Mehdi Sahraian

Mehdi Sahraian (Persian: صحرائیان‎; born July 1946 in Shiraz) is an Iranian university professor from Jahrom, Iran.^{[citation needed]}

Family background

Sahraian’s paternal line had been raised to the ranks of the Persian nobility of the 19th century.^{[citation needed]} His great-grandfather Sayyid Mahmud, as the forerunner of Sahara clan to Jahrom, was the land lord of the great tobacco plantation of the Hakan region of Jahrom County.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]} During the ruling era of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (1831–1896), Hakan was considered as one of the major suppliers of the Iranian tobacco market.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]} In 1884–1889 Sayyid Mahmud, as a charitable act, had constructed a large caravanserai, a Turkish bath hamam, and an Ab Anbar reservoir, endowing those welfare facilities (free of charge) to the people of the Jahrom (سر سعد) region and caravan (travellers).^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]} Soon thereafter, for his services to the public welfare, with regard to his influence within the Jahrom county areas, in 1889 Sayyid Mahmud received the governance of the Hakan region from Naser al-Din Shah.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]}

In 1930, once the heritor Sayyid Ahmad (as the eldest grandson of the House) was to take over the clan heritage, he had realised that in the text of the bequest deed, which was signed by his grandfather (Sayyid Mahmud), the female members of the Sahara clan were dispossessed from their inheritance benefits.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]} The argument over the equal rights of the female family members on inheritance income gave Sahraian’s father (Sayyid Ahmad) reason enough to abandon the plantation and, in October 1932, move to Shiraz. Upon his arrival, Sahraian’s father had established his commerce office in Saraye Moshir, next to the grand Vakil bazaar of Shiraz.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]}

During 1935–1941, the modernization plan of Reza Shah and later the Post-War economic boom (named Wirtschaftswunder) provided Sahraian’s father with the opportunity to expand his commerce export to Western Europe and dominate the sheepskin & leather supply market (holding a majority market share) of the Fars province.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]} The business success enabled Sahraian’s father to join the local social & welfare activities and have a close relationship with the influential Ayatollahs.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]}

Between August 1941 and the first quarter of 1942, confiscation of domestically produced grain and food supply by the Allies and categorical transport of Iranian domestic grain to the Eastern Front under US Army enforcement had caused perpetual shortages of wheat flour and food supply in Iran. In consequence, widespread hunger followed by starvation and/or malnutrition broke out all over occupied Iran. The Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi, in a message to Sayyid Ahmad, had expressed his expectation for Sahraian’s father to care for the starved families in the south district of Shiraz. During the famine, having solidarity with the family members of the Sahara clan in Jahrom was an obvious matter to Sayyid Ahmad. But to Sahraian’s father, fulfillment of a personal appeal of a Grand Ayatollah of Shia (on a Bazaari commerce-man like himself) was more of a matter of religious worship and national pride. So it was again for Sahraian’s father a decade later, in 1951, when Ayatollah Abol-Ghasem Kashani had issued a fatwa for granting financial support to the movement for the Nationalization of Oil Supplies, led by Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh, which Sahraian’s father (Sayyid Ahmad) did follow and participate in.^[1]

On his mother’s side, Sahraian’s grandmother (Hyatt BiBi Khanum 1864–1954) was the daughter of Hassan khan, one of the principal line leaders of the Qashqai tribes during the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century. During World War I, Hassan khan with his brother Hussein khan were leading the Qashqai armed resistance against British military domination over the trade road of Bushehr.^[2] At his father’s suggestion, Sahraian studied foreign languages and philosophy at home under private tutors, and subsequently began reading the literature of Western writers.

