Saeed Hajjarian

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Dr. Saeed Hajjarian
Born Qom, Iran

Saeed Hajjarian (Persian: سعید حجاریان, born 1954 Tehran) is an Iranian intellectual, prominent journalist,[1] pro-democracy activist and university lecturer. He has been an intelligence official, a member of Tehran's city council, and advisor to president Mohammad Khatami. In March, 2000, he was shot in the head by an assailant and severely disabled, an act many believe was in retaliation for his help in uncovering the chain murders of Iran and his significant help to the Iranian reform movement in general.[2]

Contents

[edit] Early life and education

Saeed Hajjarian studied Mechanical Engineering at Faculty of Engineering (Fanni)Tehran University and was a young Iranian revolutionary during the 1979 Iranian Revolution and was among the students who took over the US embassy in Tehran in 1979.[2] After the revolution, he got involved with the formation of the intelligence apparatus of the newly founded Islamic Republic. Through the 1980s, he was working in the Ministry of Intelligence, where his positions included Vice Minister of Political Affairs. In the late 1980s, he left the ministry, and established an Institute for Strategic Studies under the presidency. That was where he played an important role in creating a new discourse based on democracy and rule of law for his generation of revolutionaries.

In 1977 Hajjarian was enrolled in Mechanical Engineering undergraduate program but then he shifted to political sciences and received his doctoral qualification from Tehran University in 2003.

[edit] Assassination attempt

When Mohammad Khatami was elected President in 1997, he appointed Hajjarian his political advisor. In 1999, Hajjarian was elected to the city council of Tehran in Iran's first city elections after the 1979 revolution. He was also the editor of Sobh-e Emrooz newspaper, which was a strong advocate of Khatami's reforms. He was believed to be the source of information for many reports written the investigative journalists Akbar Ganji and Emadeddin Baghi, including those about the "Chain murders" of dissident intellectuals by members of Iran's intelligence ministry

In March, 2000 he was shot in the face by a gunman on the doorstep of Tehran's city council. The would be assassin fled on a motor-cycle with an accomplice. The bullet entered through his left cheek and lodged in his neck. Miraculously, he was not killed, but was badly paralyzed for life.

During his coma, groups of young Iranians kept a vigil outside Sina hospital, where he was being treated.

His assailant Saeed Asgar, a young man who was reported to be a member of the Basij militia, was later arrested and sentenced to spend 15 years in jail.[3][4] But he was released after spending only a short term in prison. Saeed Asgar was accompanied by Mohsen Morteza Majidi on a motor bike. Others who have been involved, include Mohammad Ali Moghaddami, Mehdi Rowghani, Mousa Jan Nesari, Ali Pourchaluei (possibly the one who shot Hajjarian), Saeed Golounani and Safar Maghsoudi.[5][6]

[edit] Possible cause

His attempted assassination is thought to be associated with the exposure of the "Chain murders" in his Sobh Emrouz daily newspaper, and the "key role" he is believed to have played "in bringing about ... damaging disclosures," both as the editor of the exposing newspaper and one of the few reformists likely to be a source of information about activity in the intelligence ministry. Consequently, "some believe that remnants" of the chain murder "intelligence killer group may have been" behind his attempted assassination. [2][7]

[edit] Recovery

Hajjarian slowly recovered somewhat from the shooting. By 2005, Hajjarian was still unable to speak with a clear voice and still using the wheelchair, although could walk with help. [8] By 2009 he still spoke with difficulty and was "dependent on the constant care of doctors and family."[7]

[edit] Research works and viewpoints

According to author Abbas Milani, Hajjarian argued that domination of politics by clerics was wrong, but could be gradually eroded by "mobilizing the masses and using them as bargaining chips with Iran's rulers."[9] His strategy for the reform movement has been described by another journalist as extending the reformists "reach by triangulating between the mass movement they represented and the autocratic state with which they shared power. He coined the phrase that would define the reformists’ strategy: `Pressure from below, negotiation at the top.`”[7]

