Mir-Hossein Mousavi's Iran/Contra Connection?

[Hannah Bell]

What do Michael Ledeen (the American 'neo-conservative'), Mir-Hossein Mousavi (the Iranian presidential candidate of 'chagne') and Adnan Khashoggi (the opulent Saudi Arabian jet-setter) have in common?

They are all good friends and associates of Manuchehr Ghorbanifar (an Iranian arms merchant, an alleged MOSSAD double agent, and a key figure in the Iran/Contra Affair, the arms-for-hostages deals between Iran and the Reagan administration)...

Here is a bit from an article by Time magazine that shows Ghorbanifar's circle of associates; it is from a January 1987 cover story (The Murky World of Weapons Dealers; January 19, 1987):

"By own account he was a refugee from the revolutionary government of Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, which confiscated his businesses in Iran, yet he later became a trusted friend and kitchen adviser to Mir Hussein Mousavi, Prime Minister in the Khomeini government. Some U.S. officials who have dealt with Ghorbanifar praise him highly...

...Seeing how we cannot ignore his 'neo-con' credentials and that Michael Ledeen maintained his very good relations with Ghorbanifar, (who at least used to be) a good friend of Mir-Hossein Mousavi (the 'candidate of change' in the Iranian presidential elections); and given the support that Mousavi's candidacy has been receiving from the American 'moderates', maybe this kind of 'change' is the 'regime change' the Americans have had in mind for Iran?

http://revolutionaryflowerpot.blogspot.com/2009/06/mir-hossein-mousavis-irancontra.html

[Hannah Bell]

1. As prime minister from 1981 to 1989, Mousavi oversaw social austerity measures...

As prime minister from 1981 to 1989, Mousavi oversaw social austerity measures imposed to finance the Iran-Iraq war. At the time, he was a proponent of normalizing relations with the US and recognizing Arab regimes. In the lead-up to the American Iran-Contra scandal in the late 1980s, as the US and Israel sold weapons to Iran, Mousavi organized arms purchases from Israel and oversaw the repression of opposition to the negotiations with US officials on weapons—including the execution of prominent Iranian politician Mehdi Hashemi, who had led a Tehran demonstration against these covert arms deals.

In the Western press, Mousavi is widely treated as the most viable challenger in the elections.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/jun2009/iran-j04.shtml

[Baikonour]

2. Let's not forget his connection to the Iran Massacre of '88.

It's a shame that so few people actually know about this event, or his role in it.

[ColbertWatcher]

3. Do you have a link to this? I have to admit I am one of those people who don't know. n/t

[Hannah Bell]

4. mostly 'commies,' so it doesn't matter, does it?

"1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners (Persian: ۱۳۶۷ اعدام زندانیان سیاسی در تابستان) refers to the systematic execution of thousands of political prisoners across Iran by the government of Iran, starting on 19 July 1988 and lasting about five months. The main targets were the members of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (PMOI), although a lesser number of political prisoners from other leftist groups were also included such as the Tudeh Party of Iran (Communist Party).<1><2>

The killings have been called "an act of violence unprecedented in Iranian history — unprecedented in form, content, and intensity."<3> Estimates of the number executed vary from 8000<4> to 30,000.<5><6>

Great care was taken to keep the killings secret, and the government of Iran denies their having taken place, but with the large scale of the operation word leaked out from survivors. Explanations offered for why the prisoners were killed vary. Perhaps the most common is that it was in retaliation for the 1988 attack on the western borders of Iran by the PMOI Mujahedin, although this happened after the executions had begun and does not explain the executions of members of other leftists groups who opposed the Mujahedin invasion. <7>

One complaint made against the mass killings was that almost all the prisoners executed had been arrested for relatively minor offenses, since those with serious charges had already been executed. The 1988 killings resembled the Katyn massacre of Polish officers at the orders of Joseph Stalin, and the `disappearances` of prisoners in 20th century Latin America. <25>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_Massacre_of_Iranian_Prisoners


Mousavi was PM at the time.


http://azarmehr.blogspot.com/2009/06/terror-masters-in-moussavis-campaign.html

[aquart]

5. Well, that certainly puts Iran between a rock and a hard place.

So those young people will protest...and die...for this...agent of change?

[corpseratemedia]

6. thanks to DUers who investigate in-depth

very interesting ... I wonder if this will ever come up in the msm?

[chimpymustgo]

7. Thank you for posting this. We are awash in ignorance about the present and past and people of Iran.

[cali]

8. Talk about a tenuous connection. this piece provides zip in the way of evidence.

[Hannah Bell]

11. 1. January 1987 TIME cover story

(The Murky World of Weapons Dealers; January 19, 1987):

"By own account he was a refugee from the revolutionary government of Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, which confiscated his businesses in Iran, yet he later became a trusted friend and kitchen adviser to Mir Hussein Mousavi, Prime Minister in the Khomeini government. Some U.S. officials who have dealt with Ghorbanifar praise him highly...

