Iranian Intellectual Accuses Khamenei Of Systematic Murder Of His Opponents And Leadership Failure: 'Quit, [Or] Tomorrow It'll Be Your Turn!'
On November 26, 2012, Iranian intellectual Mohammad Maleki published an open letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the online daily Rooz. The letter, titled "Have No Doubt, Tomorrow It'll Be Your Turn," accuses Khamenei of repressing society and of systematically murdering his critics and opponents, and insists that he step down because of his responsibility for the regime's massacre of thousands of Iranian citizens. He added that Khamenei had best quit before the Iranian people rise up against him, in order to avoid the bloodshed that resulted when Syrians and Libyans rebelled against their leaders.
In the letter, which he says is his "last message" to the leader and which he dedicates to Sattar Beheshti, the Iranian blogger recently tortured to death by the regime[1] and to "the others killed in the struggle for freedom and equality," Maleki tells Khamenei that the Iranian people blame him for all of their problems and for Iran's grave political-economic situation. Describing Khamenei as a dictator alienated from his people who will not tolerate criticism and who slaughters his opponents, Maleki said that Khamenei does not even meet the criteria for leader of the country set out in the regime's own constitution, because his domestic policies have brought Iran to the brink of destruction. Among these domestic policies, Maleki lists the creeping military coup by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), including their takeover of state institutions and resources and the removal of reformists and of Hashemi Rafsanjani from the political map and the favoring of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He also attributes Iran's political failure in the international arena and its isolation in the world to Khamenei.
Mohammed Maleki[2]
The 79-year-old Maleki, who resides in Iran, is a political activist, a member of the anti-regime National-Religious Movement, and a columnist for Rooz. He was Tehran University's first president following the Islamic Revolution, but in 1981 was imprisoned for five years for opposing the purging of the universities under the cultural revolution of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. In 2001 he was arrested and imprisoned for six months for subversive activity, and in 2009 he was again arrested for protesting against fraud in the June presidential elections, and was also accused of insulting Khomeini and Khamenei. In January 2012, he was released from a brief detention on charges of waging an anti-regime propaganda campaign.
The following are the main points of his letter, which attracted attention on Twitter and Facebook:
In My Previous Letter To The Regime, I Wrote: "The People's Patience Has Run Out"
"(With appreciation of Sattar Beheshti and the others killed in the struggle for freedom and equality)
"Some six months ago, on May 22, 2012, I wrote a letter to the regime heads, saying: 'Although I know that the hands of the rulers of this homeland are the hands of Pharaoh, and that [their] presumption [to rule in the name of] God and sinking into the river of idiocy and megalomania [will continue] until the last moment [in an effort] to preserve their satanic power, [I wonder] whether this regime is [indeed] insightful [and capable] of thinking, in its final days, about the results of the path that it has promoted.'
"Six months have passed since I wrote that letter; during that time, there have been tremendous changes in Iran, in the region, and in the world – any one of which could have shocked the shriveled minds of this society. But the tyrants are so imprisoned by the fragile imaginations that they themselves created from their own personal religious [observance], that they can sense in their minds the final blow that is already late in coming – and that this blow will be so powerful and shattering that they won't even have a chance to utter a cry of pain.
"In that letter, I also noted: 'Before the silent outcry calling for justice for the people becomes so loud that it shakes and destroys the palace of the tyrants, I want to announce, for the last time, that the people's patience has run out, and that they are no longer willing to witness the elimination of their beloved homeland. The Iranian people do not want Iran's earth to be any more scorched than it already is. This is the last warning to the rulers of the country who are addicted to [the concept of] suffering.'"
"For The Past 50 Years... You Have Burned With... Love For Power And Status"
"Now, six months after that ultimatum, and in light of the [regime's] disregard of that warning, and now that there is no recourse and the end of the lives of the rulers is so close that it can be actually felt, I would like to say something to Ali Khamenei – one of the main causes of all the repression and destruction against which the Iranian nation struggles daily...
"Mr. Khamenei, now, when the spell of your power has been eliminated by the stones of the popular movements [i.e. the popular protests in 2009 and the bazaar protest of October 2012], I would like to tell you something as an old acquaintance: You may believe that death is just, and that everyone, including you and I, will one day leave this world – but there is no doubt that our deaths will be different. You and your cronies have no doubt prepared plans for this day, but only God knows how successful you will be in advancing those plans...
"Yes, Mr. Khamenei, you and I will live for about 80 years, but with one difference: For the past 50 years, I have burned with the fire of love for the freedom of Iran and of the people, [while] you have burned with the fire of love for power and status..."
