Iran Ex-Security Chief Got $3.5mn Per Year From IRGC-Backed Drug Lord
Iran International has obtained information about links between Iran's former security chief Ali Shamkhani and a top drug lord, Naji Sharifi-Zindashti.
Iran International has obtained information about links between Iran's former security chief Ali Shamkhani and a top drug lord, Naji Sharifi-Zindashti.
According to an Iran International source, Shamkhani was receiving about $3.5 million in bribes per year from Zindashti, in addition to the narcotics that the drug baron personally provided for the secretary of Islamic Republic’s Supreme National Security Council.
Shamkhani’s dealings with Zindashti were among the reasons why a man representing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in the security council was pushed out of his position in May.
Sharifi-Zindashti and his accomplices – dubbed “The Friends’ Club” – have used the IRGC’s vast reach and control over transit routes and logistics to gain the upper hand in Iran's drug market, the source said.
The Club is comprised of senior IRGC officials and high-ranking members of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council as well as managers from Tehran Municipality and members of parliament.
Shamkhani, who was a senior member of the "Friends’ Club” was forced out of office, but the drug distribution network is still operating, reportedly trafficking more than 20 percent of narcotics distributed across Iran and about 35 percent of the drugs pushed in the capital Tehran.
Shamkhani's résumé is so full of controversies that it is difficult to pinpoint a single reason for his removal after about a decade at the post.
In recent months there were rumors about Shamkhani stepping aside as hardliners blamed him for failure to suppress protests. In video-taped remarks released on the internet in November, former lawmaker Hamid Rasaei, a hardliner cleric, accused him of failing to quash protests.
The conjecture was further confirmed after the hacktivist group ‘Uprising till Overthrow -- affiliated with the Albania-based opposition Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) group – hacked into 120 servers at the presidential office, getting access to internal communications, minutes of meetings, President Ebrahims Raisi’s online conference platforms and about 1,300 computers inside the office.
Among the released documents, there is correspondence between the president’s office and the office of Shamkhani, confirming rumors that he stepped down over conflicts with the Raisi administration.
In the letter addressed to Shamkhani, the chief of staff of the president, Gholam-Hossein Esmaili, criticized the security chief for a lack of insight into the wave of protests that engulfed Iran following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. With a condescending tone, Esmaili rebuked Shamkhani’s office for “merely describing and analyzing the events,” asking him to provide “meta-analyses and predictions” about the developments regarding the protests.
Shamkhani also had a fair share of scandals, like most regime insiders, pertaining to his abuse of power for financial gain and nepotism, including reports about his sons -- Hassan and Hossein -- owning dozens of businesses, such as large shipping companies.
There are also reports about the extravagant lifestyle of his family members in Iran and abroad. Following “rumors” that even his toddler grandson has hundreds of thousands of dollars in just one bank account as well as several properties, authorities announced that the bank account was blocked. Iran International’s investigative journalist Mojtaba Pourmohsen has published several exposés about the corruption of kith and kin, including his nephews Mo’ud and Naji Shamkhani.
Several pundits, such as commentator Morteza Kazemian, are also of the opinion that Shamkhani’s removal may be linked to the case of British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari, a former Iranian deputy defense minister who was executed over charges of spying for Britain. Akbari was a close ally of Shamkhani, and his execution was also interpreted as a move aimed at weakening Shamkhani’s position in the regime.
Khamenei who was addressing a group of Iranian nuclear scientists and officials in Tehran also claimed that Iran will not opt for nuclear weapons simply because of Islamic principles, “otherwise, they could not have prevented us.”
Tehran’s nuclear program, which has almost reached the threshold of weaponization, is quite controversial among Iranians, with many blaming the resulting sanctions for ruining the economy and impoverishing tens of millions of people.
Apparently, cognizant of the is fact, Khamenei said, “If you want a powerful Iran, all those who love Iran and the Islamic Republic, everyone who loves the nation and aspires for the power of this country, should regard this nuclear scientific, research and industrial effort as important.”
His use of nationalist slogans was clearly meant to garner some support among the population, with what is seen as a small minority of loyalists supporting the regime.
Iran’s nuclear program once again became a highly controversial international issue when former US President withdrew from the 2015 JCPOA accord, demanding a tougher agreement and a change of behavior by Iran that was fomenting trouble across the Middle East.
President Joe Biden quickly signaled his intention to return to the JCPOA, but Iran that had reacted relatively cautiously to Trump’s move, began to up the ante in December 2020, by passing a law to increase uranium enrichment first to 20 and then to 60-percent purity by early 2021.