2. Documented: Mousavi was prime minister under Khomeini, during the execution of thousands of political prisoners in the 1988 massacre.

[Teaser]

9. You're trying to read our politics onto them

it's a mistake.

[Hannah Bell]

12. "our politics"?

[JI7]

22. yes, "our politics" what is considered unacceptable here could be the best realistic option over

there.

this is what happened when Benazir Bhutto was killed. people were upset and some people started posting about some corruption involving her. but even if that was true she was still the best choice for improvement.

and now look at what a mess pakistan is.

[Hannah Bell]

26. i don't know wtf you're talking about. "our politics" = ????

[JI7]

32. things are not the same in every country

[Hannah Bell]

42. and?

[JI7]

10. it's not always about some huge american conspiracy

sometimes people just agree. the world loves Obama and America loves Obama. it IS possible for people of Iran and Americans to want the same person to be President in that country for no other reason than they think that person would improve things in iran and the world.

[Hannah Bell]

13. yes, that's why americans chose reagan.

[JI7]

14. you compare Reagan to Obama ?

[Alamuti Lotus]

18. the blinding hero-worship is pretty much the same, a few months in

[anonymous171]

40. Blind hero-worshiping gets shit done. Just look at Iran and Venezuela

[scarletwoman]

15. Gosh, you're trying to ruin the "good guy/bad guy" narrative everyone's so very certain about.

So much binary thinking, so little actual knowledge. Thanks for posting this.

sw

[glitch]

16. What scarletwoman said, and K & R nt

[Alamuti Lotus]

17. so certain about, and didn't have a fucking clue about this time last month

Also a kick & thanks for Hannah Bell's posting, I have known about his dubious credentials for "change" but this is an interesting twist.

[scarletwoman]

19. It's been amazing to watch all the instant experts on Iranian election law and vote counting

popping up everywhere to proclaim this was a stolen election.

I didn't really know anything about Moussavi before I started researching stuff the last couple days, and one of the very interesting items I came across was a post on another site (and I haven't been able to find it again, dammit!) that talked about some of his platform. He wanted to push "Free Markets" and privatization among other things -- a neoliberal's disaster capitalist wet dream.

That's when I went to the dark side on this whole issue. We are ALL being manipulated by a big Psy Ops program, the Iranians and Americans alike.

sw

[Hannah Bell]

20. yes, we are.

[ProgressIn2008]

23. Ah, the neoliberal angle, I did not know. Interesting piece of the puzzle... nt

[scarletwoman]

25. Goes hand in hand with the whole NED "Color Revolution" schtick.

I feel very sorry for all the Iranians who sincerely wanted reform, but they are simply outnumbered by those in the countryside who see no reason to rock the boat.

sw

[malaise]

57. LOL

for common sense.

[leftstreet]

28. +1

Thank you!

[malaise]

56. Touche!!!

:hi:

[Wilms]

21. .

[JI7]

24. and Gorbachev was a member of the Communist Party and govt during horrible times also

[Hannah Bell]

27. gorbachev was a minister in stalin's cabinet? who knew?

[thewiseguy]

29. Mousavi is liked in Iran for keeping the country's economy intact during war

The guy is not absolutely perfect but people are getting beaten up for it in the streets of Iran and you are sitting behind your computer thousands of miles away digging up dirt on him?

:puke:

[Hannah Bell]

35. liked...by which segments of the populace? tell me how he "kept the economy intact".

and tell me why you have a problem with someone digging, dirt or otherwise, instead of uncritically buying into "twitter" reports by unknown actors?

[thewiseguy]

37. By those who lived in Iran during war

Including my parents and I.

I hope that answered your question.:eyes:

[Hannah Bell]

39. i knew you were iranian. you don't get bonus points from me, i married an

iranian in 1978 when savak was deporting dissident students out of the US, & perhaps know more than you imagine about the history.

now, perhaps instead of the nonsensical answer you might give me a real one: exactly *how* did mousavi save the economy during the war? what precisely did he do as PM to keep the economy afloat?

[JI7]

44. he had a bunch of socialist policies

[Hannah Bell]

47. not really. but i'd like to hear what the wo/man from iran says.

[thewiseguy]

49. He kept the country's debt to a minimum during war

While Iran was on the offensive most of that time. When the war was over Iraq was a bankrupt state but Iran managed to escape without any major debt.

In addition, he initiated these subsidized food and oil coupons that helped many people while there were not as many jobs.