Activism

At the University of Innsbruck in Austria, Sahraian founded a student organisation targeting the establishment of democracy and political freedom in Iran.^{[citation needed]} On his return to Iran in 1970, he was imprisoned by SAVAK, the political secret service of the Shah.^{[citation needed]}

In 1996, due to the open policies of President Khatami, Sahraian renewed his efforts to encourage comprehensive social and economic reform.^{[citation needed]} Sahraian gathered Iranian parliamentarians, intellectuals, economists, moderate politicians, journalists, and a number of the leading elites, in an academy, a meeting point for opinion exchange for those seeking reform.^{[citation needed]}

In early 2001, the academy presented about 63 reform bills, which were favorably received by President Khatami.^{[citation needed]}

Currently Sahraian serves as chairman of the Young Elite's academy and leads the Iran Poverty Movement.^{[citation needed]}

Theories

Sahraian believes^{[citation needed]} that "The main reason for the decline of Western democracy in the Middle East lies in the objective look of Western democracy at the issues of the Islamic Societies of the Middle East. Thus, the objective-based political conclusions toward the Islamic Societies of the region are much deceiving." ^{[citation needed]}

However, by having a subjective base of knowledge about the social economy of the Muslim societies of the region, would^{[according to whom?]} have provided the Western civilization with the reality that an approach for the implementation of democracy in the oil-rich Middle East needs a process stage of social and economic development for the creation of a middle class and to decrease the size of the underclass, minimize the gap between rich and poor, and create a middle class that has the impulse for guarding the elements of democracy.^{[citation needed]}

By collecting the experiences from continued field studies, Sahraian is^{[citation needed]} much convinced that the power keepers would never desire a realistic economic and social development of society. Otherwise, with the expansion of the Middle class, they will be losing their main ground of support and source of power.

Economic freedoms

In his new theory "Productionalism" (1998) for Economic Development of the Developing Countries, Sahraeean – based on his several field studies – concludes that: "…in those societies the economic freedom of persons is certainly prior to the political freedom of persons. Once a person is overwhelmed with poverty, he becomes very fragile and harmful. Since the poverty-stricken person has nothing to lose, he changes his votes with little money. Which this reality was observed on several occasions. The poverty-stricken person easily joins extremist groups and becomes the optimal mobile ground for the acceptance of any kind of advice toward fanatic actions. Seeking for the implementation of Western-type democracy in societies with a majority of poverty would be a poison which turns back to the preachers of democracy.^{[citation needed]}

Characteristic philosophy of SMES

In his third volume of "Productionalism" SME's (1999),^{[citation needed]} Sahraian brings the characteristic philosophy of the small and medium-size production workshops to attention as the optimal solution for driving society toward domestic and international responsibility. Because according to Sahraian:

Usually a small workshop is owned and managed by a family. Therefore, the "family interest" encourages family members to collectively protect their interests. This creates a kind of self-control inside the family over insurgent youths.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]}

By increasing productivity in the small workshop, production costs would be decreased, the manufactured goods of the workshop become more competitive and cause new employment. In consequence, stepwise, the unemployment rate of society will be lowered. It means more and more young persons get out of unemployment and become forced to take responsibility toward their job interests.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]}

Because of the flexibility of the SME's production line, the management starts to expand its market share domestically and regionally. The need for new technology and business contacts abroad becomes bold. In order to reach out to new technology and new business contacts, the entire personnel of the SME – because of collective interests – would have no other solution than to adopt a moderated behaviour in the face of their foreign partners.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]}

Sahraian, by counting a serial number of natural character of production-business for keeping the established SME on growth, concludes that by a natural constraint the individual small industries have no other choice but to become a ring of an industrial long chain which from one side is connected to the large industries and from the other end the chain is connected to the large distribution centres. The entire chain employs their family members, the entire a posteriori, a priori and service linkages, for reasons of collective interests, going to be forced to change their tendencies toward moderation of political, economical, religious, and philosophic behaviour in society. Once economic freedom – by having a relatively productive job – for a large number of society members is realised, in order to maintain the realised living standard, the very same people would feel responsible and give effort to stop extremism by all means.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]}

Sahraian advises (1997)^{[citation needed]} international organisations, especially the UN Organisations, to lead international efforts toward industrial job creation by supporting SMEs in the Islamic societies of the Middle East. Sahraian believes that 50 million unemployment until 2010 in the Middle East is a real threat for Western civilization because massive economic immigration to Europe will take place and cause cultural conflict.

