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TOUGH POLITICAL COMPETITION IN MAZANDARAN.

Ahmad Vaseqinejad, secretary of the reformist Solidarity Party in Mazandaran Province, said on 30 September that the reformists could win 50-60 percent of the 290 seats in the February parliamentary election, ISNA reported. He said that parties and political groups will not be as relevant in this election as they were in the 2000 parliamentary election. The public has become frustrated with the reformist parties, he said, and he warned, "what happened in the local council elections [February 2003, when there was low voter turnout] could also happen in the parliamentary elections." Mohammad-Ali Minafar, secretary-general of the conservative Islamic Coalition Association in Mazandaran Province, said in the 29 September "Farhang-i Ashti" daily that the conservatives could win up to 150 seats (51 percent) in the upcoming parliamentary election.

Minafar said that the public is unhappy with the reformists because they did not fulfill their electoral slogans. He also predicted that some reformists would not win approval as candidates. (Bill Samii)

Source: RFE/RL Iran Report Vol. 6, No. 42, 20 October 2003

EXECUTIVE BRANCH, REFORMISTS CONCERNED ABOUT PARALLEL INTELLIGENCE ORGANIZATIONS.

Agencies working in parallel to the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) must cease their activities, government spokesman Abdullah Ramezanzadeh said during his weekly press conference on 13 October, IRNA reported. The MOIS expressed its concern about the creation of institutions that interfere with its activities during the most recent cabinet session, Ramezanzadeh added. President Mohammad Khatami said in an August speech to MOIS personnel that the establishment of any parallel intelligence organizations is unconstitutional and harmful to the state, and reformist parliamentarians complained about such agencies in July (see "RFE/RL Iran Report," 15 September 2003). Reacting to such complaints, President Khatami referred the issue to the Committee for the Implementation and Supervision of the constitution. Hojatoleslam Hashem Hashemzadeh-Harisi, who serves on this committee, said in the 7 October issue of "Iran" that the committee has opened its file on this matter and initial investigations on the existence of these bodies have been conducted.

"And now we have to see whether the existence of bodies of this kind contravenes the constitution or not," he added. Another committee has been created to investigate the activities of the Tehran Justice Department and the Tehran prosecutor-general, and ISNA reported on 3 October that the MOIS has provided the committee with a list of the parallel intelligence agencies. Parliamentarian Mohsen Armin, a member of this committee, told ISNA that although the MOIS has information on the parallel organizations it declined to turn it all over to the committee, "because of certain considerations." Armin did not enter into specifics.

An 8 October editorial in "Sharq," a neo-reformist daily, notes that this is the first time Iranian reformists are defending the centralization of the country's intelligence activities. This change began with the 1999 uncovering of alleged rogue agents in the MOIS who had killed a number of dissidents the previous year. This, in turn, led to the dismissal of many MOIS employees, especially those identified with Intelligence and Security Minister Ali Akbar Fallahian-Khuzestani (1989-1997). Since then, the MOIS reportedly has tried to stay out of the political fray, but this policy has not been without cost. MOIS chief Hojatoleslam Ali Yunesi said on 7 October, according to "Sharq," "We are the most unjustly treated institution in this country, but we shall pay the price of our independence. We even remain silent when they blame us for the crimes of others."

Another editorial, this one in the 14 October issue of the reformist daily "Yas-i No," noted that the just distribution of power in a democratic system is incompatible with the existence of unconnected and parallel institutions acting autonomously. Iran, however, has had to contend with parallelism in security and intelligence matters for several years. The current existence of parallel intelligence organizations leads to frustration and to weakness in the ruling system, according to the editorial. (Bill Samii)

Source: RFE/RL Iran Report Vol. 6, No. 42, 20 October 2003

Comment. MOIS head Ali Yunesi is afraid of predecessor Ali Akbar Fallahian, whose middle name nowadays should be read as "Rafsanjani akbar" i.e. RICO Rafsanjani is great.