To this date I would say Mousavi is the only figure within the regime who people do not say shit about.

I listened to him speak during the debates, and he sounded very genuine and said for example that I wake up everyday and in the newspaper I read that AhmadiNejad has said America is falling apart, Israel is falling apart,...and then he goes ahead and makes his foreign policy based on that and then that is why we have not one close friend in the region.

Mousavi is under a lot of pressure right now and perhaps he is the hope of this green movement. People are calling for him and get beaten up on streets.

[Hannah Bell]

54. how did he keep iran's debt minimal? how was the war funded?

[JI7]

33. Stalin wasn't the only dictator

[Hannah Bell]

36. nor was gorbachev the number 3 man in a regime that massacred

from 8000 to 30,000 of its own people.

not foreigners, just presumed internal dissidents.

The killings have been called "an act of violence unprecedented in Iranian history — unprecedented in form, content, and intensity."<3> Estimates of the number executed vary from 8000<4> to 30,000.<5><6>

Great care was taken to keep the killings secret, and the government of Iran denies their having taken place, but with the large scale of the operation word leaked out from survivors. Explanations offered for why the prisoners were killed vary. Perhaps the most common is that it was in retaliation for the 1988 attack on the western borders of Iran by the PMOI Mujahedin, although this happened after the executions had begun and does not explain the executions of members of other leftists groups who opposed the Mujahedin invasion. <7>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1988_executions_of_Iranian_political_prisoners

[JI7]

38. i'm not sure he was all that powerful considering they got rid of his position

as the poster said above he is liked for his work on the economy. the Ayatollahs are the most to blame for the political oppression.

[Hannah Bell]

41. & he himself helped consolidate power into the hands of the "dear leader".

[JI7]

43. many people did then because of the U.S. backed Shah's treatment

of the people

[Hannah Bell]

45. shah left 1/79. mousavi = PM 1981 - 1989.

"He was the last Prime Minister in Iran before the constitutional changes which removed the post of prime minister"

"Mir-Hossein Mousavi was a student studying architecture during the Shah's regime at Tehran University. Two years after the revolution (1981), he was nominated as the Prime Minister by Khomeini. He was responsible, as head of the Council of Cultural Revolution, for shutting down the entire university system for four years. Starting in 1988, on the orders of Khomeini, a council was formed, with Mousavi as a member, to revise the regime's constitution to drastically increase the powers of the supreme leader.<1><2>"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mir-Hossein_Mousavi#cite_note-9

[JI7]

46. and memories of the Shah were still around then

"on the orders of Khomeini"

[Hannah Bell]

48. they're still around today. so? ten years after the rev was when it happened.

if he didn't like it, he could have resigned & gone into exile, like many of his compatriots did.

[JI7]

50. it doesn't really matter

[Hannah Bell]

51. no, it really doesn't matter, just one more corrupt prick running iran.

[JI7]

52. the best person that Iran gets to lead them anytime soon will be corrupt

[rockymountaindem]

30. Has it occurred to anybody that this may all just be an opportunity for protesting

the fact that the youth of Iran (the majority of the population) are dissatisfied with their regime in general? Has anyone here considered that this might not be about Mosavi the man vs. Ahmadinejad the man, but rather a symbol of change (any kind of change, really) against a symbol of the worst aspects of a regime plenty of people already dislike. The feeling that whatever democratic voice people had was ripped up and thrown away by vote fraud (real or imagined) might outweigh any personal feelings for Mousavi, his policies or goals.

I don't think we should all discount the possibility that this is just the best opportunity that disgruntled Iranians have had in a long time to attack the regime in the open. That explanation seems a lot simpler and more reasonable to me than the idea that the out-of-power neocons have put Mousavi where he is so he can privatize Iranian social security.

[JI7]

34. that's exactly what it is

but there are a lot of hypocrites here. people complaining about cia involvement and other things of which there is no proof of this time .

but then they in turn are the ones who are saying Mousavi isn't really good anyways and they are the ones who are disregarding what the people of Iran want.

the economy is a mess over there and with barack Obama's victory the hardliners can no longer effectively play the evil america card as they did with Bush. so people pay attention to the economy.

[leftstreet]

31. K&R

[Toucano]

53. I see shades of "Reverend Wright and William Ayers are Obama's buddies" here.

Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what it sounds like.

If Mousavi is even slightly more pro-west than Amadenajhad, it makes sense that the U.S. would support him.

[malaise]

55. I asked yesterday if DUers knew his history

There was no response.
Good post.

[bluesmail]

58. Recommend.

[mod mom]

59. Sorry I missed the time to recommend this thread. Thanks for the info

[mod mom]

60. Steve Clemons on KO say AIPAC was sending emails connect Mousavi w AQ Khan:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#31378032