Tabarzadi, a wolf in sheep's clothing - By Babak Namdar

Marze Por Gohar Party ^ | SadeghSaleh

[SadeghSaleh]

A tendency within the Islamic Republic of Iran is to use misleading shortened versions of the names of Islamic organizations and personalities in order to sanitize and reactivate certain discredited entities. Heshmatallah Tabarzadi was one of the main leaders for the"Office of Strengthening the Unity of the University and theTheological Seminary" (OSUUTS), nowadays simply referred to as the"Office of Strengthening Unity". Prior to Khamenei's tenure as the "SupremeLeader" and the "Guardian Scholar" during the late 80s, college students did not have the right to form political groups. Khamenei declared that students should partake in political activities and allowed them to form groups. The government provided permits and money in addition to overseeing all the student political activities. The students were fostered by a group of fundamentalists who are now referred to as "reformists". They included individuals such as Kharrubi, Mohtashamipour, and Moussavi-Khoeynaha who at the time had greater powers than Khamenei and Rafsanjani. Their objective was to solidify a union between the students and theologians. Tabarzadi alienated himself from this group so that he could follow Khamenei's and Rafsanjani's political line. During the late 80'Tabarzadi was selected as one of OSUUTS officers, and Khamenei gave him a three-story office building on the Vesalle Shirazi street, close to the Tehran University. This is where Tabarzadi started the newspaper "Payam-e Daneshjoo-ye Basiji" or the "Message of the Militia Student" during the early 90's. It is rather unfortunate that the Iranian domestic and foreign language press in addition to the international media never mention Tabarazadi's newspaper by its real name. The "Message of the Militia Student" is printed at the same facility as the hardline fundamentalist Khayan newspaper. Hossein Shariatamdery, the Kayhan editor and special prosecutor-interrogator of countless intellectual dissidents and Saeed Eslami (Emami), an Intelligence Ministry official and assassin, have or had been in charge of supervising this publication. As a reminder,Saeed Eslami was the person who killed the dissidents Forouhar and his wife and who himself died later under suspicious circumstances in Jail presumably to be silenced by his superiors in the IntelligenceMinistry. Khayhan also handled the distribution of the newspaper. When conflict began between Rafsanjani and Khamenei, Tabarazdi also started verbally attacking Rafsanjani. Once Khamenei and Rafsanjani made up, Tabarzadi's paper was shut down, although he continued his activities. At this point, Tabarzadi was a good model for the student Militia, a nationwide force organized by the infamous Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and charged with suppressing dissent, attacking and even killing opponents of the regime. He wore his Militia green overcoat and a full beard. He was so religious that he would not trim his beard with a blade rather opting to cut it with a scissors! Tabarzadi's deep religious views even prevented him from shaking hands with Roozbeh Farahanipour,executive director of Marzeporgohar Party because he was not a Muslim thus considered "najess" or impure.

Just about the time presidential elections of 1997, Tabarzadi began supporting Khatami's political views. He began campaigning for Khatami and switched from the far right wing to the left. The so-called reformists of today were once the hardliners of yesterday. The government's killing of the Forouhars marked the beginning of the uprising against the theocratic regime. Approximately three days after the dissident murders on November 22th 1998, Tabarzadi shut down his office. The Intelligence Ministry had traditionally supported different elements within the regime based on the assumption that most Iranians believed in the theocracy. Once it became evident that people no longer accepted the clerical government, the Intelligence Ministry (VEVAK), set out to create a new strategy. They came up with the notion that VEVAK agents or controlled elements posed as an opposition members could dictate what path the opposition would follow. The Intelligence Ministry began taking away all the government perks that Tabarzadi enjoyed so thatpeople would not suspect anything foul, after all one can't be an opposition member if he/she is getting money or resources from the government. Slowly Tabarzadi began drifting towards nationalist groups.Most of these groups however, including the traditional Mossadeghite "National Front", understood very well that Tabarzadi was working for the Intelligence Ministry. During the demonstrations marking the different anniversaries such as the Forouhars murders, Mossadegh or other national heroes, supporters of Tabarzadi would be out in force,but they always maintained the "reforms from within" a view the reformists advocated. Though student leader Manuchehr Mohammadi and Tabarzadi usually worked closely together, during the demonstrations marking the anniversaryof Mossadegh's death in 1999, the two were feuding with one another. It was during this occasion that supporters of Manuchehr Mohammadi passed out flyers stating that Tabarzadi was an agent of VEVAK (the Intelligence Ministry). The 2003 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Shirin Ebadi in fact also stated that Tabarzadi was a Vevak agent. Shirin Ebadi also served time in jail for exposing a Rafsanjani-Hezbollah-Mohammadi connection. Ebadi uncovered a scheme where Manuchehr Mohammadi would receive money from Rafsanjani's daughter, and in exchange he would lure students out of their dormitories. Once the student did come outside they were brutally beaten up by Hezbollah thugs.

