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The Hindu
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
The last ‘revolutionary' of Iran
In Tehran's Ebrat Museum, once a notorious prison for political detainees under the Shah, a narrow corridor is lined with photographs of former inmates. Among them, in a brown wooden frame, is the image of a middle-aged man with a bearded face and thick rectangular glasses. The name beneath, written in Farsi, reads: Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. Preserved by the revolutionary regime as a grim reminder of the brutality of the Shah's secret police, SAVAK, Ebrat displays torture chambers and documents torture methods. One tiny, dimly lit cell, with a single barred window, has been left intact – it is where Mr. Khamenei was held. Inside stands a life-size wax figure of the Ayatollah, older than he appears in the photograph. Dressed in a black turban, which suggests lineage to the Prophet Mohammed, round spectacles, and a brown robe, the statue evokes both suffering and resolve. 'Khamenei was imprisoned six times by the Shah's police. He was brought here in 1974,' a museum official told this writer during a visit in February 2022. 'In autumn 1974, he endured the most brutal and savage torture for eight months in there,' reads a short biography posted outside the cell. 'The Shah wanted to break him. But God wanted him as the country's rahbar (leader),' said the museum official. Mr. Khamenei, who has been the rahbar of the Islamic Republic since 1989, has built a theocratic system that is loyal to him. He is the Supreme Leader, the jurist of the guardians. A conservative cleric, he has led Iran through political and economic upheavals, and has survived both reformist and hardliner Presidents. But in recent years, on Mr. Khamenei's watch, unrest has spread across the country. In recent months, Iran's influence abroad has dramatically waned, particularly after Israel started attacking the so-called 'axis of resistance', the Iran-backed militia network in West Asia. On June 13, Israel, Iran's arch foe, launched a daunting attack inside Iran, targeting its nuclear facilities and ballistic missile sites, and assassinating its top chain of command. With the Israeli leadership threatening to 'burn' Tehran, the 86-year-old Ayatollah must be feeling the weight of the revolution on his shoulders. Child of revolution Born in 1939 in royalist Iran, Ali Khamenei grew up in the holy city of Mashhad, which hosts the shrine of Imam Reza, the eighth Imam of Twelver Shiism. Like many clerics of his generation, his political views were influenced by the 1953 coup, a covert operation orchestrated by the CIA and the MI6, against the elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. The coup reinstated Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. This episode turned a generation of Iranians against the Shah. The clerical establishment, under the leadership of the exiled cleric, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, played a critical role in the anti-Shah agitation that was building up across the country. From the early 1960s, Mr. Khamenei was actively involved in the protests. When the Shah regime collapsed and Khomeini returned to Tehran from Paris in February 1979 to establish a new Islamic Republic, Mr. Khamenei rose quickly through the clerical ranks. Khomeini named him as Deputy Defence Minister. He became the Imam of Friday prayers in Tehran, a position which he still holds. If Imam Khomeini was the Supreme Leader of the new regime, Imam Khamenei emerged as its chief commissar. In June 1981, he was seriously wounded by a tape recorder bomb that went off in Tehran's Abouzar Mosque. His right arm got paralysed and he lost hearing in one ear. 'I won't need the hand; it would suffice if my brain and tongue work,' Mr. Khamenei once said about the attack. The blast, however, solidified his image as a survivor – a living martyr of the revolution. Within a few months, he got elected as Iran's President. When Khomeini died in 1989, the revolution became an orphan. Khomeini had established a unique system in Iran — vilayat-e-faqih, 'guardianship of the jurist' or the rule of the clergy. With no clear successor in line, senior clerics tuned to Mr. Khamenei. Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, another revolutionary figure with considerable influence in the system, played a key role in the selection of Mr. Khamenei. 'I am truly not worthy of this title,' Mr. Khamenei told the assembly that picked him. 