IRAN REGIONAL PRESENCE OFFICE DUBAI:WINDOW ON IRAN-AUGUST 5,

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 RPO DUBAI 000319 NOFORN SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 8/5/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM ECON EINV ENRG EPET ETRD SOCI IR SUBJECT: IRAN REGIONAL PRESENCE OFFICE DUBAI:WINDOW ON IRAN-AUGUST 5, 2009 DUBAI 00000319 001.2 OF 003 CLASSIFIED BY: Timothy Richardson, Acting Director, Iran Regional Presence Office, Department of State. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (S) Endorsement, Inauguration Initiate Ahmadinejad's Second Term: Supreme Leader Khamenei officially endorsed Ahmadinejad for the presidency on August 3 and today Ahmadinejad took the oath of office during his inauguration. Both events have been scrutinized for their clues to the elite infighting currently playing out in Iran. Many media outlets and commentators noted an awkward exchange between Khamenei and Ahmadinejad during the endorsement; whereas in 2005 Khamenei affectionately embraced Ahmadinejad, this year the Supreme Leader appeared to shun such an embrace, allowing Ahmadinejad only to kiss his shoulder. Additionally, a few IRPO contacts interpreted a passage in Khamenei's remarks as a warning -- Khamenei said the President would have his approval as long as he serves "progress and justice." The Supreme Leader, however, made similar comments in endorsing Ahmadinejad's first term. IRPO does not judge the endorsement ceremony to have clarified the relationship between the two, though it is notable that some Iranian observers consider the endorsement's proceeding to have signaled Khamenei's displeasure with Ahmadinejad. Other points: -- Mir Hossein Mousavi, former President Khatami and Expediency Council Chairman Rafsanjani did not attend either ceremony. The Majles, where Ahmadinejad was inaugurated, was not full, suggesting that the members of parliament who had vowed to boycott the ceremony did so. -- Khamenei's verbal sparring with Rafsanjani and the opposition continued. In a probable bid to rebut Rafsanjani's warning that Iran risked losing its republican nature, Khamenei during the endorsement ceremony argued that Iran's Islamic and republican identities could not be divorced from one another. And following up on his own warning that the election aftermath represented a test for Iran's political elite, Khamenei said some of the elite had failed the test. It is unclear if he was referring to the many standing trial already or others, such as Mousavi. -- There were reports of protests during both events. Unconfirmed reports indicated security forces were out in force ;around the Parliament, nearby metros were closed and cell phone service blocked. There were no immediate estimates of the size of the protests, although Twitter feeds claimed that bazaaris had closed their shops in solidarity and that protesters either had taken over the Tehran Bazaar police station or police there had joined the protesters. -- In his inaugural address, Ahmadinejad said he planned to emphasize cultural values, family stability, economic reform, and an active foreign policy in his second term. He expressed confidence that he would have the support of all branches of government and he invited the Iranian people, including elites and intellectuals, to join forces and unite in pursuing these goals. In concluding, he claimed that he could feel the Twelfth Imam's divine presence and announced that Iran is beginning a new age of the Revolution and a new chapter of humanity. -- In reference to the international condemnation of the post-election crackdown, Ahmadinejad said that certain Western powers' refusal to congratulate his government proves that they only value democracy when it serves their own interests. He further claimed that the outrage displayed by these "sworn enemies of human values" is a testament to the election's magnitude. Although he said that Iran's enemies are trying to depict the Islamic Republic's future as bleak, the Iranian people are vigilant and know better. Ahmadinejad maintained that his new administration will resist bullying powers, which must be held accountable for their interference and occupation. While he promised to support dialogue with all people and nations based on justice and friendship, he warned that the Islamic Republic will not tolerate insults, discrimination, or abuse. ¶2. (S) Fact Is Fiction and TV Reality: The IRIG's efforts to portray unrest as part of an intricate conspiracy of Western DUBAI 00000319 002.2 OF 003 intelligence organizations, international NGOs, Israel, and their Iranian fellow travelers and its simultaneous silence on human rights abuses by security forces are further inflaming passions on both sides. If the show trial is intended to offer "conclusive proof" of velvet revolution and build support for the government, then photos of bloody demonstrators and reports of families paying a "bullet fee" to reclaim bodies of the dead are evoking images of a brutal dictatorship come to power. A Tehran journalist who supports the opposition told us that rumors and unconfirmed reports of Basij brutality are widely believed, and he cited as an example claims that protesters killed by security forces had been buried in unmarked mass graves are seen as fact within opposition circles. At the same time, the Dubai bureau chief of a Western news service told us that although the service's Iranian reporters in Tehran are no longer being directly threatened as they were immediately after the election -- one was told by an anonymous caller his fingers would be cut off if he kept reporting "lies" -- they remain subject to restrictions on their ability to report on protests and other issues the IRIG does not want covered. Comment: The competition between the IRIG and the opposition