During 1999 Tabarzadi began a new bi-weekly paper called Hovyat or"identity".The name of the weekly paper was specifically chosen for a purpose; Hovyat was a TV show in which the Intelligence Ministry would humiliate dissidents, show them confessing and asking for forgiveness. The general public found the show to be rather repulsive. Tabarazadi's aim was to use the paper to critize the government, and in return have the people accept Hovyat as a genuine opposition paper, and in the process they would forget the bad views they had regarding the television show. After roughly 3 months the paper ceased publication, its objective having been reached. Eventually he was asked to go to jail at "hotel" Evin. While he was in jail, the July 9th 1999 student uprising began; therefore, stating that Tabarzadi was a student leader is utterly false. During this time of fabricating opposition members, much attention was given to Tabarzadigoing in and out jail. This was a method that the information ministry used to have genuine dissidents forgotten, while their man's jail visits were headline news. Tabarzadi himself has never stated that he has been tortured in any way. This is rather an extremely odd thing, considering the fact that he is on record stating that if he were asked to go to a specific jail that was not to his liking he would refuse. He is also on record stating that he has torn up interrogation papers, yet no harm was brought upon him. An Iranian-Canadian was beaten to death July 12th,2003 for not falsely admitting she was a spy, yet we are supposed to believe that Tabarzadi can tear up the interrogator's papers yet face no consequences? The treatment of Tabarzadi and other agents working as dissidents also helped the clerical regime's human rights image. With the likes ofTabarzadi going in and out of jail without any marks of mistreatment,the clerics managed to get Iran's name off the blacklist of humanrights at the United Nations on May 29 2003, and received closer cooperation with the European Union while thousands of un-named or lesser known prisoners were and are being tortured in Islamic Republic prisons.

As Iranians were getting closer and closer to secularism, VEVAK had yet another trick up its sleeve. Their new plan was to have Tabarzadi resurrect a well known older secular group. They specifically picked out a group that had lost numerous members in its fight against the Islamic Regime in order to better secure the people's trust. With Tabarzadi running as a leader of a well known group with secular aspirations,people would quickly forget who the real leader of the group was, and would also forget of Tabarzadi's link with the government. The group they picked was the "National Democratic Front" who's original leader is the grandson of the late leader, Dr.Mossadegh. The Intelligence Ministry was in such a hurry to form this group that they forgot Tabarzadi could not be a leader of a secular opposition with a religious beard and Militia overcoats. Therefore when his site first went online, Tabarzadi looked more like a Hezbollah member than a secular opposition personality. VEVAK's strategist figured perhaps it was better to present Tabarzadi as a sole alternative, and hence took out the "democratic" word from the name of Tabarzadi's group. They even went so far as to changing Tabarzadi's appearance; out went the fuzzy beard and Militia overcoat,and in came the goatee and western style suits. In addition the word "allah" was taken out of his first name "Heshamtallah". Even different alphabetic letters were used to spell his name, distancing him from Arabic letters and Koranic sounding names! When Tabarzadi eventually began to define his platform during 2000, he declared that he was neither for the right, nor for the left and thathe was for peaceful protest. Ironically when protests did occur such as the anniversary of the July student uprising, he urged people to stop demonstrating, and attempted to steer the demonstrators towards inaction. During the years 2000 to 2001 when numerous Marzeporgohar members fled Iran, we noted Tabarzadi's involvement with the theocratic regime, however few listened. One might wonder how Tabarzadi could get funding for his activities, at time when he insists that he has no connections with clerics. If an Iranian dissident receives $200 dollars from abroad, he or she may very well face jail time, but not Tabarzadi. He has two bank accounts opened specifically to "fight" the clerical regime. One account is in his own name at the National Islamic Bank, and the other account is i na friends name at Bank Tejarat. Is the clerical regime so liberal as to let opposition members collect money to depose their own system? What is even more alarming is that the Los Angeles based media actually portrays Tabarzadi as a genuine opposition figure. They are constantly asking their listeners and viewers to help Tabarzadi's cause by donating money to him. It is truly sad, that while some naïve people are thinking they are helping the opposition, they are in fact helping the theocracy stay in place. The information ministry is laughing all the way to the Islamic National Bank. But the money being collected pales in comparison to the information Tabarzadi is relaying to the Intelligence Ministry. As an example, during late June 2003, Roozbeh Farahanipour of theMarzeporgohar Party, mentioned a conversation he had with a female opposition figure. The naïve lady spoke about how she had a conversation with Tabarzadi the day before where she discussed the recent meeting she had with Michael Ledeen. Without even spending one penny, Vevak gains valuable insight in regards to America's views, and possible future policies regarding Iran. The very minimum Iranians can do is at least make Vevak work for it's intelligence, not simply serve it to the intelligence ministry on a platter.