'My nomination should make us all cry tears of blood.' But he took the chalice. And Rafsanjani became President. Soon after his ascent to the top office, Mr. Khamenei promised Iranians that the revolution would 'lead the country on the path of material growth and progress'. But he faced daunting political and economic challenges. He became the Supreme Leader at a time when the revolutionary fervour was receding. The Iran-Iraq war was over. The new regime's internal enemies and critics, from the terrorist Mujahideen-e-Khalq to the leftist Tudeh party, had been suppressed. But there were still strong liberal currents in Iranian polity and society. Despite Mr. Khamenei's vision for a centralised clerical rule, voters elected Mohammed Khatami, a moderate reformist, as President in 1997. Mr. Khatami had promised reforms from within. But when protests broke out seeking more individual freedoms, Mr. Khamenei stood by the hardliners. The protests were brutally suppressed, and Mr. Khatami was turned into a lame-duck President. The election of Khatami was an opportunity for Iran to open up the system and implement incremental reforms. But the way the regime handled the protests only reinforced the rigidity of the system, which led to further cracks. In 2009, when President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hardline favourite of the establishment, was 're-elected', protests broke out. Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who served as Prime Minister of Iran under Mr. Khamenei's presidency in the 1980s (Iran later abolished the post of Prime Minister), was the opposition candidate. Mr. Mousavi's followers accused election fraud. Protests spread, with many calling for the downfall of the rahbar. That was a moment of challenge for the Supreme Leader. But he endorsed Mr. Ahmadinejad's victory, while security forces cracked down on Mr. Mousavi's 'Green Movement'. Perilous cycle While political tensions persisted, what made them worse was the economic mess Iran was in. A country rich with natural resources, Iran was grappling with hyperinflation, stymied growth and a tanking currency, mainly due to the Western sanctions. Mr. Khamenei knew that the future of the revolution was linked to the state's ability in creating economic opportunities. So even when he called America the 'Great Satan', he sanctioned nuclear talks with the U.S. after Hassan Rouhani, a moderate cleric, became President in 2013. The 2015 agreement between Iran and world powers was the best chance for Tehran to enter the global economic mainstream and rebuild itself. But then Donald Trump entered the scene. In 2018, Mr. Trump, in his first term, destroyed the agreement and reimposed sanctions on Iran. Ever since, the economic crisis at home got worsened, along with tightening repression, which triggered frequent uprisings. It became a perilous cycle for Iranians. And then Israel, after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, turned against the Iran-backed network in West Asia, which acted as Tehran's forward defence and its deterrence. Mr. Khamenei watched helplessly when Israel destroyed Gaza, degraded Hezbollah and bombed the regime of Bashar al Assad in Syria, which eventually collapsed. It was only a matter of time before the Israelis came for Iran. And they did so on June 13. Set against Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, Ayatollah Khamenei finds himself with few good options. Iran's retaliatory strike against Israel on the night of June 13 was a bold display of force – a message that the Islamic Republic still has the firepower to hit the 'Little Satan'. But the conflict is far from over. Iran's defences remain vulnerable; its regional axis has been rolled back; its partners have their own problems. And Mr. Trump, who extended an offer of dialogue which Iran had cautiously accepted, is throwing his weight behind Mr. Netanyahu. Mr. Khamenei, once described by a reformist politician as the 'Sun of the Iranian solar system', now faces the greatest test since the revolution — to protect the regime and protect the nation.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Iranian exiles in the US want $225 million for years of brutal torture by notorious security chief
Three former political dissidents now living in the U.S. are suing the Shah of Iran's 'chief torturer' – who later relocated to Florida and became a real estate developer – over years of unimaginable abuse they say continues to haunt them to this day. Parviz Sabeti, according to a $225 million lawsuit obtained by The Independent, 'is widely recognized as an architect of the institutionalization of torture in Iran, including the use of forced public recantations obtained through torture, a practice developed under his tenure and rapidly expanded and employed by the Islamic Republic of Iran today.' The complaint, which was filed February 10 in Orlando federal court, alleges Sabeti, one of the 'most powerful and feared men' in the Shah's regime, maintains ongoing relationships with individuals linked to the fearsome Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini upon his return to power in 1979. Sabeti was identified as second-in-command of Iran's secret police, or SAVAK, which existed prior to the Islamic Revolution of 1979 that saw the current regime take over and form a totalitarian government. A source with knowledge of the case told The Independent that there is a sense among many that the Shah's tenure was 'distinct' from that of Ayatollah Khomeini and the Islamic Republic, but that they are in fact 'two sides of the same coin.' At the same time, they said that Islamic Republic 'is a much worse violator of human rights than the government of the Shah. The legacy of torture was built by [the Shah], and expanded by the Islamic Republic.' 