Iranian hardline cleric accused of plotting against Leadership

AliAkbar Mohtashamipour

Reformist Member of Iran’s Parliament AliAkbar Mohtashamipour accused the hardliner, Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi of planning to even cut off the roots of Leadership.

In a meeting with a group of university students, Mohatashimipor maintained: “I am certain, Mr. Mesbah Yazdi does not even believe in the Leadership, Imam Khomeini or Ayatollah Khamenei.”

The senior member of the Combatant Clerics claimed the “Hojatieh and Mesbajieh sects” are a “violent and merciless movement who are using Ayatollah Khamenei as a bridge to reach their goals."

The reformist cleric added that the “Hojatieh Association has nested in Alghadir Foundation which is where all plans against Imam Khomeini’s ideas and publications are devised.”

The International Alghadir Foundation, an organization headed by Abolghassem Khazali, describes its objective as “promotion of the ideology of religious government.”

Over 40 of Iranian professors, seminary teachers and government executives are amongst Alghadir’s Board Members.

Alghadir is also active in Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, India and the United Arab Emirates.

Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi is one of the most prominent supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and one of the fiercest opponents of the reformist government of Mohammad Khatami.

The followers of Mesbah Yazdi have at times been referred to as “Mesbahieh.”

Hojatieh Association is an organization that was founded over 50 years ago by a Shiite cleric, Sheik Mahmoud Halabi, to defend Islam against Baha’ism and to “make preparations for the re-appearance of the last Imam.”

In 1984, the association was accused of treason and shut down following threats against Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.

Iranian reformists believe that the Hojatieh sect is in close contact with the “Mesbahieh” and have gained power through Ahmadinajed’s presidency.