Reporting from Beirut — Iran’s president has conducted a purge of the nation’s intelligence ministry, sweeping aside ranking officials with decades of experience in favor of loyalists, a lawmaker, several news websites and a former intelligence chief’s son said.
The move, chronicled by news outlets today, underscores the deep rifts and disarray within the highest echelons of the country’s security apparatus in the wake of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed June 12 reelection.
Analysts say the purge flushes away decades of intelligence experience. Even after the 1979 Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini , the founder of the Islamic Republic, chose to co-opt the clandestine services into his new government rather than start from scratch.
“Ahmadinejad has practically taken command of the most significant security organ in the country and is embarking on a retaliation project,” Hassan Younesi, the son of former Intelligence Minister Ali Younesi, wrote in letter posted on his blog late Saturday. “Never has the intelligence ministry witnessed such a politically motivated purge since its establishment. This gesture will certainly inflict heavy damage on the management of the ministry.”
Officials in the Revolutionary Guard allied with the president have moved to rid the powerful Ministry of Intelligence and Security of senior officers deemed disloyal to Ahmadinejad and his allies, the analysts say.
Ahmad Avai, the … >>>
