During an August 21 session in the Majlis (parliament), the Iranian regime’s new president Massoud Pezeshkian confessed that all members of his cabinet have been coordinated and approved by regime supreme leader Ali Khamenei and the regime’s security apparatus. This confession led to the disgrace of the entire regime—from Khamenei to the Parliament, the President, the elections, and so on. This incident has driven the fervent supporters of the Supreme Leader into a frenzy. The chaos among this group is particularly driven by the fact that this farce clearly demonstrated the Iranian Resistance’s perspective on the absolute tyranny of mullahs’ regime. There could not have been a better way to show that in the mullahs’ regime, the institutions of governance, from the Parliament and the government to the judiciary, and even mechanisms like elections, law, and the constitution, are all completely ridiculous and hollow.
Regarding this, an article by Khamenei’s mouthpiece Kayhan newspaper is very telling. Addressing Pezeshkian, on August 22, Hossein Shariatmadari, the managing editor of Kayhan wrote: “Your false claim yesterday was met with widespread support from the sworn enemies of the state. ”
Shariatmadari admitted that the entire regime has been dragged through the mud, writing: “His claim immediately became a tool for the obvious enemies of the state to undermine democracy, the Parliament, and even the powers of the President.”
Kayhan then absurdly cites a statement from Khamenei’s office, which says: “The consistent practice in all administrations has been to coordinate with the Leader in the selection of the Ministers of Defense, Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence, as per the constitutional duties assigned to the Leader in matters of foreign policy and defense-security affairs. Regarding certain ministries such as Science, Education, and Islamic Guidance, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution has sensitivities because deviations in these areas can lead to deviations in the overall movement of the country towards its ideals, and safeguarding the general direction towards these ideals is the definitive duty of the Leader.”
The statement itself reveals that the ministers of at least seven ministries are appointed by the Supreme Leader of the regime, but it remains unclear how Kayhan can explain Pezeshkian’s explicit remark that the Minister of Roads and Urban Development, the only woman in the cabinet, was also appointed by Khamenei via a phone order.
Kayhan then advised Pezeshkian to correct his statements from the previous day, essentially retracting them, “to block the enemy’s exploitation and leave them thwarted as always.”
In addition to Kayhan, others have joined in the lamentation and damage control. MP Malek Shariati wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account: “The President’s use of the Supreme Leader to secure votes from the Parliament was a big mistake because if they do not get the votes, it puts the Parliament in opposition to the Leader’s choice. Even if they do get the votes, they won’t be responsible for their future performance.”
Also, spokesman for the Parliament’s Security Commission, wrote: “Using the Leader’s name is not an art.” Yet another, while admitting “Is this a vote for Pezeshkian’s cabinet or the Leader’s cabinet?!” wrote: “This kind of rhetoric and using the Leader’s name was not appropriate at all.”
On August 22, IRGC-run Javan newspaper published an article titled “Why Parliament’s Action was Exactly Independence?” in which it mixed irrelevant topics to finally conclude: “The independence of Parliament or any other branch is compromised when the connections (meaning the connection with the Supreme Leader?) are not considered!”
There is no denying that the regime’s ship is sinking, and the futile efforts by its agents to save it are only making things worse for Khamenei and corrupt rule of the mullahs.