for domestic and international public opinion is leaving little middle ground for objective, credible reporting. Rather, the alternative perceptions of reality are appealing to emotions on both sides and likely hardening attitudes. ¶3. (S/NF) IRPO Contact Comments on Trial Indictment: Our contact compared the indictment to those used during "Stalinist" courts and criticized it as inconsistent, full of legal mistakes, and outside the context of the Iranian legal system. He complained that many of the alleged crimes, such as taking pictures or working on a presidential candidate's staff, are not even crimes. Our contact said he has worked for the two Iranian NGOs named in the indictment; neither of their directors, despite being included in the indictment, have been arrested. Summarizing, he maintained the indictment is a bid to convince the government's hardline supporters of the threat of a velvet revolution and a warning to the opposition. Comment: Our contact follows political matters in Iran closely and was living in Iran until recently. As he is not a lawyer, his assessment is probably best viewed as reflection of the attitudes of intellectuals and the opposition rather than that of a legal expert. ¶4. (S) Iranian Energy Consultant Expects Appointment of IRGC Official as Oil Minister and Predicts Continued Industry Slowdown: According to an Iran-based oil sector consultant, the rumor in Iran's energy industry is that Ahmadinejad will ask IRGC Commander Seyyed Ghasemi to serve as Minister of Oil in his second term. Ghasemi currently oversees Khatam-ol-Anbia, the IRGC's industrial and engineering branch that has enjoyed a wealth of government contracts under the patronage of Ahmadinejad. In reference to recent talk of U.S. sanctions on Iran's refined petroleum imports, the consultant doubted that Ahmadinejad's administration, already struggling with a large fiscal deficit, would be able to construct new refineries and upgrade older refining facilities in order to effectively shield Iran from a gasoline shortage. The consultant claimed that the Iranian government had originally earmarked 4 billion USD for overhauling Bandar Abbas refinery ("the only refinery the government is serious about"),but financial problems forced the government to reduce the project's budget to 500 million USD, which even Chinese and local Iranian firms, widely known in the energy industry for "cutting corners," considered too low an offer. The consultant maintained that, despite press statements by government officials to the contrary, the current financial situation in Iran has frozen most oil and gas projects, with the notable exception of the South Pars gas field. When asked about the feasibility of a strike in Iran's energy sector, the consultant, who participated in the oil sector strike during the Islamic Revolution, said that with Iran's current levels of unemployment "any Iranian would kill for a job; no one can afford to risk their income in this financial environment." He did claim, however, that a significant split is developing in Tehran's bazaar as small shop owners, whose sales have suffered during the post-election unrest, are growing resentful of the powerful bazaari backers of the Motalefeh Party, who have benefited economically from the party's ties to the government. ¶5. (S) Visa Applicants in Dubai Suggest Election's Economic DUBAI 00000319 003.2 OF 003 Aftermath Uneven: Several Iranian businessmen applying for visas in Dubai asserted that the election unrest had shaken the people's confidence in the country, causing people to hold on to their money. A travel agent, for instance, said that immediately after the election bookings dropped 50 percent, though now bookings are beginning to increase again. The construction sector, in trouble even before the election, also allegedly slowed further. An owner of a construction firm in Mashad said prices for residential real estate there are down 50 percent from their highs. However, some businessmen claimed to have seen little effect from the election. A grocery store owner said people still have to eat in explaining why his own business remained unaffected. An employee of a drug import company and an importer and manufacturer of textiles said sales remain pretty strong. ¶6. (S/NF) Former MP Recommends Publicizing USG Perspective on Civil Aviation Sanctions: A former two-term Majles representative of Iran's Jewish community said this his close friend Leon Davidian, who represented the Armenian community in the sixth Majles, was killed in the July 15 Caspian Air crash. Our contact relayed that the Iranian public generally holds "the West" responsible for the dismal safety record of the domestic air travel industry. He said that in the wake of the crash, he gave an interview on Al-Alam network (the IRIG's Arabic language television channel that is broadcast externally) in which he slammed not only the "inhumane sanctions" but also the Iranian government for allowing domestic airline companies to cost save by using "the cheapest Russian planes available." The former MP stated that few, if any, Iranians are aware that the IRIG is foregoing the opportunity to purchase quality spare parts through the waiver program. He then asked why the U.S. Government was not making "better use" of VOA broadcasts to explain the United States' policies toward Iran, noting that the availability of aircraft spare parts was an issue we could "easily" turn against the IRIG just by publicizing "the truth." Comment: Sanctions against Iran's civil aviation industry are a rare issue where the Iranian government's attempts to lay blame at the doorstep of the United States and our allies appear to be effective, even among IRPO's relatively worldly and affluent contacts who are typically well-versed in U.S. policy toward Iran. RICHARDSON