'The SAVAK was never abolished, it was actually co-opted by the Islamic Republic,' the source continued, arguing that the plaintiffs in this case were 'denied accountability and justice' by both the Shah and the present-day ayatollahs. 'These people, who have been through so much, see it as their mission to speak out.' Sabeti, who has not yet been served with the suit, did not respond on Monday to emails, texts and voicemails requesting comment. Sabeti's accusers, who are identified in court filings as John Does I, II, and III, claim the 88-year-old 'planned, supervised, and advocated' for their arrests and subsequent torture, during which they were allegedly electrocuted, hung from the ceiling by their wrists, had weights hung from their genitals, whipped, beaten and forced to endure the 'Apollo,' a device described in the complaint as 'an electric chair with a metal mask designed to amplify the screams of the victims in their own ears.' 'I have lived in fear of the Islamic Republic for the last four decades,' John Doe I, a 72-year-old California resident, wrote in an affidavit filed alongside the complaint. He says he has been the target of surveillance by Iranian agents, both online and in real life, that his child has been harassed on the street by regime supporters, and that the Iranian government has pressured his family members to divulge details of his current whereabouts. In a separate affidavit, John Doe II, an 85-year-old also living in California, said he is 'afraid of the Islamic Republic and its ability to silence dissidents no matter where they are in the world,' and that he believes Sabeti 'would be willing and able to harm me and my family for my participation in this lawsuit.' For his part, John Doe III, a 68-year-old Californian, maintains in his affidavit that he 'do[es] not believe that residing in the United States protects me from harm by agents acting on behalf of the Iranian government.' The complaint paints Sabeti as a menacing figure who served as deputy director of the SAVAK under Shah Reza Pahlavi. Together, Sabeti and his compatriots were responsible for the 'mass arrest and torture of thousands of perceived political opponents, including lawyers, writers, theater directors, university teachers, members of ethnic minority groups, intellectuals, students, activists, artists, and political rivals.' 'This deliberate reign of state terror reached its peak during [Sabeti's] tenure as Chief of SAVAK's Third Division,' which the complaint calls the SAVAK's 'most notorious' unit. Sabeti and his wife fled Iran in 1978, taking 'active measures' to conceal their whereabouts, the complaint says. He has spent the past four decades in hiding, finally revealing himself again in 2023 against the backdrop of mass demonstrations in Iran, producing a 7.5-hour documentary 'defending his tenure' as one of the Shah's most violent henchmen, according to the complaint. He also provoked outrage among Iranian exiles for appearing that same year at a Los Angeles protest against the Iranian regime. John Doe I was a student at Tabriz University when he was arrested in his dorm room by the SAVAK in 1974, according to the complaint. Court filings say he was tortured for weeks amid accusations that he had provided a classmate with a book of illicit political poetry, and that his brutal treatment was 'coordinated' and 'approved' by Sabeti. After 40 days of violent interrogations, John Doe I was brought before a military tribunal on charges of acting against national security, and sentenced to four years in prison, the complaint states. 'He has suffered from kidney issues throughout his life as a result of the wounds and infections that he suffered while in prison,' it goes on. 'John Doe I still has the scars from being whipped and lashed. He has hidden these scars, and many of the details of what happened to him, from people throughout [his] life.' John Doe II, an artist, was a member of an arts collective forcibly shut down by the SAVAK during the 1970s, according to the complaint. He was arrested and imprisoned multiple times for, among other things, supporting free speech in Iran, and, following a show trial in a military court, served seven years of a 12-year sentence during which he was tortured 'repeatedly' on Sabeti's orders, the complaint alleges. 