Hassan Abbasi
Hassan Abbasi (Persian: حسن عباسی) is an Iranian conspiracy theorist and an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officer who heads its think-tank 'Center for Borderless Security Doctrinal Analysis'.[2] Abbasi is primarily known for his conspiracy theories, and for delivering controversial speeches on issues including economics, history, politics and cinema.[3][4][5]
Hassan Abbasi | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1966 (age 56–57)[1] Azna, Iran[1] |
Allegiance | Iran |
Service/ | Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps |
Website | https://dr-abbasi.ir |
He was a jury member in 2011 edition of Fajr International Film Festival[6] and a lecturer in the 2013 International Conference on Hollywoodism.[7]
Views and alleged works
U.S. Army Colonel Sean J. Corrigan, in a 2011 research project entitled "Exploitable Vulnerabilities of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps", names Abbasi as one of the two "key architects of Iran's doctrine of asymmetric warfare", along with Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari.[8] Jahangir Arasli, an Azerbaijani intelligence analyst, wrote in 2007 that Abbasi was among those in charge of devising the concept of asymmetric response at Imam Hussein University.[9] Historian Meir Litvak states that Abbasi holds anachronistic views and is among contemporary proponents of antisemitic conspiracy theories in Iran.[10]
After Clifford May,[11] Amir Taheri has dubbed him “the Kissinger of Islam” in a The Telegraph article,[12] and also quoted an anonymous European diplomat in Tehran saying "to Iran's new ruling elite, Abbasi is the big strategic brain".[13] In 2004, Michael Ledeen claimed that he serves as "theoretician" in the office of Supreme Leader of Iran with a special responsibility for North American affairs.[14] In a paper presented by Shmuel Bar, Rachel Machtiger and Shmuel Bachar at the Herzliya Conference in 2008, Abbasi is deemed as one of the IRGC prominent figures who "is said to be affiliated with Mesbah Yazdi... a supporter of the Hojjatiyeh and of Ahmadinejad... one of the main contributors to Ahmadinejad's strategic thought".[15]
Raz Zimmt classifies him among the prominent figures of the radical right wing of Iranian politics, along with Mehdi Ta'eb, Alireza Panahian, Said Qasemi and Qasem Ravanbakhsh who all serve in the central committee of 'Ammar Headquarters', an IRGC-affiliated institution established in 2011.[16] According to a 2012 report edited by Raz Zimmt, Abbasi is "one of the major theoreticians of the radical wing in the conservative camp and the Revolutionary Guards".[17] In 2014, a security research of Hewlett-Packard claimed that the «Basij Cyber Council» operates under the direction of Abbasi.[18] In February 2019, he gave a speech condemning President Hassan Rouhani, Speaker Ali Larijani, and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for having supported the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action telling them to "go to hell" and that the Iranian people would "spit" on them, seen as expressing the IRGC's growing resentment over the nuclear deal and its fallout. Shortly thereafter, Javad Zarif tendered his resignation, although Rouhani did not accept it.[19]
References
- حسن عباسی؛ از یوگی تا پینوکیو [Hassan Abbasi, from «Yugi» to «Pinocchio»]. Shargh (in Persian). Tehran (2643): 6. 31 July 2016. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
- Seliktar, Ofira (2012). Navigating Iran: From Carter to Obama. Springer. pp. 157, 172. ISBN 978-1137010889.
- Wahdat-Hagh, Wahied [in German] (25 November 2011). "Iran And Cyber-Hezbollah Strategies: Killing Enemies In Hyperspace – Analysis". Eurasia Review. Brussels, Belgium: European Foundation for Democracy.
- Azizi, Arash (1 December 2016). "Should IRGC be worried by latest Iran army promotion?". Al-Monitor.
- "Iranian hard-line theorist arrested for criticizing the army". Associated Press. 3 August 2016.
- "Fajr Intl. Film Festival announces jury members". Mehr News Agency. 29 January 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
- Erdbrink, Thomas (18 February 2013). "Stung by 'Argo,' Iran Backs Conference Denouncing 'Hollywoodism'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
- Corrigan, Sean J. (12 October 2011). "Exploitable Vulnerabilities of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps". USAWC Civilian Research Project. Defense Technical Information Center: 6. Archived from the original on June 19, 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
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(help) - Arasli, Jahangir (April 2007). "Obsolete Weapons, Unconventional Tactics, and Martyrdom Zeal: How Iran Would Apply Its Asymmetric Naval Warfare Doctrine in a Future Conflict" (PDF). Occasional paper series (10). George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies: 12. ISSN 1863-6039. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
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(help) - Litvak, Meir (2017). "Iranian Antisemitism and the Holocaust". In Anthony McElligott; Jeffrey Herf (eds.). Antisemitism Before and Since the Holocaust: Altered Contexts and Recent Perspectives. Springer. p. 210. ISBN 9783319488660.
- May, Clifford D. (31 October 2005). "Ahmadinejad's Brain". National Review. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
- Taheri, Amir (2006-04-16). "The frightening truth of why Iran wants a bomb". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-04-26.
- Taheri, Amir (8 October 2005). "An Adventure That Can Backfire". Free Republic. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
- Ledeen, Michael (26 May 2004). "No Way Out". National Review. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
- Bar, Shmuel; Machtiger, Rachel; Bachar, Shmuel (20–23 January 2008). Iranian Nuclear Decision Making under Ahmadinejad (PDF). 8th Herzliya Conference. p. 19.
- Zimmt, Raz (5 February 2012). ""The 'Ammar Headquarters" and the challenges of the Iranian political system". Iran Pulse. Tel Aviv University (49). Retrieved 15 October 2017.
- Raz Zimmt, ed. (July 2012). ""Syria, the First Line of Resistance" conference in Tehran: "Sword of Damocles doctrine is Syria's trump card against the West"" (PDF). Spotlight on Iran. Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. p. 2.
- "Threat Actors Operating within the Islamic Republic of Iran" (PDF). HP Security Research Threat Intelligence Briefing. Episode 11. Hewlett-Packard. 21 February 2014: 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 October 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
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(help) - "Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif resigns". Al Jazeera English. 25 February 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2019.