Letter from the Revolutionary Guards commanders
Translated by George Maschke
July 27, 1999
Introduction from Kayhan newspaper (July 19, 1999): The Pained Letter
of 24 Senior Commanders of the Holy Defense to the President of the Republic
Twenty-four senior officers, [veterans of] the Holy Defense [against Iraq,
1980-88], revealed their views regarding the regrettable events at the
Tehran University housing area and its aftermath in a letter to the President
of the Republic, Hojjat ol-Eslam Sayyid Mohammad Khatami. According to
our correspondent, the text of the letter, which was drafted last week,
is as follows:
To His Excellency the Honorable President of the Republic,
Hojjat ol-Eslam Sayyid Mohammad Khatami
Greetings, and may you not grow weary:
In the aftermath of recent events, and in our capacity as servants since
the days of the Holy Defense of the noble Iranian nation, we deem it our
duty to bring certain matters before your learned and worthy excellency.
We hope that in your magnanimity, and in keeping with your worthy credo,
and in consonance with the path which you promote (to hear all speech and
ideas though they be contrary), that you [will address] this matter which
may reflect the worries of thousands who have suffered for the Revolution
and who today -- without any political partisanship -- look upon the troubles
of the Revolution with a nervous eye, and who are perplexed and bewildered
by the silence, negligence, and naïveté of officials who have
gained their positions by virtue of the blood of thousands of martyrs.
Mr. Khatami, absolutely all of us have considered and still do consider
you to be an upright person, revolutionary, pious, with deep religious
roots in the seminary, and sympathetic to the Revolution. But the treatment
of incidents -- the celebration and dancing of enemies over which we have
all seen -- and the giving of priority to investigating some mistakes and
violations and magnifying them, while showing a lack of concern with and
downplaying some other such examples of lawlessness, defamation, and coercion,
has resulted in currents hostile to the Revolution becoming haughtier,
while the defenders of the Revolution, acting guardedly and with afflicted
hearts wedded to despair, have been daily humiliated. They have wept for
the fruit of all this blood and bitten their fingers in grief and anguish.
Mister President, just as the exalted and oppressed [sic] Leader of
this Revolution [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] stated, the attack on the university
housing area was unwelcome, ugly, and bad, and despite the fact that it
was dealt with in the strictest and harshest manner, on account of the
unwelcomeness of what had happened, everyone accepted this response and
approved of it. But the important and uncertain question is, "Was
this the only tragedy?" Is this matter alone worthy of being pursued
and deemed so objectionable that several ministers resign over it, the
National Security Council convenes, and an investigatory panel is formed?
Are not the irreverences and affronts to the foundations of this system
[of government] also cause for anguish and [hence] to be pursued? Is the
sanctity of the authority of the jurisprudent [velayat-e faghih -- the
political theory on which the Islamic Republic is founded] less than that
of the university housing area? Is the sanctity of the Imam [Ayatollah
Khomeini] -- that rarely equalled personage -- less serious than disrespect
toward a university student? Are not the disruption of national security
for several days, attacks against anyone who is religious, and arson an
outrage?
Your Excellency Mr. Khatami, several nights ago, when it was said that
a number of people were heading toward the Shahid Mottahari complex [?],
our young children looked into our eyes as if to ask us, "Where has
your courage gone?" Mr. President, today, when we saw the face of
the exalted Leader of the Revolution, we asked God to grant us death, for
our hands are bound, there is a thorn in our eyes, and a bone stuck in
our throats as we watch the wilting of the seedling which is the product
of 14 centuries of Shiite and Muslim suffering.
Your Excellency Mr. Khatami, you know well that while we are strong,
[our response has been] weak because friends deem it expedient. Who does
not know that today, hypocrites and enemies in the guise of students are
flocking to join this battle, and that affiliated hate-mongers and short-sighted
opportunists are adding fuel to the fire, and that there is nothing that
they will not say or write to make it burn hotter?
Your Excellency Mr. Khatami, how long shall we look on with tears in
our eyes and suffer, [while] insulting the exercise of democracy [by tolerating]
anarchy, and maintaining our revolutionary patience at the cost of public
order?
Mr. President, the families of thousands of martyrs, war-wounded, and
veterans voted for you, and their votes are a medal on your chest. They
expect you to deal with these problems fairly. Today, we clearly see the
hand of the enemy in these events, and we hear their drunken laughter.
Know that tomorrow it will be too late, and that there will be no making
amends upon tomorrow's repentance.
Esteemed Sayyid, look at the speeches of seeming friends and supporters
amongst the university students. Are not all those utterances incitement
to riot and lawlessness? Is this the meaning of the Year of the Imam (God's
mercy be upon him)? Can his priceless legacy be thus maintained? Is the
carelessness of a few acting in the name of the Party of God [Hezbollah
-- the group that attacked students at the university housing area] a license
to crack the skulls of believers and defame them?
Your Excellency Mr. Khatami, look at the international media and radio
broadcasts. Does not the sound of their merriment reach your ears? Dear
Mr. President, if you do not make a revolutionary decision today, and fail
to fulfill your Islamic and national duty, tomorrow will be too late and
the damage will be more irreversible than can be imagined.
In concluding, with all due respect, we inform you that our patience
is at an end, and we do not think it possible to tolerate any more if [this
matter is] not addressed.
This letter is signed by:
Dr. Ali AHMADIYAN (Commander, IRGC Naval Forces)
Jafar ASADI (Deputy Commander, IRGC Ground Forces)
Mohammad BAGHERI (Deputy for Intelligence, Joint Chiefs-of-Staff)
Aziz JAFARI (Commander, IRGC Ground Forces)
Gholam Reza JALALI (Deputy for Planning, IRGC Joint Staff, and former
Commander of the Ali bin Abi Taleb Division)
Gholam Reza RASHID (Deputy Armed Forces Chief-of-Staff)
Abd ol-Hamid ROUFINEZHAD (Commander, 41st Sarollah Division)
Nabiollah RUDAKI (Commander, Vali Asr Division)
Ali ZAHEDI Yaghub ZOHDI (Chief of Personnel, IRGC Joint Staff)
Ghassem SOLEIMANI (Commander, IRGC Ghods Force)
Amin SHARIATI (Commander of the Corps of Engineers, IRGC Joint Staff)
Nur Ali SHUSHTARI (Commander, 25th Nasr Division)
Ahmad GHOLAMPUR (Commandant, Command and General Staff School)
Ali FADAVI (Deputy Commander, IRGC Naval Forces)
Ali FAZLI (Deputy Commander, Sarollah Barracks)
Esmail GHA-ANI (Deputy Commander, IRGC Ghods Force)
Mohammad Bagher GHALIBAF (Commander, IRGC Air Force)
Morteza GHORBANI (Commander, Imam Hossein Division and Advisor to the President
of the Republic)
Ahmad KAZEMI (Commander, Hamza Sayyid ol-Shohada Barracks)
Mohammad KUSARI (Commander, 27th Mohammad Rasul Allah Division)
Gholam Reza MEHRABI (Deputy for Intelligence, IRGC Supreme Headquarters)
Asadollah NASEH (Commander, Sayyid ol-Shohada Barracks)
Hossein HAMADANI (Deputy Commander, Basij Resistance Force and former
Commander of Najaf Barracks)
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