Raisi supports corrupt minister.
Raisi, supporter of corrupt minister, condemns the minister, accusing him of corruption.
Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of the judiciary, announced yesterday during a meeting with students at Yasuj University that former Minister of Agriculture Jihad, Seyed Javad Sadatinejad, has been sentenced to three years in prison. He also stated that eight others have been convicted in this case and have requested Article 477 of the Criminal Procedure Code, under which if the head of the judiciary deems a final verdict from any of the judicial authorities to be against Sharia law, they will refer the case back to the Supreme Court for reconsideration in specific branches designated by the head of the judiciary.
These specified branches, contrary to Sharia law, declare the previous final verdict null and void, and proceed to reexamine the case both formally and substantively, issuing the appropriate judgment. However, the fate of the remaining eight individuals was not mentioned.
However, the most important point in the condemnation statements is the involvement of one of the highest government officials, the former Minister of Agriculture of the thirteenth government, Issa Kalantari, who holds a doctoral degree in hydraulic engineering from Moscow State University. He was nominated as the Minister of Agriculture by President Ebrahim Raisi on August 11, 2021, and on September 25, 2021, he gained the vote of confidence from the parliament with 253 in favor, 27 against, and 4 abstentions.
He is from Kashan and also has a history of serving in the tenth and eleventh parliaments as a representative of Kashan and Aran va Bidgol. His name has long been associated with extensive corruption cases, including a 110 billion toman corruption case in livestock institutions and a 140 billion toman corruption case in the tea industry, leading to his dismissal, which was announced as a resignation.
Universal support of the thirteenth government for the corrupt minister.
Simultaneously with his dismissal, whispers of his arrest due to economic corruption were heard. Interestingly, Ali Bahadorijahromi, the government’s spokesperson, supported him in response to these rumors and stated that Mr. Sadatinezhad had resigned and his resignation was accepted. Currently, one of their former deputies is acting as the interim minister.
The things that are being said are just rumors, they are not true and should not be paid attention to. The government is currently benefiting from his contributions and will continue to cooperate with him in the future.
Bahadorijahromi was also tasked with supporting the corrupt Minister of Agriculture in another matter and claimed that Sadatinezhad’s management in the food sector prevented the country from facing any issues in that area. However, based on assessments made, the President decided to make a change in the management of this sector.
In one instance, even Mansouri, the executive deputy of the President, thanked Sadatinezhad, the impeached and corrupt minister, in a meeting.
Part of the President’s support for Sadatinezhad was related to the ‘Chay Dabesh’ case, meaning that despite Ibrahim Raeisi’s claim of dismissing 60 people over the Chay Dabesh incident, the names of these individuals have not been reported to the country’s judiciary system.
He emphasized once again in a meeting with students on December 7th of last year that no corrupt government official has been introduced to us in the case of the Chay Dabesh file.
The silence or support of Raisi’s government for the former Minister of Agriculture Jihad has reached a point where Gholamali Jafarzadeh Emamabadi, a representative of the parliament, in response to it, said, ‘I wish Mr. Raisi courageously said that Mr. Sadatiannejad was dismissed and removed for causing problems in the Ministry of Agriculture.’
Why is Mr. Sadatiannejad’s court verdict being pardoned? Why do you keep his court ruling hidden? Mr. Raisi has misunderstood and wants to say that there is no corruption happening in my government at all.
The point is that the first time in February 2024, news of the issuance of a final verdict for Sadatiannejad was published. A verdict that was issued in December, coinciding with his confirmation of eligibility to compete for a parliamentary seat. According to this verdict, he was sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment and deprivation of government services for 3 years.
It is unreasonable to say that the sentence of three years imprisonment for Sadatinejad cannot be related to two financial corruption cases. It seems that this sentence is only related to the livestock case, and there is no news about the fate of the tea debosh case and the role of Sadatinejad and other subordinates in this financial corruption.
The former Minister of Agriculture Jihad and former head of the Agricultural Commission of the Parliament, who some accuse of abusing his position in the parliament, had promised during his presidency to bring the country to food sovereignty in the Middle East.
From the presidency of the university to the presidency.
A political activist who does not want his name to be revealed tells his compatriots that Sadatinejad was the vice president of Shahrekord University in 1384. His brothers also hold various positions; for example, one of them is a cleric, and another one is a journalist for the Seraj newspaper. His other brothers also hold different positions.
This source cites a university official stating that Sadatinejad supported Hashemi in the first round of the ninth presidential election, but switched to Ahmadinejad’s camp in the second round. He was appointed as the president of Kashan University during Ahmadinejad’s administration.
It emphasizes that Kashan University is one of the leading reformist universities in the country. During Sadatinejad’s presidency, the university faced many challenges such as the closure of the Islamic association, expulsion, and non-renewal of contracts with protesting professors, some of whom were members of the Coordination Council of Reforms.
The former Minister of Science’s presidency over Kashan University continued until 1390, when Farhad Rahbar took over as the administrative and financial manager of Tehran University during his presidency.
However, this individual’s career progression continued, and during Kamran Daneshjoo’s ministry, Sadatinejad was appointed as the parliamentary deputy of the Ministry of Science.
This political activist continues his political activities following his tenure as a former member of the parliament. In the incident of the tenth parliamentary elections, while the central Council of Principlists was inclined to support Mohammad Hassan Qadiriabani, the Council of Principlists in Kashan decided to support Sadatinezhad. This individual, utilizing his connections in Kashan, managed to take the lead and became the Principlist candidate in this area, ultimately winning the votes.
Events during the term of office
This individual emphasizes that during the presidency of Eisa Kalantari over the Environmental Organization, he noticed a significant increase in mining license requests in Isfahan province, especially in Kashan and Aran va Bidgol. Kalantari investigated the matter and inquired about it, discovering that Sadatinezhad was the representative of Isfahan province in the Mining Allocation Committee at the time when such interactions were taking place in that committee.
During Sadatinezhad’s representation, a permit was issued to build an iron smelting factory on the outskirts of Kashan city and Maranjab Desert. The permit was issued without considering its attachments and environmental inquiries. Sadatinezhad and his colleagues also intended to establish a lead factory without environmental inquiries, which was halted due to facing public objections.
This source, informed about his activities to gain the chairmanship of the Agriculture Commission of the Parliament, also mentioned that in the first year of the eleventh parliament, the media raised concerns about several clerics lacking expertise being members of the Agriculture Commission. This was actually a trick to ensure Sadatinezhad’s election as the chairman of the Agriculture Commission.
During the 1396 presidential election in Kashan, he delivered a very harsh speech against Rouhani. The political activist refers to this issue and continues that at that time, his friends were active in the headquarter. Nevertheless, after his election as the head, he managed to pressure the governor and the Minister of Interior to appoint his preferred individual as the governor of Kashan, a weak person whom he could control.
This informed source says that Ghaemmaghami, the deputy minister of agriculture, told me that until the very last days, Reisi intended to introduce another person.
With the connections we had, we managed to introduce Sadatinejad in the shadows of indifference in the ministry. Under Sadatinejad’s leadership, a significant and regrettable incident occurred, where he injected non-specialists from outside the ministry into the core of this organization. Changes during his time were chaotic, with frequent turnovers of managers.
For example, during his two-year tenure, the deputy minister changed several times, causing a lot of tension within the ministry. The situation was such that a seasoned professional with high academic qualifications had to work under someone who had no knowledge of their field of work.
These were the troubles we witnessed during Sadatinejad’s time at the Ministry of Agriculture.
