Two years later, Firouzabadi and his associates succeeded in electing their candidate, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president. Under Ahmadinejad, the Guard’s influence and Firouzabadi’s stature have grown exponentially. Its media empire now includes the satellite TV channels Al-Aalam (The World) and Press TV, the newspaper Sobh Sadeq (True Dawn) and 34 regional radio stations.
. . . .
Some observers in Tehran claim that today Firouzabadi is the regime’s true strongman. “This is now a military-security regime,” says a Tehran University political scientist. “And in it, Firouzabadi is the big figure.”
