IRAN REGIONAL PRESENCE OFFICE DUBAI: WINDOW ON IRAN - JULY

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 RPO DUBAI 000306 NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 7/29/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM IR SUBJECT: IRAN REGIONAL PRESENCE OFFICE DUBAI: WINDOW ON IRAN - JULY 29, 2009 DUBAI 00000306 001.2 OF 003 CLASSIFIED BY: Kathleen McGowan, Acting Director, Iran Regional Presence Office, DOS. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) Week Ahead Holds Flashpoints for Unrest: July 30 is the fortieth day after the death of the demonstrators killed on June 20, including the now-iconic Neda Soltan, whose death was captured by cell phone video. Fortieth day mourning services are traditional within Islam and provided critical momentum to the Iranian Revolution 30 years ago. Although the Interior Ministry has denied Mousavi's request to hold a memorial service, crowds are still expected to gather to honor those killed. The IRIG has attempted to prevent public tributes to those killed during the unrest, setting the stage for additional clashes with security forces. Next week brings Ahmadinejad's inauguration on August 5. Resentment towards Ahmadinejad from across the political spectrum has increased since the election, particularly after his efforts to install a protege as his First Vice President (see below). Many Majles members have vowed not to attend the inauguration so the event may be a gauge for the government's unity. There are also reports swirling around the internet of demonstrations planned for the day, again increasing the odds of conflict. ¶2. (S/NF) Insider Comments on Mashaei Controversy: The Director of the Center for Interreligious Dialogue (please protect), which is part of the IRIG's Islamic Culture and Relations Organization, explained that conservatives' condemnation of Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei's relatively moderate statement about Israelis and his attendance at controversial cultural events abroad mask the real reason behind their objection to him. In truth, most Mashaei critics object to his purported belief in the imminent return of the "Imam Zaman" (Twelfth Imam) -- an interpretation viewed as "superstitious" by many, even staunchly conservative, Iranians. Jokingly referring to Ahmadinejad as Mashaei's "marja" (source of emulation),he asserted that Mashaei has become a lightening rod for the clerical establishment's discomfort with Ahmadinejad's own well-known attachment to the Imam Zaman, which many clerics view as overstepping laymen's boundaries into matters of religious interpretation. The CID Director, who was for many years a professor of religious philosophy at Tarbiat Modares University, noted that Mashaei's appointment to a senior role in Ahmadinejad's government in defiance of the wishes of senior clerics and conservative politicians - to include Supreme Leader Khamenei - has up-ended the establishment, which had tried to maintain a unified front since the election to rebuff the reformers' challenge. Lines have blurred, he alleged, noting that "reformist conservatives" and "conservative reformists" are coalescing against Ahmadinejad in the wake of the controversy. Comment: With many across the political spectrum once again coalescing against Ahmadinejad, the critical unknown now is the degree of Khamenei's support for the oft-beleaguered President. Khamenei's support to Ahmadinejad was critical to the president's re-election but after having publically defied the Supreme Leader, their relationship may have frayed. ¶3. (S/NF) Mousavi Seeks TV Channel; Details of Ruholamini Death Accurate: The head of Iran's National Academy of Medical Sciences (please protect),in Dubai for a visa interview, related details of a meeting he had with Mir Hossein Mousavi two weeks ago and provided insight into the beating death of Mohsen Ruholoamini, whose physician father is his colleague. Comment: Our contact, a noted nephrologist who served as the Deputy Minister of Health during former President Rafsanjani's first term (1989-93),says that he maintains close ties with the Rafsanjani family and other key political figures, including Mousavi, whom he meets monthly in his capacity as the head of one of the four national academies in Iran. (Note: Mousavi is the head of the National Academy of Arts. The other two national academies are for literature and science.) Key points from our conversation: -- Mousavi explained that he was creating a political "front" because he had been told he would not be permitted to establish a political party. He said his top priority for the front would be to set up a television channel based outside of Iran that could broadcast the reformers' messages and uncensored news to viewers inside the country. He emphasized that Mousavi