You Must "Provide Answers For The Slaughter Of Tens Of Thousands"
"When I hear your speeches, I sense that you are very far from reality. In your recent speech in northern Khorasan [district], you mentioned two popular movements. You called the one that arose following the 2009 [presidential] election 'a few rioters' – but I saw several hundreds of thousands, even a million – two million – who came out to protect their vote and to say that the [presidential] election was a fraud, on your orders.
"The second, the movement of the bazaar merchants, you called 'a few westoxified[3] [people]' who managed only to set two or three garbage cans on fire. [But] I saw footage showing several thousand people.
"Now the question is: How can this gross discrepancy be justified? Either I am exaggerating, or you are downplaying.
"Mr. Khamenei, I do not know who brings reports to your home about what is happening in society and among the people. But don't take the plans you made during your visits [to the provinces] too seriously; don't believe that all those people welcoming you did so out of a strong desire to see you. If for once you do not order offices, schools, and entire cities closed, and do not force villagers to welcome you, you would clearly see whether this society is motivated by money, violence, and fraud, or whether the people [really] do love the regime and love the wise jurisprudent ruler – that is, you.
"Mr. Khamenei... Why won't you hold a free referendum – just once – with oversight by international human rights organizations, to find out the people's true opinion of the 'rule of the jurisprudent?'
"You must agree that Iran is collapsing. Don't believe what your cronies say. They are thinking only of their own interests, and they will abandon you in the end. The people today see your deeds, your conduct, and your statements as the source of all its problems. It is you who has denied, and still denies, the tremendous problems of the people, instead of looking for alternatives.
"It is you who called Iran 'the freest country in the world.' It was you whose wrong and idiotic decisions allowed foreigners [i.e. Westerners] to cause misery to the majority of Iranians with sanctions. It is you whose political failure has set the world against Iran. It is you who gave your men a green light to commit terrorist acts in Iran and outside it, in the streets and in the deserts, and to spill the blood of Iranian dissidents. It is you, as Iran's president [in the 1980s] and Iran's supreme leader [1989 to present], who must give answers for the slaughter of tens of thousands of people in the 1980s and for the deaths of the 'Halehs,'[4] the "Hodas'[5] the 'Nedas'[6]... and the 'Sattar [Beheshtis].'"
"Yes, it was you who called the popular movements 'fitna' [civil strife], and it was you who called those who rebelled 'foreign elements' and 'servants of the global arrogance' [i.e. the West, led by the U.S.]. It was you who allowed your men to imprison the best of the sons of the Iranian nation – students, lecturers, workers, attorneys, journalists, teachers, street and bazaar merchants – torturing them, sometimes executing them, merely for the charges of criticizing [you] and thinking differently [than you].
"It was you who showed no mercy even to the critics among your cronies and those who shared your views and put them under house arrest. It was you who, following the very costly 1980-1988 war [with Iraq], attained absolute power, and allowed the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to take over all military, political, economic, cultural, and security affairs; today, the government, the Majlis, and almost all government and private posts are in their hands, following their creeping military coup. All Iran now faces collapse due to their failed administration and their looting of the national treasury.
"Today, [the management of] all affairs of state are in the hands of senior security officials appointed by you. Did those who agree to fight and die for the independence of the state [in the Iran-Iraq war] do so in order for a few to take advantage of what remained and gain untold riches...? There is no need to look very far. You were the one who, following the 2009 presidential election - in contradiction of your own vision, and even before the Guardian Council declared the winner - sparked the fire of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which to this day burns the people and Iran, and which recently reached even you. Ahmadinejad, whom you preferred over your old friends such as Hashemi Rafsanjani, today stands fast against you and against your appointments in the judiciary and legislature, argues with them and threatens that if is harassed by you, he will 'reveal secrets.'
"Doesn't all this result from failed policy, from lack of insight, from being removed from the problems of the moment, and from your failed administration?
"I want to tell those friends who are still trying to keep you on the path you promoted that will doubtless lead to your destruction and to the destruction of the country... that if Moses successfully guided Pharaoh to the right path with his preaching, both you and I can [do so] as well. One thing is certain: only the waves of the storm or the fury of the people can determine the fate of tyrants. History marches on its own path, and the end of dictatorships is foretold..."
You Must Step Down And Announce That The 'Rule of the Jurisprudent' Has Failed
"Mr. Khamenei, where have you taken this country? ... Today, three decades [after the establishment of the regime], you have proven that you are unfit to lead the nation. You yourself say, based on Article 50 of the [regime] constitution: 'During the occultation of Hidden Imam in Iran, the administration of the country and of the nation will fall to the just, pious, brave jurisprudent that is aware of current affairs and skilled in administration.'
"You lack leadership qualifications. Article 111 of the constitution explicitly states: The leader will be removed from his position if he is incapable of carrying out his legal tasks, or if he lacks one of the qualifications mentioned in Articles 5 and 109, or if it becomes clear that he was from the outset lacking several of the qualifications.'"
