And in one recent report, Qalibaf – now mayor of Tehran -is said to have personally obtained permission to shoot at students during the massive social uprisings of 2003.
He revealed in a recent speech to Basij paramilitary forces how he met with the Supreme National Security Council ten years ago, adding: “In that meeting I got permission from to have a military presence at the university dormitory and shoot.”
But speaking on May 13 to students at Sharif University, he later tried to insist the order to shoot defenceless students had been obtained by someone else, and he had refused to enforce it.
He said: “I’m certainly not the same man now as I was as a 20-year-old revolutionary student who gets angry when he sees a picture of Imam Khomeini torn to pieces by a protesters.
“When the people poured onto streets and started moving toward Supreme Leader’s compound, I was the commander of Revolutionary Guards’ air force.
“I was on the streets rounding them up. I am proud to be among those who beat them with batons.
“We have been using batons against Rajavi’s supporters since 1979, and we’ve done it whenever necessary ever since.”