The Surge of Revolutionary Guards and Basij Commanders to Conquer the Parliament

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has an active presence in the realms of politics and economics in Iran. This presence has significantly expanded under the leadership of Ayatollah Khamenei, who has supported and encouraged it, reaching a point during Ahmadinejad's presidency where even he had to speak of 'our smuggler brothers.' When Hassan Rouhani came to power, he tried to push the IRGC back from politics and economics to some extent, which faced repeated public protests from them. The IRGC and Basij commanders have repeatedly stated that Rouhani's government is not assigning economic projects to these two institutions as the previous government did. Rouhani was not naive enough to think he could eliminate the IRGC and Basij from economics, politics, culture, and society and push them back into their military domain. The issue was that with the 'national plunder' during Ahmadinejad's era, and under the most severe sanctions in history, Rouhani inherited a government with a negative growth rate of 6.8% and 40% inflation. The government's coffers were not full as before, but no amount of economic or political power could satisfy the IRGC and Basij. The Guardian Council has disqualified thousands of rival candidates and guaranteed 180 seats in the parliament for conservatives. This does not mean that reformist rivals can hope for the remaining 110 seats in the parliament. Ayatollah Khamenei seeks a royal parliament (refer to the article on Ayatollah Khamenei and the royal parliament versus the American parliament). The IRGC and Basij commanders are actively working to create royal parliaments for him. They aim to eliminate the few remaining forces close to Hashemi Rafsanjani, Hassan Rouhani, Mohammad Khatami - and themselves - by lying, slandering, and creating a dichotomy between 'value-driven, revolutionary, and principled forces' versus 'American infiltrators and Saudi-paid agents.' There is abundant evidence for this claim. However, to avoid boring the reader, we will only refer to the statements made by IRGC and Basij commanders on the 9th and 10th of Bahman. Their relentless attacks are directed at Rouhani, Zarif, Khatami, and Hashemi - labeling them as American and Saudi infiltrators. This evidence is sufficient to support the claims of the article: the IRGC and Basij see their totalitarianism reflected in the royal parliaments and the arbitrary leadership of Ayatollah Khamenei. Now, let’s look at our evidence: Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, the IRGC commander, noted on Bahman 9, 1394, that Ayatollah Khamenei's main concern is the cultural realm. He stated that they are worried about preserving the revolution and safeguarding the political, cultural, and value boundaries of the revolution. The leadership has previously spoken of cultural invasions, cultural blitzes, and cultural NATO, but now they have been discussing enemy infiltration for some time, of which 'cultural infiltration' is one aspect. He then warned, saying: 'As a military expert, I declare that today we have no security or defense concerns, but cultural concerns have taken their place.' Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, the commander of the Basij, on Bahman 9, 1394, at a Basij commanders' conference, stated that as the leadership has said, the enemy seeks to infiltrate through elections into the parliament. Vote for individuals who defend our dignity and greatness, 'not those who extend a hand of friendship to America.' The widespread elimination of rivals and critics has not yet calmed the IRGC commanders. They are extremely worried that Khatami, like in the previous elections - along with Hashemi Rafsanjani and Hassan Rouhani - will disrupt their plans. For this reason, they slander Khatami, saying: 'We should not take pride in someone [Seyyed Mohammad Khatami] who has received money from the king of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, even if he was a president, a Seyyed, and a leader, because Yazd has honors like martyr Sadooghi and Ayatollah Khatami. The kings of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain pay for that individual to influence the selection of people in the parliament and presidency, so put aside tribalism and follow the path of Hussain.' Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, on Bahman 10, 1394, spoke of the danger of enemy infiltration and emphasized that 'America's agents, with Saudi money, are seeking to destabilize the country.' He then spoke of the IRGC's readiness to confront the enemy insightfully and urged the people: 'Choose revolutionary forces for positions in the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Assembly of Experts, as they can defend this system and revolution. Where the foundation of the Islamic system and revolution is under threat, our reaction will not be conservative, and we will not bargain over what 200,000 martyrs gave their lives for.' After determining the fate of the most important political institutions in the country, Hajizadeh also spoke about the IRGC's interventionist role in foreign policy, saying: 'As Imam Khomeini said, the relationship between Iran and America is that of a wolf and a sheep, and we will never allow this relationship to happen.' Major General Seyyed Yahya Safavi, the secretary of the conference 'Political Organization of Space and Optimal Management of Tehran,' at the session on Bahman 10, 1394, stated that 'perhaps 80 to 90 percent of solving Tehran's