The Velayat Faghih Pipeline Network

A friend of mine was telling me the other day that velayat faghih (i.e. the rule of the clerics) has become a pipeline network in Iran. He explained that Mr. Khamenei, the absolute ruler, is the primary feed of the pipeline. He has absolute authority. This absolute right first came about when ayatollah Khomeini set the standard of “people are the criterion.” But today, the current rulers call the very same people “trash.”
The velayat faghih is not accountable to anyone and can do anything he pleases. The source of his authority stems from the heavens and therefore those on the earth have no right to question anything that comes from him. This attitude prevails in the Islamic republic of Iran from top to bottom and at every stop in its organization, some person has set up his own mini-empire where he enjoys a state of no accountability.

Following the lead of the primary source, the authority of the other individuals is limitless and the level of their accountability is null. One such authority walks through the office of Mr. Khamenei himself while another one rules Evin prison; then there are some in Kahrizak prison, and one even in Kayhan newspaper; there is one in the Majlis assembly and another one in the judiciary. Under the protection of the absolute ruler, these Islamic “black shirts” have created their own empire which is not accountable to anyone.

To illustrate this picture, one only has to look at a corner of the Islamic regime. The president, who came to power through electoral fraud and is in reality an appointee of Mr. Khamenei, has no qualms about breaking the law or lying. Each of the rulers that have been given a government ministry, buy the whole apparatus in the morning and sell it at night. A few steps away among the military, there are military commanders who have taken over the economic field of the country. They push their competitors away through intimidation and physically eliminate their opponents. One of its commanders has become a journalist and writes indictments on the paper of the newspaper, launching death threats every evening when a new issue of the paper hits the news stand.

A few steps away is a prosecutor who takes money to stop executions and sells examination questions to make more, as his feet stand in blood-stained boots that killed photo journalist Zahra Kazemi! All this takes place as his boss at the judiciary has turned into the spokesperson for Iran’s Shiite Taliban, instead of ensuring that the judiciary remains impartial in disputes that come before it.

A member of the Majlis closes an investigation that was looking into the criminal activities of his co-ideologue over the murders at Kahrizak prison. A person who has forged government documents is appointed to head an investigation into other forged documents! The head of a university is buddies with security agents and prepares the ground for state troopers to crush the youth of this country under their boots. “ Seyed” turns into a god in prison cells, the very cells where rape and torture have become the norm. An ambassador of the Islamic republic in a foreign capital is said to have set up interrogation sessions. And the list goes on.

It is under these circumstances that velayat faghih is spread in the Islamic republic. Each off shoot of this pipe network is owned by an insider. Outside the pipeline, it is the baton that rules in the name of law.

The owners of a joint or branch of this pipeline can kill anyone without being punished. Some are even thanked for such behavior by being given banquettes of flowers. They can engage in million dollar embezzlement acts without any fears.

And all along, the supreme leader continues to dream that the world is awaiting his “new international order.” But he seems to have forgotten that even the iron system of the former Soviet Union that boasted all kinds of accomplishments eventually collapsed. So watch out what will happen to the so-called Islamic order whose noxious stench is already stinking across the world.