Iran’s Elections 2021: Who is Fereydoon Abbasi Davani?

 

Written by
Mansoureh Galestan

Fereydoon Abbasi Davani is one of the key elements of the IRGC in producing nuclear weapons. He is currently a member of the regime’s parliament and the chairman of its energy commission.

Born on September 8, 1958, in the city of Abadan, he joined IRGC after the overthrow of the Shah’s regime. He took part in the Iran-Iraq war in three different periods. Abbasi has been one of the key figures in the IRGC Research Center for building nuclear weapons and missiles since 1984.


Years after the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988, he received his doctorate in nuclear physics from Beheshti University. In 1993, he became a member of the faculty of Physics of Imam Hossein University, an affiliated institution of the IRGC, and later became the head of the physics department of this university. He has performed many experiments related to the construction of nuclear weapons, including laser enrichment.


The UN Security Council Resolution 1747 sanctioned Abbasi as a “senior scientist at the Ministry of Defense, associated with the Institute of Applied Physics.”
On February 15, 2011, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former president of the regime, appointed him as the vice president and in charge of the regime’s Atomic Energy Organization. Abbasi held this position until August 2013.


Abbasi was one of the top four nuclear scientists at the Defense Ministry and ran the scheme to deceive the IAEA inspectors during their visits to Iran and in particular during their inspection of the Lavizan Shian site in 2004.

Background
Iran’s regime will hold its sham presidential elections on June 18. While many try to portray the mullahs’ sham elections as a sign of the regime’s democracy, it is necessary to take an in-depth look at the procedures and rules of the so-called elections in the regime
Article 115 of the regime’s Constitution and Article 35 of the election law set the threshold for Presidential candidates to Muslim males, faithful to the “Islamic Republic”, and with practical belief and commitment to the principle of the velayat-e faqih (absolute clerical rule). The unelected and handpicked Guardian Council recently added further exclusions in a tactical adjustment to further disqualify and curtail potentially troublesome candidates from the self-proclaimed “Reformist” camp in the upcoming elections.

The Guardian Council has 12 members, six clerics, and six jurists. Khamenei appoints the six clerics, and the Judiciary Chief, whom Khamenei appoints, picks the six jurists. So, in effect, all Council members are chosen by the Supreme Leader.

 

 

Iran’s Elections 2021: Who is Fereydoon Abbasi Davani?

Back to top button