problems lies with the government.' After blaming the government for Tehran's problems, he also spoke about the upcoming elections, saying: 'We hope to have a vibrant election with over 60 percent public participation.' Brigadier General Naqdi on Bahman 10, 1394, intensified his attacks on the government, focusing on Hassan Rouhani's trip to Italy and France, criticizing the agreements made. Naqdi said that instead of sanctions, America is seeking to infiltrate the system through 'friendship.' The commanders are advancing their agenda through lies. For this reason, Naqdi claimed that the government 'withdrew 46 billion dollars of Iran's frozen assets under the pretext of compensation for the deaths of marines in Lebanon.' He stated that one of the signs of America's infiltration in Iran is that 'some individuals speak against the leader's words just hours after he speaks.' He then asked: When six members of Hassan Rouhani's cabinet have over a thousand billion tomans in wealth, how can they serve the people? The government seeks to rely on the 'regional elder.' The enemy has infiltrated Iran, so that Mohammad Javad Zarif - the foreign minister - has learned Western sciences and acts like other foreign ministers. He has not learned the science that Imam Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamenei spoke of, and for this reason, when we talk about God's promises, 'they laugh at us.' Naqdi completed his attack on Zarif with a direct attack on Rouhani, saying: 'The events of the trips to Rome and France are a dagger in the heart of the resistance economy [of Ayatollah Khamenei] because these actions are against the resistance economy, and if they continue, we should close the country's technical universities.' He claimed that European countries were behind the 2009 sedition and imposed sanctions on Iran. Naqdi continued to lie, saying: 'The president visited France, but the French foreign minister welcomed him, and the press conference of this responsible figure of the Islamic system in Italy was held under the boot of the statue of the aggressor general against Iran, which are results of infiltration.' It seems he does not know that when presidents of other countries come to Iran, Hassan Rouhani does not go to the airport to welcome them. Zarif also responded to him, saying: 'For our president's trip to France, the French government performed the highest honors, and I am truly embarrassed that some say that our president was received by the French foreign minister in an unusual move. You see who welcomed the Prime Minister of India and even Mr. Putin in France. Do we send our president to welcome them before the official welcome?' Naqdi also deemed Rouhani's oil contracts as 'colonial contracts' and suggested building a wall around Iran to achieve 'economic success' with domestic capacities. All the attacks from the general born in Najaf were groundwork for the elections. For this reason, at the end of his remarks, he explicitly stated: 'There is a danger of infiltration in the elections because there are no factional competitions in this election, and a parliament that stands against imperialism is very different from a parliament that follows the words of imperialism; without the ideal of standing against imperialism, the future of the system is uncertain. Revolutionary forces must unite for the parliamentary elections to prevent incorrect competitions and to avoid creating a platform for the presence of uninformed individuals; according to the leader's statements, we must vote for the list determined by the faithful individuals who were not misled in the seditions.' Major General Mohsen Rezaei also spoke on Bahman 10, 1394, about the Islamic Revolution bringing America to its knees. He said that many say we cannot solve our problems until we resolve our issues with America. Rezaei quickly turned to the elections, first attacking the leaders of the Green Movement, stating: 'The main reason for the 2009 sedition was that the candidates pursued their complaints through the streets instead of legal channels.' Rezaei continued with lies, stating: 'Reformists have two and a half times, conservatives three times, and independents also three times the number of candidates for parliamentary seats.' It is unclear where Mohsen Rezaei got the figure of 725 approved reformist candidates. He concluded by emphasizing the necessity of unity among conservatives in the elections. The IRGC has become extremely active in the elections. They are still afraid because Khamenei is afraid. The unintended consequences of their nuclear agreement have frightened them. They fear being caught off guard. Perhaps they will be. No one can precisely predict what events the region and Iran are pregnant with. The elections of the Islamic Republic, although elections of a dictatorial system exclusive to insiders, still have unintended functions in the current conditions, no matter how controlled the 'election institution' is. The 'fear' of Khamenei and the IRGC and Basij must be understood. Their fear cannot be reduced to mere propaganda. If the 'heavy costs of the nuclear agreement' were paid, why should other heavy costs not be borne? The important issue is that society has become uncontrollable, and Khamenei has cried over social issues. They say America has infiltrated Iran to the extent that '20 percent of young boys use women's cosmetics like mascara and powder.' A society that has been released from the acceptable values of the system will not be guided to the right path through Khamenei's tears and repression.