Ali Saidi, representative of Iran’s Supreme Leader in the Revolutionary Guards spoke out against Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the late founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Khomeini, for taking a stance against “the system and the Leader.”

In response to a letter from the head of the Institute of Ayatollah Khomeini’s Publications, Mohammad Ali Ansari, who had in turn written to Saidi to remind him of the late Leader’s insistence of no military intervention in politics, Ali Saidi criticized Hassan Khomeini’s decision not to attend the last inauguration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after the election disputes.

The inauguration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was not attended by several prominent figures of the Islamic Republic following the allegation of fraud which protesters claim secured Ahamidnejad’s re-election. Former President Mohammad Khatami and Chairman of the Expediency Council, Ayatollah Rafsanjani are amongst the other top figures that stayed away from the ceremony along with Hassan Khomeini who has aligned himself with the opposition.

Ali Saidi dismissed criticisms regarding intervention of the Revolutionary Guards in politics and maintained that the problem lies in mistaken interpretations of Ayatollah Khomeini’s sayings.

Ayatollah Khamenei’s representative also criticizes the “meaningful silence” of Hassan Khomeini in the post-election events which he claims has created “doubts and questions” in the minds of the Guards and Basij forces regarding Ayatollah Khomeini’s kin.

In addition to his absence from Ahmadinejad’s inauguration, Hassan Khomeini’s visit with Alireza Beheshti, who was recently released from prison at the time, has also been regarded as a move in support of the opposition. Alireza Beheshti is one of the top aides of the opposition leader, MirHosein Mousavi and was arrested twice in connection with the post-election protests. Go to original article.

Inside the shrine to the founder of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, the grandson of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini performed his duty as its caretaker – politely greeting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and security force chiefs during an official memorial.

Later, Hassan Khomeini quietly slipped away from the ceremony earlier this month to visit the family of one of the imprisoned allies of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.

This is the unique niche occupied by the 37-year-old cleric with an easy smile and ginger-colored beard: respected by the ruling system for his family lineage, but regarded with suspicion for his sympathies toward their foes.

So far, Khomeini has stayed in the wings during Iran’s political tempests that have followed last year’s disputed presidential election. He’s given nods to the opposition yet avoided streets protests or using the unmatched power of his family name on their behalf.

But pressures could build for Khomeini to take a more central role.

Iran’s hard-line Kayhan newspaper has denounced Khomeini for his “suspicious support” of opposition figures and hinted he was no longer fit to oversee the shrine to his grandfather or the institute dedicated to the ayatollah’s writings and speeches.

The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency has accused Khomeini of encouraging forces that seek to topple the system his grandfather founded.

In a rare public rebuttal, Hassan Khomeini complained last week that state media are manipulating the words of his grandfather. In a letter to the head of Iran’s state-run television, Khomeini accused the station of trying to link his grandfather’s comments about resistance to the Islamic Revolution to cast shadows on today’s opposition.

Hassan Khomeini is among 15 grandchildren of the ayatollah, but the only one with any significant public role.

Another of Khomeini’s grandchildren, Zahra Eshraghi, and her husband Mohammad Reza Khatami, who is the brother of former pro-reform president Mohammad Khatami, were held for less than an hour by security forces during the tense Feb. 11 events marking the Revolution anniversary. Go to Washington Post.

To commemorate the the 31st anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini’s return to Iran from exile during the Iranian Revolution, Khomeini’s grandson and foremost descendant, Seyyed Hassan Khomeini, hosts a gathering each year at Ayatollah Khomeini’s mausoleum, of which he is the caretaker.

This year was no different. The ceremony on Feb. 1 was attended by top government officials celebrating Khomeini’s legacy and leadership. Hassan Khomeini, as the director of the facility and the living representative of Khomeini’s family and legacy, presided over the event. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and various members of his government attended the ceremonies.

However, to express his dissatisfaction, Hassan Khomeini left the ceremony before President Ahmadinejad delivered his speech, according to the opposition website Kaleme, which is affiliated with Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Hassan Khomeini has avoided any show of support for Ahmadinejad after the elections, skipping his inauguration ceremony and supporting Moussavi’s call for annulment of the June 2009 election results that declared Ahmadinejad the winner. His meeting with Ahmadinejad, in this context, may seem to be a sign of reconciliation.

But instead of staying for Ahmadinejad’s address, Seyyed Hassan paid a visit to the family of Alireza Beheshti, an opposition politician currently jailed by the government. Alireza Beheshti was opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi’s top advisor, and is the son of prominent revolutionary martyr Ayatollah Beheshti, killed in a bombing in 1981. Ayatollah Beheshti was also a close confidant of Ayatollah Khomeini. Go to Inside Iran.

The grandson of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, father of Iran’s Islamic revolution, is reported to have left the country to avoid attending Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presidential inauguration.  Hassan Khomeini, a supporter of the defeated reformist candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, has travelled to an unnamed “neighbouring country” to escape official pressure to be present at next month’s swearing-in ceremony, according to the pro-reformist news website, Salaamnews. Go to Guardian.