Free Republic

Iran regime weakened: divisions exposed one year after disputed presidential election Deep divisions have emerged within the Iranian leadership in the run-up to Saturday's first anniversary of the hotly disputed presidential election contest that returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power. By Con Coughlin and Ahmad Vahdat Published: 7:00AM BST 12 Jun 2010 Factional infighting fuelled by a series of splits since the vote was exposed as rigged last year have come to a head with a row over an attack on attack on the family of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of Iran's Islamic revolution. The dispute has further eroded...

What could have made Iran's supreme leader so visibly angry? The extraordinary photo above -- posted to the website of Iran's hard-line Fars news agency but then quickly taken down -- shows supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at center with his hand raised, extremely angry after the conclusion of the June 4 ceremony commemorating the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. During that event, hard-line supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad began angrily shouting down Khomeini's grandson, Hassan -- who appears in a black turban at the top right corner of the picture -- as he delivered a speech...

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been increasingly defying its clergy sponsors, according to a new report. The American Enterprise Institute asserted that IRGC was ignoring the directives and policies of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei. In a report by analyst Ali Alfoneh, AEI said IRGC has become a force in Iranian politics as well as a state within a state. "Despite ideological congruity between Khamenei and the IRGC leadership, this could prove dangerous for Khamenei, who may find it difficult to subject the guards to his will while the IRGC develops into a state within the state and Khamenei...

Iranian intelligence is working with the military and security forces to draft and implement measures against the West. Officials said the measures were meant to counter destabilization campaigns by Britain, Israel and the United States. "Today, the main priority of the country is to confront the soft warfare that aims to create doubt, discord and pessimism among the masses of people," Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei said. Officials unveiled elements of Iran's strategy during a conference in January 2010. They said Teheran's aim was to block the Western campaign to overthrow the mullah regime by inciting massive unrest. "Currently, enemies...

"Air Force strikes in Gaza" SNIPPET: "IDF retaliates for deadly Qassam attack: Air Force hits several Gaza targets, including metal foundry, smuggling tunnel; Vice PM Shalom says Israel to offer strong response to rocket attack that killed Thai worker Thursday" SNIPPET: "IDF aircraft struck at least four targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday, a day after a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave killed a Thai worker in Israel, Hamas security officials and witnesses said." SNIPPET: "Israel also sent a letter of complaint to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is due to visit Israel at the weekend,...

Yesterday Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said "The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance [Western powers] on the 22nd of Bahman [Feb. 11] in a way that will leave them stunned," Today, despite the objections of the US and its allies, Iran began enriching uranium to a higher level bringing the Islamic republic closer to having nuclear weapons. Meanwhile in the country Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says should be "wiped off the face of the earth", Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for immediate and crippling sanctions against Iran

Khamenei, whose public statements should be taken seriously, is promising some sort of devastating “punch” against the West on Thursday the 11th, the same day as the Green Movement is calling for a monster protest against his regime. What might he have in mind? I don’t know; they say a lot of things just for effect, but threats/promises from the supreme leader have a certain standing. If I were an Israeli official, I’d recheck my information on Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad. Some think he’s preparing some kind of attack against Israel. Surely there has been no shortage in...

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran is set to deliver a "punch" that will stun world powers during this week's 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution. "The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance (Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman (February 11) in a way that will leave them stunned," Khamenei, who is also Iran's commander-in-chief, told a gathering of air force personnel. The country's top cleric was marking the occasion when Iran's air force gave its support to revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a key event which led to...

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran is set to deliver a "punch" that will stun world powers during this week's 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution. "The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance (Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman (February 11) in a way that will leave them stunned," Khamenei, who is also Iran's commander-in-chief, told a gathering of air force personnel. The country's top cleric was marking the occasion when Iran's air force gave its support to revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a key event which led to...

(AFP) – 29 minutes ago TEHRAN — Iran's all powerful supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution would be a "punch" to the world's "arrogant" powers that would stun them. "The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance (Western powers) on the 22nd of Bahman (February 11) in a way that will leave them stunned," Khamenei, who is also Iran's commander-in-chief, told a gathering of air force personnel.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is confident Islamic nations will one day watch the destruction of arch-foe Israel, his website Wednesday quoted him as saying.