"Have No Doubt – Tomorrow It'll Be Your Turn"
"Therefore, you must submissively submit your resignation to the Iranian people, announcing that the situation that has emerged proves that the 'rule of the jurisprudent' cannot manage affairs of state, and that the Iranian people must determine how the country will be run, via a free and comprehensive referendum under the oversight of international organizations. [You will also announce that] the people must take its fate into its hands, so that there will be no massacres and destruction of cities as in Libya and Syria...
"Mr. Khamenei, have no doubt – tomorrow, it'll be your turn, and what I write here is my last message to you."
"Some six months ago, on May 22, 2012, I wrote a letter to the regime heads, saying: 'Although I know that the hands of the rulers of this homeland are the hands of Pharaoh, and that [their] presumption [to rule in the name of] God and sinking into the river of idiocy and megalomania [will continue] until the last moment [in an effort] to preserve their satanic power, [I wonder] whether this regime is [indeed] insightful [and capable] of thinking, in its final days, about the results of the path that it has promoted.'
"Six months have passed since I wrote that letter; during that time, there have been tremendous changes in Iran, in the region, and in the world – any one of which could have shocked the shriveled minds of this society. But the tyrants are so imprisoned by the fragile imaginations that they themselves created from their own personal religious [observance], that they can sense in their minds the final blow that is already late in coming – and that this blow will be so powerful and shattering that they won't even have a chance to utter a cry of pain.
"In that letter, I also noted: 'Before the silent outcry calling for justice for the people becomes so loud that it shakes and destroys the palace of the tyrants, I want to announce, for the last time, that the people's patience has run out, and that they are no longer willing to witness the elimination of their beloved homeland. The Iranian people do not want Iran's earth to be any more scorched than it already is. This is the last warning to the rulers of the country who are addicted to [the concept of] suffering.'"
"For The Past 50 Years... You Have Burned With... Love For Power And Status"
"Now, six months after that ultimatum, and in light of the [regime's] disregard of that warning, and now that there is no recourse and the end of the lives of the rulers is so close that it can be actually felt, I would like to say something to Ali Khamenei – one of the main causes of all the repression and destruction against which the Iranian nation struggles daily...
"Mr. Khamenei, now, when the spell of your power has been eliminated by the stones of the popular movements [i.e. the popular protests in 2009 and the bazaar protest of October 2012], I would like to tell you something as an old acquaintance: You may believe that death is just, and that everyone, including you and I, will one day leave this world – but there is no doubt that our deaths will be different. You and your cronies have no doubt prepared plans for this day, but only God knows how successful you will be in advancing those plans...
"Yes, Mr. Khamenei, you and I will live for about 80 years, but with one difference: For the past 50 years, I have burned with the fire of love for the freedom of Iran and of the people, [while] you have burned with the fire of love for power and status..."
You Must "Provide Answers For The Slaughter Of Tens Of Thousands"
"When I hear your speeches, I sense that you are very far from reality. In your recent speech in northern Khorasan [district], you mentioned two popular movements. You called the one that arose following the 2009 [presidential] election 'a few rioters' – but I saw several hundreds of thousands, even a million – two million – who came out to protect their vote and to say that the [presidential] election was a fraud, on your orders.
"The second, the movement of the bazaar merchants, you called 'a few westoxified[3] [people]' who managed only to set two or three garbage cans on fire. [But] I saw footage showing several thousand people.
"Now the question is: How can this gross discrepancy be justified? Either I am exaggerating, or you are downplaying.
"Mr. Khamenei, I do not know who brings reports to your home about what is happening in society and among the people. But don't take the plans you made during your visits [to the provinces] too seriously; don't believe that all those people welcoming you did so out of a strong desire to see you. If for once you do not order offices, schools, and entire cities closed, and do not force villagers to welcome you, you would clearly see whether this society is motivated by money, violence, and fraud, or whether the people [really] do love the regime and love the wise jurisprudent ruler – that is, you.
"Mr. Khamenei... Why won't you hold a free referendum – just once – with oversight by international human rights organizations, to find out the people's true opinion of the 'rule of the jurisprudent?'
"You must agree that Iran is collapsing. Don't believe what your cronies say. They are thinking only of their own interests, and they will abandon you in the end. The people today see your deeds, your conduct, and your statements as the source of all its problems. It is you who has denied, and still denies, the tremendous problems of the people, instead of looking for alternatives.
