Iran purges military leadership as disaffection spreads

NICOSIA -- Iran has purged scores of senior officers as disaffection against the regime spreads following the closing of major newspapers and the neutralization of reformers in the parliament loyal to President Mohammed Khatami.

A massive peaceful demonstration is planned Saturday in Teheran near Baharestan Circle, dissident sources in Washington told World Tribune.com.

The sources also said Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei had written the speaker of the parliament, Mehdi Karrubi, directing that the Press Law not be debated in the parliament (Majlis). The public mood has soured since the parliamentary elections led to the convening of the Sixth Majlis in late May with the reformists holding the majority.

But Khatami has not been a forceful leader for reform. This spring he denounced student demonstrations on his behalf after the regime violently suppresed them.

Former diplomat Dr. Assad Homayoun said disaffection is widespread both in the armed forces and the elite Revolutionary Guard. "Many officers are not really pro-Khatami," he said. "They just want change. They support a competent secular leadership who can address the nation's deepening economic crisis. Many want the ayatollahs to return to the mosques."

He went on to explain that Khatami is functioning chiefly in a public relations capacity to ease economic pressures on the Khamenei regime caused by its economic isolation. Homayoun, who was the minister in charge of the Iranian embassy in Washington, D.C. when the Ayatollah Khomeini seized control of the Iranian government in 1980, is currently president of the U.S.-based Azadegan Foundation which promotes freedom and democracy in Iran.

Iranian officials said scores of officers are being replaced and dozens of others are being based in embassies abroad, Middle East Newsline reported. They said some of the officials were replaced in policy disputes.

The replacements began in May when Joint Chief of Staff chairman Maj. Gen. Ali Shahbazi resigned amid what diplomatic sources said was a dispute over the military's role in the confrontation between Khatami and the ruling clergy. The general was said to have demanded more funding for the military and a lesser role of the Revolutionary Guards.

Shahbazi was appointed by Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei as an adviser. Maj. Gen. Mohammed Salimi, a close supporter of Khamenei, was appointed the new chief.

The reshuffle continued when army deputy chief Maj. Gen. Nasser Arasteh was replaced by Brig. Gen. Mustafa Torabipour. He was succeeded by former air force deputy commander Brig. Gen. Shahram Rostami. Arasteh was appointed military adviser.

On June 25, Khamenei resumed his shake-up of the military. The naval chief of the Revolutionary Guards, Rear Admiral Ali Akbar Ahmadian replaced Brig. Gen. Hussein Alai as chief of staff headquarters. Brig. Gen. Ahmad Kazemi was named head of the Revolutionary Guards air force.

Moreover, the military has appointed 34 defense attaches in Iranian embassies around the world. Their duties will include liasion, intelligence gathering, and arms sales.

Salimi said this will include promoting such new Iranian systems as the Zolfaqar tank, Boraq armored personnel carrier and the Babr 400 tank carrier.

Iranian officials said another project is the construction of the Zohreh communications satellite. Several countries plan to participate in the tender.

Iranian deputy Communications Minister Mehdi Tabeshian said Iran has two more satellite projects. One is called Mesbah and plans to be launched by 3004 and the other is a multi-purpose satellite to be built in cooperation with China, Thailand, South Korea, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Mongolia.