VZCZCXRO0942
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDIR RUEHKUK
DE RUEHAK #0238/01 0440507
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 130507Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8776
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 5376

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000238 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/06/2019 
TAGS: CVIS IR PGOV PHUM PREL SCUL SOCI TR
SUBJECT: ANTI-REGIMC O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000238 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/06/2019 
TAGS: CVIS IR PGOV PHUM PREL SCUL SOCI TR
SUBJECT: ANTI-REGIME ACTIVIST ESCAPES IMPRISONMENT 
 
Classified By: DCM Doug Silliman for Reason 1.4(d) 
 
¶1. (C)  Summary:   In mid January CONOFF interviewed 
XXXXXXXXXXXX, an anti-regime constitutional 
monarchist, for an immigrant visa. Soltani was repeatedly 
jailed and released by the Government of Iran for subversive 
activities and narrowly escaped re-imprisonment prior to his 
visa interview. XXXXXXXXXXXX noted that the current anti-regime 
movements remain ineffective as the GOI maintains a tight 
control over all activities. XXXXXXXXXXXX opined that no 
significant changes will come to Iran unless the entire 
system of government is revised. 
 
¶2. (C)  XXXXXXXXXXXX explained that he has always been a member of the constitutional monarchist movement of Iran even prior to 
the Islamic revolution. XXXXXXXXXXXX told Consulate Istanbul's 
"Iran Watcher" in May 2008 that in addition to his membership 
in the pro-monarchist Kingdom Assembly of Iran, he also had 
some involvement with Iran's Tudeh (communist-leaning) party. 
XXXXXXXXXXXX later clarified to CONOFF that he never was an 
official member of the Tudeh party, though he had been 
"associated" with it. He spoke fondly of Mohammed Mossadeq, 
the main figure of Iran's constitutional monarchist movement 
in the 1950's. He noted that under the Shah constitutional 
monarchists were often accused of being communist in an 
effort to discredit democratic movements. 
 
¶3. (C)  XXXXXXXXXXXX explained that he was arrested twice 
immediately after the Islamic Revolution for activities 
against the regime. The first time all charges were dropped 
within a year of his first arrest. However, after returning 
from a US. visit to his family, he was again arrested and 
charged with being a supporter of the Pahlavi Regime, a 
capitalist, a threat to the Islamic revolution, and for 
transferring personal money to US. banks. He observed that 
many other male and female prisoners were executed for 
similar charges. XXXXXXXXXXXX was held for three months but, due 
to pressure from family and supporters, eventually released 
on bail with the condition that he not leave Iran for five 
years. He continued to be watched closely by the Iranian 
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He eventually won an appeal 
and all charges were dismissed. 
 
¶4. (C)  After his release XXXXXXXXXXXX continued to find ways to 
fund the distribution of pro-constitutional monarchy 
information in Iran. When asked if he was connected or a 
supporter of Reza Pahlavi, he quickly disassociated himself 
and emphatically labeled the former crown prince as an idiot. 
He explained that the Iranian monarchy is not linked to any 
particular dynasty, as dynasties come and go. His efforts 
were to establish monarchy as a symbolic institution and not 
as a ruling force. 
 
¶5. (C)  XXXXXXXXXXXX was adamant that no change would come to Iran unless the entire system of Islamic government was removed. 
Election of a more moderate president such as Mohammad Reza 
Khataemi would not be sufficient. Most mullahs are against 
the regime but the ones who "eat" from the regime are adamant 
about maintaining it. He claimed ninety percent of Iranians 
are anti-regime but most are too scared to do anything. He 
said that the prospects for democratic movements against the 
regime were weak as the government "grabs by the neck" before 
any serious challenge to the regime can develop. XXXXXXXXXXXX 
explained that in 2005 he met anti-regime UK based "Your TV." 
host Forood Fooladvand to discuss ways to advance their 
movement. Since that meeting he believes the regime resumed 
surveillance of his activities and even believes that the 
money he was distributing wound up in the hands of the 
regime. He later heard that Fooladvand was abducted from 
Britain and taken to Iran via the Turkish border and 
eventually killed. 
 
¶6. (C)  In September 2005 XXXXXXXXXXXX was arrested and charged with activities against the regime that included insulting 
the sacred principles of Islam through telephone contacts 
with Forood Fooladvand and Euro TV, actions against the 
security of the country, and keeping satellite receiver 
equipment. He was convicted of those charges in May 2006, 
which Iranian courts held up on appeal despite his petition 
to be released for medical reasons. XXXXXXXXXXXX was jailed for 
one and a half years in Evin prison under harsh conditions, 
including several months in solitary confinement in Ward 350. 
He told Consulate Istanbul's "Iran Watcher" in May 2008 that 
while he was held in Ward 209 in Evin prison, he saw or heard 
of at least two Al Qaida prisoners, as well as several 
Palestinians serving time for traveling to Iran on forged 
passports. Due to the need for urgent medical care, he was 
released on temporary bond in early 2008. While released for 
medical treatment, XXXXXXXXXXXX learned that his further appeals 
for medical release were denied and he was formally sentenced 
to ten years in prison and fined one million rials (USD 100). 
 
¶7. (C)  Soltani quickly escaped to Turkey to avoid 
imprisonment, arriving in Istanbul in May 2008. While in 
Istanbul, he met with the US Consulate and was advised to 
contact UNHCR to register as a temporary refugee. During his 
stay in Turkey he made a brief trip to Cyprus to maintain 
status in Turkey while awaiting an immigrant visa interview 
that was set in motion by his AMCIT daughter in the US. Due 
to concerns that his passport was to expire within seven 
months, and his situation in Iran, he was granted an IV 
emergency appointment at Embassy Ankara. After an advisory 
opinion from Consular Affairs, XXXXXXXXXXXX was issued his 
immigrant visa. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Turk ey 
 
Jeffrey