Sa’eed Hajjarian finds a way of combating the predominance of Valiyat al-faqih (rule of the Islamic jurist) by underlining the de facto secularization of religion by the Leader of the Islamic Republic, Khomeini. He allegedly showed the supremacy of politics as such over any religious norm when he said that the interests of the Islamic Republic are paramount in Islam and that zakat, salah, hajj, and everything else in Islam, are subordinant. This kind of decision, he states, means that politics are more important than religion and that this acknowledges the secularization of religion. In this context, he argues, it is possible to reassess velayat faqih and to reject its supremacy within the political field in Iran.[10]

[edit] 2009 Disputed Elections

On 16 June 2009, four days after the disputed presidential election, it was reported that Hajjarian had been arrested.[11] It has been reported that he died in Evin prison under torture on July 7, [12][13] but also that he was still alive but had suffered a nervous breakdown on July 8 and was in critical condition in a military hospital in Tehran.[14] More recently, there have been reports that he is still in Evin Prison, possibly in a clinic there,[15] and that according to his wife, physician Vajiheh Marsoussi, his medical condition was "deteriorating severely" while in prison.[16]. Saeed Hajjarian has been accused of having links with the British intelligence service on 25 August 2009. [17]

[edit] Quotes

  • "Reforms are dead, long live the reforms!"
  • "The main supporters of fighting against the Islamic Republic have put aside their revolts and guns. They have taken guitars and talk about political action now."
  • "The fall of ideologic government is absolutely necessary today."

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Jailed Iranian reformist's life at risk: U.S. group". 2009-07-01. http://www.reuters.com/article/gc08/idUSTRE5602U520090701. Retrieved 2009-07-06. 
  2. ^ a b c Analysis: Who wanted Hajjarian dead?
  3. ^ Sachs, Susan. "2 Trials Focus Attention on Iranian Justice". The New York Times. 
  4. ^ "Five Jailed Over Iran Shooting". The Independent (London). 
  5. ^ "Hajjarian Assassination Attempt Trial". http://www.iranmania.com/news/currentaffairs/features/hajjariancase/default.asp. Retrieved 2009-07-06. 
  6. ^ "Iran: Agency publishes names of suspects involved in Hajjarian case". BBC Monitoring Middle East - Political Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring. 
  7. ^ a b c The New Yorker, "Protest Vote," June 29, 2009, p.23 accessed July 11, 2009
  8. ^ New Yorker magazine, "Fugitives, Young Iranians confront the collapse of the reform movement" by Laura Secor, November 21, 2005
  9. ^ The New Republic, "The New Democrats" by Abbas Milani, July 15, 2009 (not available for free online)
  10. ^ Khosrokhavar, F. (2004). "The New Intellectuals in Iran". Social Compass 51: 191. doi:10.1177/0037768604043006.  edit
  11. ^ Leading Iranian reformist arrested, his office says, 2009-06-16, http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSDAH619963, retrieved 2009-06-16 
  12. ^ [http://www.peiknet.com/ شهادت سعید حجاریان زیر دست مرتضوی و شریعتمداری], 2009-07-07, http://www.peiknet.com/, retrieved 2009-07-09 
  13. ^ پرده آخر کودتا, 2009-07-09, http://www.roozonline.com/persian/negahehafteh/negahe-hafteh-view-on-the-week/article/2009/july/08//-6f2afbc9b6.html, retrieved 2009-07-09 
  14. ^ Muhammad Sahimi (2009-07-08). "Reformist Strategist: Saeed Hajjarian". Teheran Bureau. http://tehranbureau.com/saeed-hajjarian/. Retrieved 2009-07-10. 
  15. ^ Robert Tait (2009-07-21). "Iran's illogical cruelty: The imprisonment of the frail reformer Saeed Hajarian exposes the callousness of Iran's leaders – and their lack of logic". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jul/21/iran-saeed-hajarian-imprisonment/. Retrieved 2009-07-21. 
  16. ^ Reports: 50 'political figures' among Iranian detainees. July 30, 2009. CNN
  17. ^ http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=104467&sectionid=351020101

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saeed_Hajjarian"