedition [Mohammad Khatami and Hashemi Rafsanjani] be free? One of them is just walking around and going underground, continuing the path of the other two." Second - Hossein Shariatmadari: Shariatmadari was born in 1947 and is approaching 70 years old. Hossein Shariatmadari is Khamenei's "sniper jewel" in confronting dissenters. Lies, slander, insults, and security file fabrication are the least of Shariatmadari's methods for eliminating opponents, critics, and rivals. Ayatollah Khamenei appointed Shariatmadari as his representative and head of the Kayhan Institute on December 22, 1993. In this decree, Khamenei regarded Shariatmadari as a "valuable personality" with "rare cultural qualifications and records." He asked Shariatmadari to stand against foreign aggression and those who "exploit" the freedoms of the Islamic Republic, stating that Kayhan has not been afflicted by the "pollutions" of other media. Shariatmadari has begun his twenty-fourth year as Khamenei's representative at Kayhan. He is also Khamenei's lifetime representative at the Kayhan Institute. Third - Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf: Qalibaf was born on August 23, 1961. He has entered his 56th year. In 1994, he was appointed as the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters. By Khamenei's decree in 1997, he was appointed as the commander of the Air Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. By Khamenei's decree, Major General Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf was appointed as the commander of the Islamic Republic's police forces from 2000 to 2005. He was one of the Revolutionary Guard commanders who signed a threatening letter to President Mohammad Khatami. During his command of the police forces, dozens of intellectuals and journalists were summoned, interrogated, and threatened by the police. In 2013, regarding the suppression of the student protests on July 9, 1999, he said, "The incident of 1999 that occurred at the university, that letter that was written, I wrote it (the letter from the Revolutionary Guard commanders to the then President, Mohammad Khatami). I and Mr. Soleimani. When they marched towards the Leader's house in the streets, I was the commander of the Air Force of the Revolutionary Guard. My picture is now on a motorcycle with a stick. I stood in the street to gather the street. Wherever it is necessary to come to the street and hit with a stick, we are among those who hit with sticks. We are proud of it. I did not look at the fact that I am a general and commander of the Air Force and what do you have to do with the street?" About the Green Movement and its leaders, he said, "The perpetrators of these events, especially the leaders of sedition, have neither political maturity nor religion nor intellect; and from the perspective of the honorable people of Iran, their wrongdoing is similar and equivalent to those whom we currently know as hypocrites." He ran for the presidency in 2005, 2009, and 2013, but quickly withdrew in 2009, and in the other two instances, the people did not vote for him. He is now also one of the potential candidates of the principlists. Qalibaf has been the mayor of Tehran since 2005, which means 11 years and 5 months. After him, Gholamhossein Karbaschi ranks second with 9 years, and Gholamreza Nikpey with 7 years and 5 months - during 1977-1978 - ranks third. There are many reasons and causes in the 2017 presidential election that are unfavorable for Qalibaf, including: a- Negative public opinion regarding the comprehensive expansion of political and economic power of the Revolutionary Guards, b- His role in suppressions and his political positions against dissenters and leaders of the Green Movement, c- Exposure of widespread corruption in land grabbing cases, the case of transferring properties with significant discounts, and also substantial financial support from his wife's charity, d- The fire incident at the Plasco building. Regarding this last incident, even a website affiliated with Ali Larijani has considered him responsible in an article. Let’s assume Qalibaf does not run for the presidency, or he runs and does not get votes. Let’s assume the principlists, through their institutionalized and structured fraudulent methods, maintain a majority in the Tehran City Council elections; in this case, they will continue Qalibaf's mayorship. It seems he is also the lifetime mayor of Tehran. A noteworthy point is that in the Plasco building disaster, all news agencies and websites affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard and Basij have fully supported Qalibaf and hold Rouhani's government responsible for the incident. Conclusion: Power is corrupting, and absolute power brings absolute corruption. Political philosophers of the past believed that one should find a just person and entrust power to him. Montesquieu showed that power and justice are incompatible, and excessive power is the first attribute that takes away from a person the ability to act justly. Democracies have tried to overcome this important issue by electing political leaders for limited, non-renewable terms and various means and obstacles. Even if political leaders were angels, their power would destroy their justice. The fundamental assumption of political philosophers in designing a just political system is that political leaders are a group of deceivers who are solely seeking to secure their own interests. Each political leader should be considered a potential Hitler. For this reason, structures must be created that minimize the corruption and dangers of politicians as much as possible. Institutions and organizations must be established to protect the people against the Leviathan power of the political system. Lifetime power means power of corruption, discrimination, destruction, and repression. Major General Mohsen Rezaei tweeted on the occasion of the end of Barack Obama's presidency: "Obama is gone, but Bashar al-Assad is still the president of Syria." After about 38 years in appointed positions, he still does not understand where the difference between democracy and dictatorship lies. It seems that Obama was also supposed to be a lifetime president.