Green Revolution

Sahraian, in his research on the green revolution, criticises the theory of David Ricardo known as the Ricardo Effect, in international trade and emphasizes that non-developed countries will remain agricultural producers with a consistent trade deficit, and this would cause the growth of poverty linked to extremism.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]}

Sahraian advises assisting undeveloped countries for the mechanization of their agriculture sector, creation of "Produce Preferences" of products with more added value, linking the producing program to the industrial agriculture economy and letting the developing country reach out to new sources of money for investment in productive job creation and welfare installations.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]} In consequence, the eco-immigration from the agriculture pole to the large cities would become reversed; the margin of suburban immigrants, which are the best ground for personal logistics of extremism, decreases drastically.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]}

Money laundering

The most controversial^{[peacock term]} work of Sahraian is his field study-based research about money laundering in Iran and the Middle East.^{[citation needed]} Sahraian succeeded in infiltrating^{[clarification needed]} the organised Afghani-Pakistan Drug Mafia and meeting with two of the scariest Mafioso leaders.^{[citation needed]} Who are in charge of the financial support of Al-Qaida.^{[clarification needed]}

In his researches Sahraian has unveiled the structure of a well-organised fanatic Wahabis under the leadership of Osama Bin Laden.^{[citation needed]} In his research "Money Laundering", Sahraian has unveiled the complicated structure of Bin Laden's Wahabi Organisation, considered as the most dangerous Wahabism.^{[citation needed]} Bin Laden believes that killing people who do not believe in Allah will allow the killer to go directly to heaven.^{[citation needed]}

Cultivation, production and trade of drugs is an efficient sword at the service of the holy war (Islamic Jihad) against the Western unbelievers, which is practiced by the true obeying of God, according to Wahabism.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]}

The Al-Qaida organisation is formed on several layers of logistics, production, training, mass support, commanders, and clergies, expanded all over the golden triangle, Central Asia, with 200 heroin labourers in the mountains on the Pakistani borders, several opium poppy cultivation fields in the Afghan valley, some spiritual schools in northern Pakistan and the militant training centres in western Afghanistan.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]} Handling the drug matters of the Wahabi organisation is equal to worshipping God, and the good believers are obliged to this daily worship, according to the Mafia leaders of Al-Qaeda.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]}

Because drug is the legitimate weapon for the success of the holy war against the Western atheistic civilisation.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]} From one side, the drug would devastate the youth-soul^{[clarification needed]} of atheistic civilisations, and from the other hand, the drug money would provide the Bin Laden Organisation with solid financial resources.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]}

In his research, Sahraian has drawn the roadmap of the Bin Laden organisation's money laundering.^{[citation needed]} From the collection stage on the streets, up to converting to consumable items, smuggled to Iran via Dubai, laundered at loan & savings non-banking establishments, changed to hard currency and landing to the offshore banks.^{[citation needed]} Annual amount: USD$11.8 billion.^{[citation needed]}

A large number of Swiss Banks, Korean manufacturers, foreign financial and trade companies of India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Channel Islands, Switzerland are involved in money laundering for the Bin Laden Organisation.^{[citation needed]} Unfortunately, they have chosen Iran as a petrodollar-rich country for their supply of hard currency.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]}

Sahraian emphasizes that the Iranian economy is controlled by seven power mafias.^{[citation needed]} Three of them are involved in selling the organised smuggled goods for laundering the 6 billion dollars of the Afghani-Pakistani drug Mafiosi’s, and making sure that in exchange, equivalent hard currency flies to offshore banks of Switzerland, for that organisation of Wahabism.^{[citation needed]}

Sahraian concludes that as long as the financial threat of Bin Laden Wahabism is in regular organised flow,^{[clarification needed]} terrorism would be growing around the world consistently.^{[citation needed]} But according to fact-based statements^{[peacock term]} of Sahraian to the World Bank and UN Delegations; many Western companies, banks and financial institutions of Europe and the dual faces of politics do not seem to be ready to renounce the profit they earn from handling $11.8 billion in good smuggling, and laundering procedures from Hong Kong to Switzerland in favour of the Bin Laden organisation.^{[citation needed]}

Finally, he regrets that the national economy of his homeland has become hostage to the Wahabism extremist organisation.^{[citation needed]}

