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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Meet Iran’s Quds Force rising stars : Ali Asghar Hejazi and his son |
| 2016-06-16 |
| [ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Sources have revealed how Iran's Assembly of Experts has elected the well-known hardliner Ahmad Jannati in its rank to head the council of holy mans, which is responsible for selecting the successor of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Although not well-known in the West, Ali Asghar Hejazi is a very powerful man in the Iranian leadership. The shadowy holy man’s high position, heading up security for the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gives him direct access to the Islamic republic’s most authoritative figure. In the previous three decades, he served in several senior intelligence roles. The older Hejazi has been also been busy. Recently, he helped an ally and hardliner take a post in a top governmental council. Sources revealed how Iran’s Assembly of Experts last month elected the well-known hardliner Ahmad Jannati in May in its rank to head the council of holy mans, which is responsible for selecting the successor of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. A majority of the 88-member council voted on Tuesday in favor of Jannati, keeping the council in the hands of ultra-conservatives, countering the gains by reformists and moderates during the February elections. Jannati’s election came as a surprise. He had previously been the minority holder in the council, and sources said that he was about to lose the election until the older Hejazi met the chairman of Iran’s expediency council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ... the fourth President of Iran. He was a member of the Assembly of Experts until he was eased out in 2011 He continues, for the moment, as Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council. In 2005 he ran for a third term as president, ultimately losing to rival Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was in Khamenei's graces back then. In 1980 Rafsanjani survived an assassination attempt, during which he was seriously injured. He has been described as a centrist and a pragmatic conservativewithout all that much reason. He is currently being eased out of any position of actual influence or power and may be dead by the end of 2012... , who is also the former president of Iran. The source said that a decision was taken then to knock another candidate, known only as "Sejadi," off the list of the assembly’s key figures. This move paved the way to Jannati to jump in the council’s rank. His new status puts him on the list to run for the Assembly of Expert’s top post ‐ its presidency. Primed for power A source said "We can now disclose that alongside his official position, Hejazi serves as a prominent link between Iran’s leadership and the murky operations of the Quds Force, the special forces unit of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards." Despite his high profile, one of Hejazi’s children manages to maintain a very secretive, yet important role. Uncovered information reveals that his son, Mohammad Hassan Hejazi, is a key Quds Force operative. The 29-year-old serves as a high-ranking field operative in a unit responsible for intelligence gathering and reconnaissance for the Quds Force’s activities abroad. In the last few years, he headed covert operations in several countries around Europe, South-East Asia and in the Middle East. Growing up amongst Tehran’s wealthy, connected elite, Mohammad Hassan reportedly has a taste for luxury ‐ with a passion for expensive cars and fine dining. He is also not afraid to pull strings in the capital’s corridors of power. While the young Hejazi lacks a dazzling social media presence like some of the internet-famous Rich Kids of Tehran, his ilk are commonly nicknamed "Aga-Zadeh," or "spoiled brats." Like many other Quds Force operatives, Mohammad Hassan is known to use aliases and fake passports to conduct his operations. If his powerful father stays in his position - and the son continues on this same path - it would seem likely that the young Hejazi could soon become one of the leading and most influential figures in the Quds Force. |
| Posted by:Fred |