Ali Fallahian

Ali Fallahian (Persian: علی فلاحیان English pronunciationⓘ, born 23 October 1949) is an Iranian politician and cleric. He served as intelligence minister from 1989 to 1997 under the presidency of Ali Akbar Rafsanjani.

Ali Fallahian
Minister of Intelligence of Iran
In office
29 August 1989 – 20 August 1997
PresidentAkbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Preceded byMohammad Reyshahri
Succeeded byGhorbanali Dorri-Najafabadi
Member of the Assembly of Experts
In office
24 February 2007 – 24 May 2016
ConstituencyKhuzestan Province
Majority386,767[1]
Personal details
Born (1949-10-23) 23 October 1949
Najafabad, Isfahan, Iran
Political partyIslamic Republican Party (1979–1987)[2]
Alma materHaghani Circle

Early life and education

Fallahian was born in Najafabad, Iran, in 1945. He is a graduate of Haqqani school in Qom.[3]

Career

In 1987, Fallahian was appointed by Ruhollah Khomeini as chief prosecutor of the Special Court for the Clergy and led the trial against Mehdi Hashemi.

Fallahian served as a member of the 3rd Assembly of Experts of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He was also the minister of intelligence in the cabinet of then President Rafsanjani from 1989 to 1997. After Fallahian left office, his senior deputy, Saeed Emami, was arrested for the murders of four dissidents in 1998 and 1999, Emami subsequently died in prison in what the authorities declared a suicide. Fallahian began to work in the office of the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.[4]

Presidential candidacy

Fallahian was a candidate in the 2001 presidential election,[5] which was won by incumbent reformist Mohammad Khatami. Fallahian came in sixth place, receiving 0.2 percent of the vote; some observers have hypothesized that the cleric only entered the election in an effort to clear his name, which has been associated with murder and political suppression.[6]

On 19 February 2013, in Birjand, Fallahian announced his candidacy for the Iranian presidential election, saying that "people's requests to me [had] reached a threshold".[6] Running with the campaign slogan of "Advanced Islamic Country", he said that his top priority would be the economy, focusing on fighting inflation and lowering the unemployment rate. He specified that he planned on continuing the subsidy reform plan, which many experts fault for undermining local businesses and the economy.[7]

Regarding diplomatic relations with the United States, he implied that he would seek improved ties, even suggesting to put an end to the uranium enrichment program, saying "enough of nuclear", as Iran had "already mastered its knowledge". He added that he envisioned a "bright horizon" for cooperation between the two countries, especially in creating stability in Afghanistan, Iraq, Tunisia, and Egypt.[6] His nomination was rejected by the Guardian Council.

Accusations

Fallahian is currently on the official wanted list of Interpol in connection with the bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA), a Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 18 July 1994, that killed 85 people.[8][9] The Interpol issued a red notice for him and other suspects for their alleged roles in the attack in March 2007.[10] The arrest warrant is based on the allegation that senior Iranian officials planned the attack in an August 1993 meeting, including Khamanei, the Supreme Leader, Mohammad Hejazi, the then Khamanei's intelligence and security advisor, Rafsanjani, then president, Fallahian, then intelligence minister, and Ali Akbar Velayati, then foreign minister.[11]

In addition, he was the subject of an international arrest warrant issued in 1997 in connection with the murder of three Kurdish-Iranian opposition leaders in the Mykonos restaurant assassinations.[12] Fallahian is under an international warrant issued in 1996 by German court because of his role in the assassinations.[3][13] Sadeq Sharafkandi from Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran and three of his colleagues were assassinated September 1992 in Berlin by Iranian-Lebanese agents. Fallahian was also the most prominent member of a group of five Iranians and Lebanese for whom international arrest warrants issued in March 2007.

He was also named by investigative reporter Akbar Ganji as the "master key" of the 1998 "Chain Murders" of four dissident Iranian intellectuals. In December 2000, appearing before an Islamic Revolutionary Court, investigative reporter Akbar Ganji "ending months of guessing and expectations from both the authorities and the public" when he announced the "Master Key" to the chain murders of four dissident Iranian intellectuals was Fallahian.[14]

Fallahian is also charged by a Swiss court[15][16] with masterminding the assassination of Kazem Rajavi, a brother of Mujahedin-e Khalq leader Massoud Rajavi, near Geneva in broad daylight by several agents on 24 April 1990.[17] An international arrest warrant has been issued against him and as a result, he is unable to leave the country.[18]

See also

References
  1. نتایج نهایی انتخابات خبرگان در 29 استان
  2. "نگاهی به سوابق اجرایی نامزد های ریاست جمهوری/ از فرماندهی سپاه تا سابقه کمتر از یکسال نمایندگی", Entekhab (in Persian), 4 April 2013, retrieved 3 November 2016
  3. "Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security: A profile" (PDF). Federal Research Division. December 2012. Archived from the original (Report) on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  4. Shmuel Bar; Shmuel Bacher; Rachel Machtiger (January 2008). "Iranian nuclear decision making under Ahmedinejad" (PDF). Lauder School of Government. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
  5. Muir, Jim (1 June 2001). "Iran election: People and policies". Tehran: BBC. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
  6. "An Unlikely Reformist Joins Iran's Presidential Field". The Atlantic. 25 February 2013.
  7. Rahimi, Atefeh (19 February 2013). "Ali Fallahian Running for President of Iran in 2013". Tehran Chronicle. Archived from the original on 21 February 2013. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
  8. "Wanted profile on Interpol website". Archived from the original on 3 March 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
  9. Interpol press release
  10. "Argentina: More international arrest warrants issued for 1994 Jewish center bombing". South American Political and Economic Affairs. 16 November 2007. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
  11. Barsky, Yehudit (May 2003). "Hizballah" (PDF). The American Jewish Committee. Archived from the original (Terrorism Briefing) on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  12. Israel fails to prevent Germany freeing Iranian Archived 1 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine Haaretz
  13. Press Conference by the Press Secretary 15 April 1997 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.
  14. Ganji Identified Fallahian as the "Master Key" in Chain Murders Archived 28 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Iran Press Service. December 2000.
  15. "Swiss orders arrest of Iranian ex-minister Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine" 9 April 2006
  16. Switzerland orders arrest of Iranian ex-minister on murder charges People's Daily Online
  17. Switzerland orders arrest of Iranian ex-minister on murder charges Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Xinhuanet 9 April 2006
  18. "Iran ex-minister wanted by Swiss in murder of exiled oppn leader Archived 8 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine", Khaleej Times Online, April 2006.
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