Political life

In the early stage of his life as a student at the University of Innsbruck Austria, he was fascinated^{[peacock term]} by the philosophic thoughts of Austrian social freedom.^{[citation needed]} Sahraian became an idealistic freedom lover^{[peacock term]} for his country and the neighbouring countries of the Middle East.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]} Pretty soon^{[weasel words]}, he gathered his student colleagues and established a group of freedom fighters^{[peacock term]} with highly idealistic goals.^{[citation needed]}^{[relevant? – discuss]} Later on, the group expanded its thoughts^{[clarification needed]} for freedom and democracy to other European universities where similar tendencies among students existed.^{[citation needed]}

Upon returning to his homeland, he was arrested by the political police of the ex-Shah (SAVAK) and was jailed in 1970.^{[citation needed]} With the intervention of the Austrian minister for higher education, Professor Kolb, the Shah released Sahraian from jail.^{[citation needed]} But Sahraian did not drop his political activities at Iranian universities for the implementation of democracy and freedom, emphasizing the fulfillment of the human rights declaration in his country.^{[citation needed]}

Thereafter, on several occasions, he became a political prisoner.^{[citation needed]} After the revolution of 1978.^{[citation needed]} For his criticism of serial executions of people by self-judgement of revolutionary Ayatollahs, Sahraian was again jailed.^{[citation needed]} This time much harsher than ever.^{[citation needed]} His entire wealth was confiscated and as an undesired element, he was expelled from Iran.^{[citation needed]}

During his complementary studies in Europe and the USA, Sahraian realised that idealism would not lead his country to freedom and welfare.^{[citation needed]} Democratic freedom of society needs a pass-through procedure from traditional commune thought to an evolutionary formation of the society's philosophy of life.^{[citation needed]} Sahraian became convinced that without pre-developed cultural evolution of society, processing democracy in developing countries like Iran would serve the political left & conservative extremists.^{[citation needed]}

Sahraian also warns that processing premature democracy could serve the economic interest groups who are hidden behind the legitimate face of parliament but in reality seek to expand the trade monopoly in their own favour, enforced by Mafioso-like actions.^{[citation needed]} And this leads society to a division of a poverty-stricken majority and a very rich minority.^{[citation needed]}

Once United States President Ronald Reagan declared his War on Drugs, linked to the United Nations protocol of (Palermo Convention) against transnational organized crime, in his first UN research on international money laundering of drugs, Sahraian uncovered that Swiss bankers had established an international operation, coded as "Swiss-connection" or Pizza Connection, for collecting drug money from US streets, packaging them, tagging them with diplomatic courier, transferring those dirty money from New York and California to Switzerland, laundering those bloody money and letting the Medellín & Cali Cartels have them on their legitimate accounts at Swiss bank branches in the Caribbean islands.^{[citation needed]}

Sahraian published the unveiled involvement of Elisabeth Kopp, Swiss minister for Justice, army, police and customs. Furthermore, Sahraian showed documents proving that 80 percent of the Swiss Supreme Court was on the payroll of the Medellín and Cali cocaine cartels.^{[citation needed]}

From 1998 to 2005, by establishing the Iran Productionist Party, young elite's academy and poverty movement inside Iran, Sahraian followed up his dream for economic freedom of the people as a pre-qualification of society for obtaining comprehensive political democracy.^{[citation needed]}

In 2000 he was banished from lecturing at Iranian universities.^{[citation needed]} In 2002 his face was banned from appearing on Iranian governmental television for interviews.^{[citation needed]} Until May 2005, he was forbidden from doing any research with public money.^{[citation needed]} Some of his books were confiscated by the censorship office.^{[citation needed]}