"It is you who called Iran 'the freest country in the world.' It was you whose wrong and idiotic decisions allowed foreigners [i.e. Westerners] to cause misery to the majority of Iranians with sanctions. It is you whose political failure has set the world against Iran. It is you who gave your men a green light to commit terrorist acts in Iran and outside it, in the streets and in the deserts, and to spill the blood of Iranian dissidents. It is you, as Iran's president [in the 1980s] and Iran's supreme leader [1989 to present], who must give answers for the slaughter of tens of thousands of people in the 1980s and for the deaths of the 'Halehs,'[4] the "Hodas'[5] the 'Nedas'[6]... and the 'Sattar [Beheshtis].'"
"Yes, it was you who called the popular movements 'fitna' [civil strife], and it was you who called those who rebelled 'foreign elements' and 'servants of the global arrogance' [i.e. the West, led by the U.S.]. It was you who allowed your men to imprison the best of the sons of the Iranian nation – students, lecturers, workers, attorneys, journalists, teachers, street and bazaar merchants – torturing them, sometimes executing them, merely for the charges of criticizing [you] and thinking differently [than you].
"It was you who showed no mercy even to the critics among your cronies and those who shared your views and put them under house arrest. It was you who, following the very costly 1980-1988 war [with Iraq], attained absolute power, and allowed the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) to take over all military, political, economic, cultural, and security affairs; today, the government, the Majlis, and almost all government and private posts are in their hands, following their creeping military coup. All Iran now faces collapse due to their failed administration and their looting of the national treasury.
"Today, [the management of] all affairs of state are in the hands of senior security officials appointed by you. Did those who agree to fight and die for the independence of the state [in the Iran-Iraq war] do so in order for a few to take advantage of what remained and gain untold riches...? There is no need to look very far. You were the one who, following the 2009 presidential election - in contradiction of your own vision, and even before the Guardian Council declared the winner - sparked the fire of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which to this day burns the people and Iran, and which recently reached even you. Ahmadinejad, whom you preferred over your old friends such as Hashemi Rafsanjani, today stands fast against you and against your appointments in the judiciary and legislature, argues with them and threatens that if is harassed by you, he will 'reveal secrets.'
"Doesn't all this result from failed policy, from lack of insight, from being removed from the problems of the moment, and from your failed administration?
"I want to tell those friends who are still trying to keep you on the path you promoted that will doubtless lead to your destruction and to the destruction of the country... that if Moses successfully guided Pharaoh to the right path with his preaching, both you and I can [do so] as well. One thing is certain: only the waves of the storm or the fury of the people can determine the fate of tyrants. History marches on its own path, and the end of dictatorships is foretold..."
You Must Step Down And Announce That The 'Rule of the Jurisprudent' Has Failed
"Mr. Khamenei, where have you taken this country? ... Today, three decades [after the establishment of the regime], you have proven that you are unfit to lead the nation. You yourself say, based on Article 50 of the [regime] constitution: 'During the occultation of Hidden Imam in Iran, the administration of the country and of the nation will fall to the just, pious, brave jurisprudent that is aware of current affairs and skilled in administration.'
"You lack leadership qualifications. Article 111 of the constitution explicitly states: The leader will be removed from his position if he is incapable of carrying out his legal tasks, or if he lacks one of the qualifications mentioned in Articles 5 and 109, or if it becomes clear that he was from the outset lacking several of the qualifications.'"
"Have No Doubt – Tomorrow It'll Be Your Turn"
"Therefore, you must submissively submit your resignation to the Iranian people, announcing that the situation that has emerged proves that the 'rule of the jurisprudent' cannot manage affairs of state, and that the Iranian people must determine how the country will be run, via a free and comprehensive referendum under the oversight of international organizations. [You will also announce that] the people must take its fate into its hands, so that there will be no massacres and destruction of cities as in Libya and Syria...
"Mr. Khamenei, have no doubt – tomorrow, it'll be your turn, and what I write here is my last message to you."
Endnotes:
[1] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 5057, Iranian
Blogger Who Told Supreme Leader Khamenei 'Your Judicial System... Is
Nothing But A Slaughterhouse' Tortured To Death In Prison, November 19, 2012
[2] Roozonline, November 26, 2012.
[3] A pejorative Persian term for loss of an Iranian identity due to Western influence.
[4]
Journalist and human rights activist Haleh Sahabi was arrested and
imprisoned during the 2009 unrest and was murdered June 1, 2011 in a
clash with regime forces at the funeral of her political activist father
that the regime allowed her to attend.
[5]
Journalist and political activist Hoda Saber, also arrested and
imprisoned during the 2009 unrest, died in Tehran's Evin Prison on June
11, 2011. According to other political prisoners there, he was tortured
to death.
[6]
Neda Agha Soltan became a symbol of the 2009 uprising when she was
murdered by a regime sniper during a June 20, 2009 demonstration in
Tehran protesting election fraud.
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