'John Doe II's torture has left a deep and heavy psychological burden on him, where every day is its own struggle,' it says. 'To help deal with the lasting effects of his torture, John Doe II has had years of therapy. Even thinking about his torture is a visceral and painful process for him. At times, John Doe II has post-traumatic stress reactions when he tries to talk about his torture, including full body shakes and feelings of dizziness.' John Doe III was still in high school when he was arrested by the SAVAK on allegations of sharing anti-Shah literature, and tortured at a facility in his hometown of Shiraz, according to the complaint. After his name was given up by a classmate caught with a homemade gun used to shoot birds, John Doe III was charged with participating in an armed group and sentenced to two years in prison, the complaint states. There, it says he was subjected to gruesome forms of torture, all allegedly authorized and overseen by Sabeti, that still affects him. 'Recounting and reliving his torture is difficult for John Doe III; it can feel dishonorable and humiliating,' according to the complaint. 'His trauma has left a heavy burden on him for his entire life, although he has tried his best to cope.' Now that Sabeti has revealed himself, John Does I, II and III can pursue their claims against him, the complaint states. And while they fear reprisal by members of the Iran regime and supporters of the Shah, the complaint says the Does 'feel they can no longer wait' until such threats have been eliminated, if ever. The trio is demanding compensatory and punitive damages of at least $75 million each, for a total of $225 million, plus attorneys' fees. Once served with the lawsuit, Sabeti will have three weeks to respond to the accusations.
The Independent
24-02-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Iranian exiles in the US want $225 million for years of brutal torture by notorious security chief
Three former political dissidents now living in the U.S. are suing the Shah of Iran's 'chief torturer' – who later relocated to Florida and became a real estate developer – over years of unimaginable abuse they say continues to haunt them to this day. Parviz Sabeti, according to a $225 million lawsuit obtained by The Independent, 'is widely recognized as an architect of the institutionalization of torture in Iran, including the use of forced public recantations obtained through torture, a practice developed under his tenure and rapidly expanded and employed by the Islamic Republic of Iran today.' The complaint, which was filed February 10 in Orlando federal court, alleges Sabeti, one of the 'most powerful and feared men' in the Shah's regime, maintains ongoing relationships with individuals linked to the fearsome Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini upon his return to power in 1979. Sabeti was identified as second-in-command of Iran's secret police, or SAVAK, which existed prior to the Islamic Revolution of 1979 that saw the current regime take over and form a totalitarian government. A source with knowledge of the case told The Independent that there is a sense among many that the Shah's tenure was 'distinct' from that of Ayatollah Khomeini and the Islamic Republic, but that they are in fact 'two sides of the same coin.' At the same time, they said that Islamic Republic 'is a much worse violator of human rights than the government of the Shah. The legacy of torture was built by [the Shah], and expanded by the Islamic Republic.' 'The SAVAK was never abolished, it was actually co-opted by the Islamic Republic,' the source continued, arguing that the plaintiffs in this case were 'denied accountability and justice' by both the Shah and the present-day ayatollahs. 'These people, who have been through so much, see it as their mission to speak out.' Sabeti, who has not yet been served with the suit, did not respond on Monday to emails, texts and voicemails requesting comment. Sabeti's accusers, who are identified in court filings as John Does I, II, and III, claim the 88-year-old 'planned, supervised, and advocated' for their arrests and subsequent torture, during which they were allegedly electrocuted, hung from the ceiling by their wrists, had weights hung from their genitals, whipped, beaten and forced to endure the 'Apollo,' a device described in the complaint as 'an electric chair with a metal mask designed to amplify the screams of the victims in their own ears.' 