Rohani to be Careful!

As the new administration is beginning to take shape, the Islamic Republic supreme leader’s appointees and Revolutionary Guards commanders are threatening the president-elect that he will suffer “consequences” if he opposes the supreme leader.

In his latest remarks, the supreme leader’s appointed Friday prayer leader of Tehran, Ahmad Khatami, said, “The rule of the supreme leader is an essential pillar of the Islamic Republic regime. People who take positions against the Islamic nation’s leader must face the consequences of their actions.”

He later pointed his remarks at Hassan Rohani, adding, “The supreme leader is the articulation of the will of the people in the Islamic Republic, and no one, not even the president-elect, can take contrary positions.”

Meanwhile, speaking to a special publication of the Tehran Friday prayer’s organizing committee, senior advisor to the Islamic Republic supreme leader Yahiya Rahim-Safavi said, “We saw many political and religious leaders, and ministers and officials who did not end with righteous fates.  My most important advice is for everyone to pursue a righteous fate.”

Similarly, Yadollah Javani, the former Revolutionary Guards political liaison, said, “If the West thinks that with the coming to power of the new administration, the Islamic Republic’s nuclear stance will change, it is certainly mistaken. Mr. Rohani himself has noted that, and the West knows that, in Iran, major policies are determined by the supreme leader and that the various administrations execute those policies. We call the president, ‘leader of the executive branch.’”

Another Revolutionary Guards commander, Hamid Reza Moghaddamfar said, “Today, there are people who want to use Mr. Rohani’s victory as an opportunity to pursue their devious plans. They are looking for an opening to cause chaos and crisis.  The principlists expect that Mr. Rohani remains aware of these dangers.”

Hosseinollah Karam, a long-time leader of the plainclothes street militia affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, who has recently been quoted as a political commentator, has recently said, “Rohani’s past is closer to the western neoliberal views than the reformists, although one cannot deny that he worked with the reformists as the head of the National Security Council.”

He meanwhile threatened Rohani, noting, “If Hassan Rohani wants to move towards neoliberal economic development policies he must await the wrath of the people who were patient during the Ahmadinejad years.”