Ahmad Jannati, 95 years old, is one of the most infamous figures of the Iranian regime and is prominent for his loyalty to the supreme leader, both the regime’s founder Ruhollah Khomeini and the current supreme leader Ali Khamenei. As a result, he possesses many positions and responsibilities in the regime’s political structure.

Among the positions, he has held is Chairmanship of the Assembly of Experts to determine the future leader; irreplaceable secretary of the Guardian Council to approve presidential and parliamentary candidates; rejection and acceptance of the parliament’s resolutions; and until some time ago, chairmanship and membership in many national policy-making institutions, such as the secretary of the Islamic Propaganda Coordination Council, the Headquarters for Revival of Good and Prohibition of Evil, and the temporary Friday Imam of Tehran.

On September 1, the state-run Hamdeli daily published an article comparing him to people like Shinzo Abe, Japan’s former prime minister, who resigned at the height of his popularity while being 66 years old, due to illness and fear that fatigue and boredom will negatively affect his decisions to govern and lead the country.

They wrote, “There are many examples in Iran who, like Shinzo Abe, hold key and managerial positions, but they do not have Shinzo Abe’s honesty nor the courage to resign. On the contrary, they insist on staying in power at any cost, despite all their inabilities and little knowledge in leading and managing positions.”

But what has Jannati actually achieved and how did he help in the progression of the country over the past four decades?

In March 2021, in the meeting of the Assembly of Experts, he said, “We should do everything we can for the poor and those who are not in a good financial situation. At least at the end of the year, there be people who do not have proper food. If we can feed a hungry stomach, we have done a miracle. Our possibilities are very limited, but God has given us a task within our possibilities.”

Reading these sentences is painful. How it is possible that in a country like Iran with so much wealth, sating people has become like a miracle?

These remarks were so absurd that even the regime’s media could not be kept silent. In response, on March 10, the state-run Jomhouri Eslami daily wrote, “We are not a poor country that considers it a ‘miracle’ to feed our people. By the way, the miracle is the management of some people that with so much wealth, we are getting poorer every day.”

They added, “Even though we have been talking about ethics and Islam for 43 years, the records of embezzlement, immorality, depression and strife are rising. It must be said that with all these resources, reaching absolute poverty is a reverse miracle, and it is even more miraculous that we are stressed to feed people. What have we really done?”

What they have done has become clear in another sentence by this man. At the ceremony for the anniversary of Khomeini’s death, next to his grave he said, “As the Imam was introduced to our generation, he was not introduced to the new generation. ‘Imamology’ classes should be organized in our universities.”

He pointed to the regime’s next goal of destruction, which is the universities of the country. Their aim is seemingly so that they can move the country back to Khomeini’s era until there are no more traces of the Iranian nation and its people.

Even this ridiculous speech faced the critics of the regime’s media, which is clear enough without any further explanation. On July 6, the state-run Jamaran daily wrote, “Expectantly, in a decision-making system where a large part of them are clerics, they should look at this matter through the lens of their expertise. That is, they will see that when they put inflationary and job-killing policies on the agenda, they are not increasing people’s devotion to religion and ethics. Don’t you see what changes society has undergone? Don’t you see what you have brought upon yourself and society?”