Iran's Dirty Workers

The Islamic Republic's president and supreme leader may be household names, but many of those in charge of the state's atrocities remain largely unknown outside the country. Here are five of the worst.

BY JOSHUA KEATING | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009

Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi

Claim to infamy: Influential ally of the supreme leader. Thinks men should be permitted to beat their wives for not fulfilling their sexual obligations.

Mojtaba Khamenei

Claim to infamy: Son of the supreme leader and rumored possible successor. Despite having no official title, he reportedly took direct control of armed militias during the post-election protests, when scores of demonstrators were killed.

Hassan Taeb

Claim to infamy: Commander of the paramilitary Basij force. Oversees the protection of the Islamic Republic from "cultural threats" such as improperly dressed women. Recently accused of sanctioning and then covering up the rape and torture of demonstrators in Iran's prisons.

Saeed Mortazavi

Claim to infamy: As Tehran's chief prosecutor, Mortazavi was in charge of interrogating political prisoners. Under his watch, photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was tortured, brutally raped, and killed. Mortazavi was recently "promoted" to deputy prosecutor general.

Brig. Gen. Qassem Suleimani

Claim to infamy: Commander of the supreme leader's military unit, the Quds Force. Has been linked to terrorist attacks around the world, from the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina to roadside bombings in Iraq.

 SUBJECTS: IRAN, MIDDLE EAST
 

Joshua Keating is deputy Web editor at Foreign Policy.