The blatant preferential treatment Tabarzadi received and continues to receive was very evident during the July 2003 demonstrations when even parliament members were forbidden to speak to the media. Yet Tabarzadi was on practically every radio station, espousing the virtues of not fighting back if protesters are being clubbed, beaten, and harassed. How is it that student demonstrations are suppressed and thousands of their participants are arrested, yet the information ministry is experiencing difficulties finding Tabarzadi? How is it possible that Iranians were refused permits to gather, yet Tabarzadi secured rights to use the Azadi Stadium to supposedly stage demonstrations?

Some opposition groups simply utilize Tabarzadi because they simply have no political base in Iran, and in an attempt to legitimize themselves they work with him. This alliance works well for both parties, the supposed opposition parties lobby foreign governments for money and cite Tabarzadi as their cell in Iran, and Tabarzadi on the hand hands gets protrayed as a genuine oppostion member. In a sense the supposed opposition groups that work with Tabarzadi are in fact working with Vevak, and therefor it is safe to assume that they have no plans to actually overthrow the clerical regime, opting to simply give lipservice in exchange for monetary benefits.

It is important to note that as with Tabarzadi and some other Iranian political groups, the followers of these groups are generally well meaning Iranians that want to have a free Iran. We can draw parallels with the Tudeh (Communist) party, where after the Islamic Revolution the Tudeh leaders exposed all their members, while they themselves (the leaders) received immunity. While young Tudeh members were getting executed by the regime's firing squads, their leaders were busy moving into nice cushy government apartments. It is safe to say that many followers of Tabarzadi are true Iranian patriots, however they dont haveall the facts regarding their leader. We feel it is our duty to let our freedom seeking Iranian compatriots know that Tabarzadi is in fact a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Babak Namdar is the Assistant Director of Foreign Policy for the Marze Por Gohar Party, Iranians for a Secular Republic.

[pyrooz]

This is unbelievable. If you ever read Roozbeh Farahanipour's bullshit memoire of his 10 days Towhid detention, you see how he tries gain credibility from Tabarzadi. Also there is a series of radio interviews with Radio Israel where again he tries to gain credibility from Tabarzadi. Then all of a sudden when Tabarzadi laughs at Roozbeh's pathetic group, Tabarzadi becomes a baddy.

Facts are however that :

a) Tabarzadi has been a long term prisoners now much longer than Roozbeh's 10 days in Towhid.

b) Roozbeh signed an agreement to co-operate with the Islamic Republic, while in Towhid.

c) Shortly after Roozbeh's release from Towhid, he published a children's book. On the inside cover the book commemorates the victory of the Islamic revolution.

d) While all other dissident exiles at the time in Turkey, went outside the Islamic Republic embassy in Ankara to commemorate 18 TIr anniversary, Roozbeh had locked himself in his flat, too scared to come out. Witnesses are available.

e) While in Turkey, Roozbeh wrote a letter asking for forgiveness from the Supreme Leader.

f) Not one other Iranian political prisoner, whether in prison now or released gives any credibility to Roozbeh.

So its left to people like Babak Namdar, who does not speak Persian properly to gobble his bullshit :)))