Iraqi MP Sayyed Ayad Jamal Al-Din: Iraq Should Use Mujahideen-e Khalq and Iranian Opposition Groups against Iran The following are excerpts from an interview with Iraqi MP Sayyed Ayad Jamal Al-Din, which aired on Al-Aan TV (UAE) on January 9, 2010. According to his website Ayad Jamal Al-Din was elected to Iraqi parliament in 2005 on the Iraqi National List, but grew disenchanted with the Iraqi government and founded the Al-Ahrar party, which he heads, and is running as a candidate in the 2010 Iraq elections. ·         To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2347.htm.·         For more on...

-excerpt- The rift between the clerical establishment and the regime has significantly widened during the past six months. Slowly but surely, even some of the most conservative ayatollahs began to distance themselves from both. Last month, grand ayatollah Javadi Amoli, who performs Friday prayers in Qom, announced his resignation. In his departure statement, he expressed his frustration with the lack of listening on the part of the Supreme Leader: "When the Friday imam articulates the problems that people face and those problems are resolved, it is evidence that he has expressed them well. But if the problems are not resolved,...

LONDON (Jan. 5) -- Iran's supreme leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, likes to portray himself as a simple man of faith, interested only in spiritual -- not material -- wealth. But an exiled Iranian filmmaker says that behind this frugal front, Khamenei luxuriates in an opulent lifestyle supported by an ill-gained fortune of about $30 billion. Celebrated director and Iranian opposition spokesman Mohsen Makhmalbaf laid out his exhaustive evidence of Khamenei's highlife on his personal Web site (a translated version can be read here), after interviewing ex-Intelligence Ministry officials and former Khamenei household employees who have fled abroad. His sources...

The mayhem that has swept over Iran in the past few days is once more calling into question the Islamic Republic's longevity. Recent events are eerily reminiscent of the revolution that displaced the monarchy in 1979... In the aftermath of recent disturbances, however, it is obvious that the lifespan of the Islamic Republic has been considerably shortened.

A catalogue of the private opulence and eccentric tastes of 70-year-old Ayatollah Khamenei and his family has been compiled by Iran's opposition Green Movement from the accounts of the defector, who is said to be in hiding in France. Among his claims are that Ayatollah Khamenei has a voracious appetite for trout and caviar; is an avid hoarder of collectables from bejewelled pipes to fine horses; and that he suffers regular bouts of depression which are treated in part by audiences with a mid-ranking mullah who tells vulgar jokes.

photo: Ayatollah Khamenei (left) en Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (right) (EPA) Reports from Iran indicate that the Supreme National Security Council has ordered a complete check-up of the jet which is on standby to fly Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei and his family to Russia should the situation in Iran spiral out of control. The order, to the Pasdaran Revolutionary Guard Corps, was dated on Sunday, 27 December. A fax containing the order was sent to Dutch-based Shahrzad News.   In Iran, tens of thousands of pro-government supporters took to the streets on Tuesday, calling for leaders of the opposition to be...

A letter published on the Iranian websites claims that Ayatollah Khamenei is planning a possible escape to Russia.There were rumors floating around yesterday that Ayatollah Khamenei was preparing to flee Iran. Today Planet Iran posted a letter written on the official Islamic Regime letterhead that discusses Khamenei’s possible to escape to Russia. Iran Global website has exposed a document that discloses information on Khamenei and various authorities of the regime’s possible escape to Russia. The document is on the National Security Agency of the Islamic regime’s letterhead addressed from the office of the High Assembly of the Islamic Republic’s National...

Yesterday, in the heat of the protests, Mr "I am Gods agent on earth!" Khamemei, fled! He jumped in his helicopter, and flew to a nearby air base where he has 4 planes and air crews waiting on standby to fly him out of the country, on a moments notice! Leaving all of his supporters behind. He may not have left the country,...yet...But he's more than willing to leave the IRGC and his Secret Police to their fates, while he flys off to his billions stashed away in foriegn banks. He's ready to run like Robert!

Note: The following blog entry is a quote: Quote http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/22853.htm Blog Details Khamenei: Enemies Of The Regime Will Disappear Like Foam On The Water Referring to an incident in which a Student Day (December 7) demonstrators tore up a picture of founder of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that the enemies of the regime are "like foam on the water" and would disappear in the same way. Tehran prosecutor-general Jafari Dolatabadi announced that the regime had arrested students who tore up banners of Khomeini and Khamenei. Source: Irib.ir, Iran, December 14, 2009; Leader.ir,...