[Mb-civic] FW: Analysis: A Look At Iran's Sponsorship Of Terror Groups

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From: Samii Shahla <shahla at thesamiis.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2005 10:49:51 -0500
Subject: Analysis: A Look At Iran's Sponsorship Of Terror Groups

RFE/RL
Thursday, 13 January 2005

Analysis: A Look At Iran's Sponsorship Of Terror Groups

  By Bill Samii

The Iranian Constitution states that in order to attain its objectives
the country's foreign policy must be based on "Islamic criteria,
fraternal commitment to all Muslims, and unsparing support to the
freedom fighters of the world" (Article 3). Furthermore, "[Iran]
supports the rightful struggle of the oppressed people against their
oppressors anywhere in the world" (Article 154). These requirements, as
well as a desire to export the revolution, are a primary factor behind
Iran's support for what the United States identifies as terrorist
organizations. Iran's more recent reliance on asymmetric warfare in its
military doctrine, furthermore, underscores that such support will
continue.

The U.S. State Department first identified Iran as a state sponsor of
terrorism in January 1984, and it has borne that designation every year
since despite Iran's denials of involvement. The State Department
currently views Iran as the leading state sponsor of terrorism,
according to its annual "Patterns of Global Terrorism" report
(http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt). While Iran does not have an
official "Ministry of Terrorism," the State Department report notes the
involvement of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and the
Intelligence and Security Ministry (MOIS) in terrorist activities,
although it does not single out any individuals for involvement.

Distrust of the officer corps in the regular armed forces led to
creation of the IRGC shortly after Iran's 1979 revolution (see Kenneth
Katzman, "The Warriors of Islam: Iran's Revolutionary Guard," and
Nikola B. Schahgaldian, "The Iranian Military Under the Islamic
Republic."). Initially, the IRGC was headed by individuals with similar
backgrounds in the opposition, including training in Lebanon. Mohsen
Rezai headed the IRGC from 1981-97 and he now serves as secretary of
the Expediency Council.
Some may debate the definition of terrorism, but there is no question
that organizations openly backed by Iran are responsible for hundreds
of deaths. Iran, therefore, is at least partially responsible for those
killings.


The current head of the IRGC is General Yahya Rahim-Safavi, who served
as deputy to Rezai. The deputy commander is Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr.
Some observers believe that Zolqadr heads the IRGC's Qods Force, a
special operations unit that is believed to be responsible for
terrorist activities. The IRGC worked closely with the Supreme Council
for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) during the Iran-Iraq War
(1980-88) and afterward, and it sent personnel to Lebanon in the 1980s
to work with Hizballah.

A Revolutionary Guards Ministry headed by Mohsen Rafiqdust existed from
1982 until 1989. Rafiqdust would go on to head the Oppressed and
Disabled Foundation, which continues to fund IRGC activities. Its
overseas enterprises serve as fronts for IRGC operations (see "RFE/RL
Iran Report," 21 June 1999). The background of the current head of the
Oppressed and Disabled Foundation, Mohammad Foruzandeh, can be traced
to the IRGC, too. Born in 1953, Foruzandeh studied at Tehran Teachers'
Training College until his expulsion for antiregime activities. After
the Islamic Revolution, he served as governor-general of Khuzestan
Province. In 1986, Foruzandeh served as the IRGC chief of staff, and in
1993 he was appointed as defense minister by then-President Ali-Akbar
Hashemi-Rafsanjani.

The Iranian parliament passed legislation on creating an intelligence
agency in 1983, and the Intelligence and Security Ministry was
established the next year in an effort to eliminate competition between
numerous institutions and committees. Hojatoleslam Mohammad
Mohammadi-Reyshahri headed the ministry from 1984 until 1989. Reyshahri
served as chief judge of the Military Revolutionary Tribunal in the
immediate post-revolution period. Reyshahri later served as prosecutor
of the Special Court for the Clergy. In 1991, Reyshahri replaced Ahmad
Khomeini as leader of the Iranian delegation to the Hajj pilgrimage.
Reyshahri founded the Society for the Defense of Values of the Islamic
Revolution in 1996 and stood as its candidate in the 1997 presidential
election. In April 1997, Reyshahri was appointed to the Council for the
Discernment of Expediency by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali
Khamenei, and he is now a member of the Assembly of Experts. Reyshahri
also heads the Shah Abdolazim shrine foundation.