'I have lived in fear of the Islamic Republic for the last four decades,' John Doe I, a 72-year-old California resident, wrote in an affidavit filed alongside the complaint. He says he has been the target of surveillance by Iranian agents, both online and in real life, that his child has been harassed on the street by regime supporters, and that the Iranian government has pressured his family members to divulge details of his current whereabouts. In a separate affidavit, John Doe II, an 85-year-old also living in California, said he is 'afraid of the Islamic Republic and its ability to silence dissidents no matter where they are in the world,' and that he believes Sabeti 'would be willing and able to harm me and my family for my participation in this lawsuit.' For his part, John Doe III, a 68-year-old Californian, maintains in his affidavit that he 'do[es] not believe that residing in the United States protects me from harm by agents acting on behalf of the Iranian government.' The complaint paints Sabeti as a menacing figure who served as deputy director of the SAVAK under Shah Reza Pahlavi. Together, Sabeti and his compatriots were responsible for the 'mass arrest and torture of thousands of perceived political opponents, including lawyers, writers, theater directors, university teachers, members of ethnic minority groups, intellectuals, students, activists, artists, and political rivals.' 'This deliberate reign of state terror reached its peak during [Sabeti's] tenure as Chief of SAVAK's Third Division,' which the complaint calls the SAVAK's 'most notorious' unit. Sabeti and his wife fled Iran in 1978, taking 'active measures' to conceal their whereabouts, the complaint says. He has spent the past four decades in hiding, finally revealing himself again in 2023 against the backdrop of mass demonstrations in Iran, producing a 7.5-hour documentary 'defending his tenure' as one of the Shah's most violent henchmen, according to the complaint. He also provoked outrage among Iranian exiles for appearing that same year at a Los Angeles protest against the Iranian regime. John Doe I was a student at Tabriz University when he was arrested in his dorm room by the SAVAK in 1974, according to the complaint. Court filings say he was tortured for weeks amid accusations that he had provided a classmate with a book of illicit political poetry, and that his brutal treatment was 'coordinated' and 'approved' by Sabeti. After 40 days of violent interrogations, John Doe I was brought before a military tribunal on charges of acting against national security, and sentenced to four years in prison, the complaint states. 'He has suffered from kidney issues throughout his life as a result of the wounds and infections that he suffered while in prison,' it goes on. 'John Doe I still has the scars from being whipped and lashed. He has hidden these scars, and many of the details of what happened to him, from people throughout [his] life.' John Doe II, an artist, was a member of an arts collective forcibly shut down by the SAVAK during the 1970s, according to the complaint. He was arrested and imprisoned multiple times for, among other things, supporting free speech in Iran, and, following a show trial in a military court, served seven years of a 12-year sentence during which he was tortured 'repeatedly' on Sabeti's orders, the complaint alleges. 'John Doe II's torture has left a deep and heavy psychological burden on him, where every day is its own struggle,' it says. 'To help deal with the lasting effects of his torture, John Doe II has had years of therapy. Even thinking about his torture is a visceral and painful process for him. At times, John Doe II has post-traumatic stress reactions when he tries to talk about his torture, including full body shakes and feelings of dizziness.' John Doe III was still in high school when he was arrested by the SAVAK on allegations of sharing anti-Shah literature, and tortured at a facility in his hometown of Shiraz, according to the complaint. After his name was given up by a classmate caught with a homemade gun used to shoot birds, John Doe III was charged with participating in an armed group and sentenced to two years in prison, the complaint states. There, it says he was subjected to gruesome forms of torture, all allegedly authorized and overseen by Sabeti, that still affects him. 'Recounting and reliving his torture is difficult for John Doe III; it can feel dishonorable and humiliating,' according to the complaint. 'His trauma has left a heavy burden on him for his entire life, although he has tried his best to cope.' Now that Sabeti has revealed himself, John Does I, II and III can pursue their claims against him, the complaint states. And while they fear reprisal by members of the Iran regime and supporters of the Shah, the complaint says the Does 'feel they can no longer wait' until such threats have been eliminated, if ever. The trio is demanding compensatory and punitive damages of at least $75 million each, for a total of $225 million, plus attorneys' fees. Once served with the lawsuit, Sabeti will have three weeks to respond to the accusations.
