New Basij Commander: I Stand by My Position and Consider the Leaders of the Sedition Politically Impure

The new head of the Basij Organization emphasized his previous statements about Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, stating that he still believes the "leaders of the sedition are politically impure and cannot be purified even with Zamzam water." Gholamhossein Ghaibparvar, in an interview with the Basij news agency on Sunday, December 21, asserted that his stance regarding the leaders of the protests against the 2009 presidential election results has not changed. He added: "I have previously called the leaders of the sedition politically impure, and I still insist on this position; the leaders of the sedition are politically impure and cannot be purified even with Zamzam water unless they come to repent before the nation and the Supreme Leader of the Revolution at some point." The Basij commander stressed: "I am in no way inclined to compromise in safeguarding the Revolution; media and anti-revolutionary websites can say and write whatever they want." The new head of the Basij Organization had previously referred to Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, the leaders of the protests against the 2009 presidential election results, and Mohammad Khatami, the former president of Iran, as "politically impure" and stated that these three would not be "purified" without expressing remorse. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, and his close associates refer to the protests against the 2009 presidential election as "sedition" and call Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi the "leaders of the sedition." On December 7, the Supreme Leader appointed Gholamhossein Ghaibparvar as the head of the Basij Organization and Mohammad Reza Naqdi as the cultural and social deputy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. This IRGC commander had previously been in charge of the "Imam Hussein" headquarters after the killing of Hossein Hamadani in Syria and had also served as the commander of the Fajr Corps in Fars Province. Mr. Ghaibparvar has frequently spoken against reformists and in favor of principlist candidates in various elections. For instance, in the 2016 elections for the 10th Parliament and the Assembly of Experts, he stated that people would not vote for "the supporters of sedition and those who remained silent against it, even if they were candidates for the Assembly of Experts." Some websites, including Saham News, reported that Mr. Ghaibparvar played a role in issuing the order for the attack on Ali Motahari in Shiraz in 2014. However, in response to this incident, he stated: "We oppose such vulgar behaviors like stone-throwing and strongly condemn them, and the insightful and loyal people know the behind-the-scenes scenario of such incidents well." Mr. Motahari had previously identified the attackers and instigators of the assault against him at Shiraz Airport on March 9, 2015, as members of the Basij and IRGC, but officials have not confirmed this. Although part of the case related to the attack on Mr. Motahari is currently under investigation in the military prosecutor's office.