A lawmaker suggested Iran’s roads minister is hospitalized to evade accountability in a corruption case involving his adviser, a relative of an influential ayatollah close to the Supreme Leader.
In a thread of tweets on Friday, Ardeshir Motahari, a lawmaker accused Rostam Ghasemi, the minister of roads and urban development, of taking advantage of his hospitalization as an excuse not to provide any response regarding the arrest of his adviser by intelligence ministry’s agents "exactly on the date he arranged to receive a bribe in euros."
Ghasem Makarem Shirazi, the adviser, is the grandson or nephew of – according to different reports – of Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi, a well-known hardliner Shiite leader who is a close ally and staunch supporter of Ali Khamenei. In the latest parliamentary election, the accused ran for office from the city of Shiraz but failed to garner enough votes. He has held several positions during his career and has always been close to Ghasemi.
"Since the arrest of his advisor and special inspector, instead of answering questions, he has been lying on the bed,” Motahari said.
He also implicitly accused the road minister’s son of collaborating with his father’s detained adviser, and mentioned some other names and a corruption case about a land grab in the district of Boumehen (Bumehen) west of the capital Tehran.
Last week, the administration of Ebrahim Raisi confirmed reports about Makarem Shirazi’s arrest, but said the minister is in hospital for a spinal surgery.
Relatives of top figures in the Islamic Republic are often appointed to jobs unrelated to their education and expertise and many of them take advantage of their connections to circumvent regulations to make profit or receive bribes.
In an address to the 7th Summit of Ahlul Bayt, a religious organization of his own creation, in Tehran on Saturday, Khamenei accused Western powers, which he usually refers to as ‘arrogant powers’, of trying to sow discord in the Muslim world. The aging cleric said the “Great Satan”, the United States, orchestrates plans for war and conflict between Shia and Sunni Muslims, Arabs and non-Arabs, among Shias, and among Sunnis.
In his speech Khamenei also claimed that the Islamic Republic is not biased in matters such as the differences between the Shia and Sunni and Arab and non-Arab and seeks the unity of all Islamic countries.
Sunnis in the region would take issue with Khamenei’s claim, as they Iran creates and arms Shiite militant groups in Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Lebanon to expand its power and influence.
Iran’s ruler said Shia Muslims take great pride in standing up against “the seven headed monster of arrogance” (Western world powers), and defeating their plans, adding that they “interfere in the affairs of other countries, governments, and nations in a cruel and tyrannical manner.”
However, Khamenei did not comment on ongoing nuclear talks with the US. He has been silent on the topic for the past few months as negotiations have continued and reached a sensitive stage.
The Islamic Republic from its inception in 1979 has been led by anti-Western clerics, somewhat supported by leftist and pro-Russian political elements, who in the very first year took dozens of US embassy staff hostage for 444 days. Khamenei has faithfully continued this policy calling for the demise of Israel, the United States and Western Europe.
Iran’s encouragement of other nations “to stand up against world powers’ bullying” is the main reason for tensions with the Islamic Republic. “Neutralizing the criminal plots of the United States in other countries, of which the creation of Daesh (ISIS) is an example, has triggered an intense Iranophobia and Shiaphobia campaigns and accusations that Iran meddles in the affairs of other nations,” he said while denying any such interference by the Islamic Republic.
Describing the flag of the Islamic Republic as the “same flag as the flag of Ahl-ul-Bayt and prophets”, Khamenei also told the participants that the Islamic Republic has “hoisted the banner of justice and spirituality” and is the standard bearer in the war against “arrogance and dominion [of Western powers]”.
The website of Ahlul Bayt World Assembly which was founded in 1990 by Khameneiclaims it is “an international non-governmental organization (NGO)” established by “a group of Shiite elites under the supervision of the great Islamic authority of the Shiites in 1990” to identify, organize, educate and support the followers of Ahlul Bayt (those who believe in Prophet Muhammed and his household). “It is natural that the arrogant powers will oppose such a system,” he said.
Like several other entities often referred to as nongovernmental organizations and charities which are under Khamenei’s supervision and control, the Assembly is generally known as a propaganda arm of the regime and supporter of militant groups in the region, for its anti-Israeli campaigns, as well as activities aimed at exporting Iran’s Islamic revolution.
The summit of the assembly is being held in Tehran and northeastern religious city of Mashhad. According to the event’s organizers. Guests from more than 110 countries have attended the summit.
In the interview with Al Mayadeen Espanol published Friday, Captain Gholamreza Ghasemi reiterated the claim that he is a flight instructor and had no ties to the Iranian military except for fighting in the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) as a volunteer in the Basij Popular Mobilization Forces.
The crew of the plane have been held in Buenos Aires since early June over suspected connections with Iran's Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force and links to international terrorism.
Gerardo Milman, an Argentine lawmaker, told Iran International in June that Iranians aboard the Venezuelan plane planned “attacks on human targets.” Milman also alleged that Captain Ghasemi was a senior official of Qods (Quds) force.
Ghasemi told Al Mayadeen, a network close to the Islamic Republic, he had informed the Argentinian authorities before their arrival in Buenos Aires on June 8 that there were two Venezuelans onboard theBoeing 747 who were undergoing training by him.
According to Ghasemi, everything appeared normal when the plane entered Argentina and unloaded its cargo and took off for Paraguay. Apparently after returning to Buenos Aires following Paraguay’s denial of entry -- Argentinian authorities said they would not supply fuel to the plane when it wanted to leave. “If we had been supplied with fuel, we would have left the country, and nothing would have happened.”
“Since that day, there have been a series of issues that the Argentinians have been using as pretexts to justify their action,” he added.
The plane had to return to Argentina when Uruguay refused to allow it to land. “I have never witnessed a case anywhere in the world where a country grants permission for planes to fly in its airspace and an entry permit, and suddenly cancels them in the middle of a flight. This is the first time I've seen something like this in 20 years,” Ghasemi said.
Head of the Paraguayan National Intelligence Secretariat Esteban Aquino told the country’s Spanish language digital newspaper ABC Digital on June 18 that Ghasemi had ties with the IRGC despite claims by Argentina that no evidence linked the case to the Revolutionary Guards’ Qods Force.
Ghasemi also said that many Argentine officials have said in interviews that there is no pending case against the flight crew and that they can leave Argentina but that “the law should be respected” so they are waiting for the court and the judicial authorities’ decision on the matter.
The US Justice Department said August 2 that it was seeking possession of the cargo jet because it was previously owned by Iran’s Mahan Air that allegedly has ties to terror groups.
Iran has denied that the Boeing 747 belongs to Mahan Airlines, sanctioned by the US in 2008 for links to the Qods Force, the IRGC’s extraterritorial intelligence and secret ops outfit, which has been listed as a terrorist organization by the United States.
Early in 2022, Venezuela’s Conviasa decided to set up a cargo division that came to be called Emtrasur Cargo and its first plane was the Boeing 747-300M bought or leased from Mahan airlines and christened ‘Louisa Caceres Arismendi.’
The Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires also released a statement on June 17, saying that the Boeing 747 was used by the Iranian company Mahan Air and transported “a group of Iranian officials, including a senior executive of the airline Qeshm Fars Air,” accused of transporting weapons for Hezbollah during the civil war in Syria.