insists the channel would not rely on foreign funding or content, but is a requirement for linking up with "average" Iranians, whose access to information is currently limited to state propaganda or the "agendas of outsiders." DUBAI 00000306 002.2 OF 003 -- Our contact said that Mousavi and Khatami are working together "as brothers" and closely coordinating all statements and actions. He suggested that though Karrubi's continued defiance of the election result was welcomed, he is not part of the inner circle of reformist leaders. -- He described Abdolhossein Ruholamini, whose son's death in prison has led conservatives to open criticize the government's conduct, as a professional colleague whom he has known personally for decades. Ruholamini, as the head of the Ministry of Health's Pasteur Institute, is well-regarded by other doctors, but has long been known for holding "extremely conservative " principlist political views. Our contact believes the facts surrounding the story of his son Mohsen's death at the hands of security forces in Evin Prison to be consistent with what has been reported in the press. He said Dr. Ruholamini, and his many close friends in the conservative establishment, were most outraged by the fact that officials at Evin were aware of Mohsen's family connections and yet still abused him and then allowed him to die of an infection. He observed the Ruholamini family's generational split on politics is common: the children of "many " known conservatives openly support Mousavi. -- Our contact said that the consensus of the medical community in Tehran - of which he is the de facto head - is that about 150 people were killed in the unrest following the election, including people who died while in custody. ¶4. (S) Arab Journalist on Working in Iran and IRIG Suspicions of the US: An Arab television journalist who had covered the elections in Iran and their aftermath told us he left the country because it became impossible to work amid IRIG restrictions. Our contact said he had interpreted the arrest of Roxanna Saberi as a warning to foreign correspondents prior to the election. Her detention, and the subsequent arrests of others, had a chilling effect on many journalists, so that when the IRIG ordered them not to leave their offices while demonstrations were on going, few dared risk doing so. He added that he believed all his communications were tapped, so that he felt cut off from sources and his network headquarters. He finally left Tehran in frustration and is not sure if he will return. He also told us that US efforts to avoid any appearance of involvement in the elections had been well received by officials in Iran during the campaigns. Once protests began, however, deep-seated suspicions that the protests were part of a US plot became common among his IRIG contacts. Comment: Our contact said, echoing what others have told us, that the decision to clamp down on media coverage during the election aftermath had come from the IRGC, and the critical coverage of Iran's handling of the protests has only reinforced hard-liners' belief that foreign correspondents are conspiring against the IRIG. The IRIG had succeeded in limiting information coming out of Iran, he said, so that in the absence of independent journalists, a clear picture of election fraud and the deaths of demonstrators may never be known. ¶5. (C) Iranian Ex-pat Recounts Efforts to Protect his Land in Iran: An Iranian businessman living in Dubai remarked that after the Revolution - he left prior to the Revolution - he has had to fend off repeated attempts by various officials to take his property. Although he typically resorts to bribes, on one occasion he decided to personally defend his land - a pistachio farm in this case. As such he traveled to a courtroom in Kerman province after learning that an "endowment" in Iran had filed a claim for his property. The judge was shocked to see him because the claim alleged our contact was dead. After composing himself, the judge decided that resolving the issue would require a local investigation, to commence in three months. Our contact participated in the local investigation, which entailed traveling with court officials to the town where his land is located and interviewing people about his land; the investigation did not resolve the case. But that day our contact sat down with officials from the endowment and DUBAI 00000306 003.2 OF 003 passionately explained the importance of the land to his family and himself, promising that he would never stop fighting for his land. Shortly thereafter, the endowment abandoned its claim. Comment: IRPO has heard from other ex-pat Iranians that protecting their land in Iran can be a full-time job; such absentee landowners clearly represent an easy target for unscrupulous officials. MCGOWAN