Publications

Published books by Mehdi Sahraian

Money Laundering in Iran "[پولشوئی در ایران] error: {{lang}}: text has italic markup (help)". Tehran: UNODC. 2004. ISBN 964-93654-1-9. Search this book on
Switzerland the World Capital of Money Laundering. Tehran: Nashr-e Maaref. 2003. ISBN 964-93654-3-5. Search this book on
E-Commerce & Multi-level marketing. Tehran: Nashr-eMaaref. 2005. ISBN 964-93654-7-8. Search this book on
The Economy of the Persian handicrafts "[اقتصاد صنایع دستی ایران] error: {{lang}}: text has italic markup (help)". Tehran: National Library of Iran. 2008. Search this book on
The Productionism "[اقتصاد تولیدگرائی] error: {{lang}}: text has italic markup (help)", a Reform plan on the Iranian economy | Road map for 6th legislation Majlis of Iran. Tehran: Nashr-eMaaref. 1999. OL 23558580M. Search this book on
Small and Medium Industries "[ساماندهی صنایع کوچک] error: {{lang}}: text has italic markup (help)", a Reform plan on the Iranian economy. Tehran: Nashr-e Maaref. 2000. ISBN 964-90000-8-9. Search this book on
New Approach to Green Revolution "[راه نوین توسعه سبز] error: {{lang}}: text has italic markup (help)", a Reform plan on the Agriculture in Iran. Tehran: Nashr-e Maaref. 2000. ISBN 964-90000-5-4. Search this book on
The economic model of "Productionism", (high rate of economic growth, low levels of unemployment, low inflation rate ) "’’ویژه نامه چهارمین سمینار تولیدگرائی-شیراز’’. Tehran: Nashr-e Maaref. 2001. Search this book on
10 Economic reform bills for Iranian Industrial job security and job creation program "’’طرح های دهگانه اصلاحات اقتصادی ایمن سازی اشتغال صنعتی واشتغال زائی’’". Tehran: Nashr-e Maaref. 1999. ISBN 964-90000-6-2. Search this book on
20 Economic Reform bills for market transparency and Exchange rate stabilization "’’عملکرد اقتصادی دولت خاتمی و اصلاحات مابه التفاوت نرخ ارز و جریان های نامرئی بازار’’". Tehran: National Library of Iran. 2002. Search this book on
The Economy of Energy(Mineral oil &Natural gas "’’اقتصاد سوخت های فسیلی نفت وگاز’’". Tehran: Nashr-e Maarif. 2002. ISBN 964-90000-7-0. Search this book on
Economic Development and Social Obstacles in the Developing country. Tehran: Nashr-e Separook. 2003. Search this book on
Economic growth of Iran, during Mohammad Khatami administrations (1995–2003). Tehran: National Library of Iran. Nashr-e Hambastegi. 2004. Search this book on
Ratification of Palermo Convention ( United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988) and Iranian legal Obligations. UNODC-International Congress on Money Laundering to Shiraz. 2003. ISBN 964-92553-4-6. Search this book on

References

↑ Abrahamian, Ervand (1993). Iran Between two Revolutions. Princeton University Press. pp. 203–240. ISBN 964-305-389-X. Search this book on
↑ Wynn, Antony (2003). Persia in the great game : Sir Percy Sykes, explorer, consul, soldier, spy. London: John Murray. pp. 316–349. ISBN 978-0719564154. Search this book on

Sources

UNODC, The Money laundering Cycle, retrieved 2011-03-06
Mehdi Sahraian, Money Laundering, retrieved 2013-01-28
Economic Abhar, retrieved 2013-01-28
Small & Medium Industries, retrieved 2013-01-28
Shana News Agency, retrieved 2013-01-28
Oil & Gas Management, Mehr News Agency, retrieved 2013-01-28
Wikipedia, Source (2011-10-08), People from Fars, ISBN 9781234599409, retrieved 2013-01-28
E-Commerce, V. University of Shiraz, retrieved 2013-01-28
Taipei Times, retrieved 2013-01-28
Iranian Economists, retrieved 2013-01-28
Golpa, the master of Persian traditional Art, Honored with PhD by Professor Sahraian, retrieved 2013-01-28

External links

Iran Daily interview, 2005: "Fighting Money Laundering" – Dr. Sahraian, United Nations Representative for Global Program against Money Laundering (GPLM)
"Reformation is the antidote of extortion and invisible powers" – An Interview with Dr. Sahraian
The Economist

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[1] Abrahamian, Ervand (1993). Iran Between two Revolutions. Princeton University Press. pp. 203–240. ISBN 964-305-389-X. Search this book on

[2] Wynn, Antony (2003). Persia in the great game : Sir Percy Sykes, explorer, consul, soldier, spy. London: John Murray. pp. 316–349. ISBN 978-0719564154. Search this book on

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