The second intelligence and security minister was Ayatollah Ali-Akbar
Fallahian-Khuzestani. He was born in Najafabad in 1949, and he studied
theology at Qom's Haqqani seminary. After 1979 he served as a
revolutionary court judge in Abadan. In 1981, he was appointed to the
court in Bakhtaran, Kermanshah Province, and in coordination with the
IRGC he participated in the dismantling of the Mujahedin Khalq
Organization. Fallahian-Khuzestani was appointed to the leadership of
the revolutionary committees in 1982. He began working at the
Intelligence and Security Ministry in 1984 as a deputy minister, in
1986 he began work as prosecutor in the Special Court for the Clergy,
and in 1988 he was made head of the Armed Forces Inspectorate.
Fallahian served as intelligence and security minister from 1989-97. He
currently serves on the Assembly of Experts.

The next intelligence and security minister, Hojatoleslam Qorban-Ali
Dori-Najafabadi, had served as a legislator and did not have a
background in intelligence or security affairs. He was welcomed as a
"relatively liberal and pragmatic cleric," London's "The Times"
reported in August 1997. A Friday Prayer leader, Dori-Najafabadi also
served as a parliamentarian, member of the Assembly of Experts, head of
the board of directors and secretary of the World Center for Islamic
Science in Qom, and as a member of the Council for the Discernment of
Expediency. He was forced to resign from the Intelligence and Security
Ministry in 1999 over allegations that rogue elements within the
ministry assassinated Iranian dissidents and intellectuals.
Dori-Najafabadi currently serves on the Expediency Council.

The current intelligence and security minister is Hojatoleslam Ali
Yunesi. Born in Hamedan in 1955, Yunesi studied in a Qom seminary.
Because of his political activism, he was imprisoned by the monarchy
several times, until he left for military training in Palestinian and
Lebanese camps. After the revolution, Yunesi held a number of positions
in the judicial arena. His background in intelligence work includes
service as representative of the Armed Forces deputy commander in chief
to the military intelligence department. Yunesi worked with Reyshahri
in creating the Intelligence and Security Ministry. He served on the
committee investigating the 1998-99 murders of intellectuals and
oppositionists in Iran.

Authoritative information on the structure of the Intelligence and
Security Ministry or the size of its workforce is not publicly
available. It handles domestic and foreign intelligence activities,
which includes dealing with neighboring states as well as relations
with so-called "liberation movements" (for example, Lebanese Hizballah
and Hamas). It also addresses ethnic and sectarian issues within the
country, and it monitors the clerical community and government
officials. The Intelligence and Security Ministry, IRGC intelligence
unit, and the IRGC's Qods Force work together (On the MOIS structure,
see Wilfried Buchta, "Who Rules Iran? The Structure of Power in the
Islamic Republic.").

One Iranian official, Hojatoleslam Ali-Akbar Mohtashami-Pur, makes no
effort to hide his close association with Hizballah and other groups
described by the United States as foreign terrorist organizations. He
was ambassador to Damascus from 1981 to 1985, Interior Minister from
1985-89, and a parliamentarian in 1989-93 and again in 2000-04. He was
closely involved with the creation of Hizballah and also with the 1983
bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut. After he went to
the Interior Ministry there was a bureaucratic tug-of-war over who
would control the Liberation Movements Office.

  Mohtashami-Pur is secretary-general of the International Conference to
Support the Palestinian Uprising (Intifada), which was held in Tehran
in April 2001 and June 2002. Representatives from Hizballah, Hamas,
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Peoples' Front for the Liberation of
Palestine-General Command participate in these events. Mohtashami-Pur
has attended smaller events like this in Beirut and Damascus in the
last four years.

Tehran consistently rejects accusations of involvement with or support
for international terrorism and claims instead that it is a victim of
this phenomenon. Some observers may debate the definition of terrorism,
but there is no question that organizations openly backed by Iran are
responsible for hundreds of deaths. Iran, therefore, is at least
partially responsible for those killings.
---
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