Western officials and experts say that there is no justifiable civilian use for 60-percent enriched uranium. The only likely purpose is to purify uranium to 90 percent needed for assembling a bomb.
Negotiations that began in April of that year to revive the JCPOA came to an impasse in 2022, and Iran continued to accumulate enriched uranium. American officials believe that Tehran would be able to weaponize in just a few months if it decides to go nuclear.
In the light of recent reports about secret talks to reach some sort of a limited deal, whereby Iran would cap its uranium enrichment, Khamenei said, “It is possible that they [the West] would want to reach an agreement in some areas, but the nuclear infrastructure should not be affected.”
Iran has deployed thousands of advanced enrichment machines known as centrifuges in the past two years that can turn out enough 90-percent purified fissile material for a bomb in just two weeks. Even an agreement to freeze enrichment now, would leave Iran in the advantageous position of remaining at the nuclear threshold.
Any limited agreement, which the US has denied, would most likely leave these centrifuges in place.
Despite Washington’s denials there are signs of some steps signaling attempts to somewhat reduce the extent of disagreement.
Reports on Saturday indicated that the Biden administration has allowed Iraq to make available $2.7 billion of Iranian funds blocked in Iraqi banks due to US sanctions. This is so far the largest tranche of money Washington has allowed to be released, although it has been suspicious of Iranian machinations in Iraq to launder money.
Khamenei also reiterated his long-held position that the West and UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cannot be trusted.
Any negotiation or nuclear agreement should receive Khamenei’s approval, since he has the final say in all important political, military and economic issues, as the Supreme Leader.
On the other hand, reformist clerics suggested that the government had better stop putting religious pressure on citizens to “guide them to heaven.”
The Imam in Tehran, Mohamad-Javad Haj-Aliakbari, said that "the enemy" is spreading nihilism in Iran, adding that "In a year when we are getting close to the Majles [parliament] and Assembly of Experts elections, the enemy is trying to sow despair and heresy in Iran."
The term enemy, regularly used by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his loyalists, refers to the United States. By making this statement the Friday Imam was attributing Iranian women's defiance to compulsory hijab to a conspiracy by the United States.
Iranian clerics and regime officials invariably attribute their failures in various cultural, political and economic areas to the United States or the pre-revolution government that was replaced by the Islamic Republic 44 years ago.
The Tehran Imam said the West is waging a cultural onslaught against Iran to stop the country's progress in areas such as missile development. Meanwhile he accused Iranian women of not being chaste enough as they follow the West's teachings.
In another development Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday Prayers Imam of Mashad said: "The Islamic revolution's aim was not simply feeding the people and improving the economy. We did not simply want to give political control to the pious and expel US mercenaries from Iran. The aim was to allow the people to live freely."
However, Alamolhoda. a staunch supporter of compulsory hijab and one of the biggest defenders of clerical rule in Iran did not explain how the Islamic Republic or his own ideology would let people live freely. Meanwhile he praised the Islamic Republic's "achievement" in developing a “supersonic missile” that can reach Israel in less than 10 minutes.
Alamolhoda is the father-in-law of President Ebrahim Raisi and enjoys some influence with Khamenei.
As if he was responding to Alamolhoda,Sunni Leader Mawlana Abdolhamid, who led the Friday prayers in Zahedan, said, "Good for you if you can make missiles, but you need to feed the people first." His comment was a reference to Iran's economic crisis that has been pushing millions of Iranians under the poverty line particularly during the past two years.
Meanwhile, Iran's former reformist President Mohammad Khatami criticized the government's approach to hijab and hardliner clerics such as Alamolhoda's insults against Iranian women who brand women without hijab as "unchaste." Khatami said: "Hijab and chastity are two different things," adding that hardliner "clerics should not impose the hijab on the Iranian society."
He pointed out that hijab is a matter of choice, and it should not be imposed on women. He suggested that hardliners should avoid imposing "backward" ideas on the society. He added that "Islam should respond to the needs of the modern world." Khatami further stressed that "Women need to be respected if we wish to move toward a better future."
Khatami said: "You should be a human being first and then decide whether you want to be a religious person." He reiterated that there should be no difference between men and women in terms of freedom and dignity and we understand that there will be no limit to our growth."
Meanwhile, Khatami's former chief of staff, Mohammad Ali Abtahi said: "The affairs of the state cannot be furthered by forcing the people and pushing them into paradise, but some of the country's decision-makers believe that this is a good way of running the country and anyone against it should be suppressed." He called on the government to respect the preferred lifestyle of young Iranians.