Nasim Roshanaei – The process of constructing the Miandoroud Petrochemical Plant by Abdullah Abdi has been fraught with conflicting narratives, contradictory actions, and media controversies involving some reformist and principled authorities, and even some principled individuals. It appears that the support or opposition of officials to this project has, instead of being responsible and considering the interests of the people and the environment of the country, been merely driven by personal gains.
This is part 3 out of 4 of the investigations series, “Abdollah Abdi: The Mysterious Journey of the Petrochemical Investor in Miankaleh from Rags to Riches” investigations series by Nasim Roshanaei.
The Amirabad Petrochemical Project in Miankaleh has been like a ball passed between different organizations over the past two years, with some approving and others rejecting it. Supporters and some government opponents of this petrochemical plant had their own interests in advocating or opposing it.
Finally, on November 11, 2023, a letter was published online addressed to the executor of the Amirabad Petrochemical Project. In this letter, Houshang Falahatian, Deputy Minister of Planning at the Ministry of Oil, announced the cancellation of the ministry’s preliminary approval for the ‘Natural Gas to Methanol, Propylene, and Propylene Chain Project’ due to ‘failure to fulfill the main commitments stated in the preliminary approval’ and ‘natural gas imbalance in the country.’ The letter was signed on October 29, 2023.
Perhaps the cancellation of the initial permit by the Ministry of Oil will end the story, and from now on, the locals and the environment of the region will remain safe from the harm of the petrochemical and its investor, and the pastures that fell into the hands of Abdollah Abdi will be returned to the people. Or maybe not. Let’s go back a bit and examine the process and how the initial permit was obtained.
Since the preliminary permit for this petrochemical was issued somewhere in 2020, there has been much turmoil around it. When the fencing around the petrochemical land in Miankaleh was completed, the local people, nature lovers, and environmental activists became increasingly worried about the implementation of the petrochemical around the Miankaleh wetland.
On March 11, 2022, Ahmad Vahidi, the Minister of Interior, laid the foundation stone for the Mazandaran Petrochemical Complex. Ali Salajegheh, the current head of the Environmental Protection Organization, announced the halt of this project and repeatedly emphasized that this project does not have an environmental permit and should not be implemented.
The process of constructing the Miankaleh Petrochemical has been full of conflicting narratives and actions, and media wars among some reformist and conservative officials, and even among conservatives themselves. It seems that the support or opposition of officials to this project, instead of being responsible and considering the interests of the people and the environment of the country, is merely a matter of self-interest.
Ali Salajegheh threw the ball in Raisi’s court
Despite facing an opposition and technical arguments, the support behind Miankaleh was built through Abdollah Abdi’s network of relationships with political and security officials, which motivated him to not give up on building this project. Abdi’s support was so strong that he even complained about Ali Salajegheh due to the opposition of the Environmental Protection Organization and its prevention of the implementation of this project.
According to Tasnim News Agency, on September 2, a session was held to address the complaint of the investor of the Miankaleh Petrochemical Project (Abdollah Abdi) against Ali Salajegheh, head of the Environmental Protection Organization, at Branch 1060 of the Complex for Dealing with Government Employees’ Crimes, Criminal Court 2 of Tehran Province. Following this, ILNA News Agency reported on September 21 that a non-prosecution order was issued for Ali Salajegheh.
Until recently, Salajegheh repeatedly announced that this project does not have an environmental permit and therefore will not be built. However, it seems that the pressures exerted by Abdi on Ali Salajegheh have forced him to throw the ball into the court of the President.
We might expect Ali Salajegheh, the head of the Environmental Protection Organization, to be more concerned about environmental issues than others. But in practice, he has shown that ultimately, whatever decision Ebrahim Raisi makes for the country’s environment is final, even if it is detrimental to the environment. He eventually put the responsibility for the final construction permit of this project on Ebrahim Raisi and said:
“The construction of the refinery in Mazandaran is under the control of the government’s infrastructure commission, and the President makes the final decision in this regard. We follow the opinions of the President.”
Efforts to intimidate and bribe the Miankaleh watchdog
Abdollah Abdi not only threatened the head of the Environmental Protection Organization but also complained about Hor Mansouri, an environmental activist and guardian of Miankaleh. Hor Mansouri is an activist who, as the ‘Guardian of Miankaleh,’ has strived to protect the ecosystem of Miankaleh from the consequences of establishing a petrochemical plant in the area.
Mansouri published a post on Instagram after the court session describing the accusation made by Abdi against him. In summary, Mansouri’s accusation was that on July 4, 2023, he wanted to set fire to the journalists’ tent with the presence of 100 journalists. Mansouri explains in his post why this accusation is baseless.
In another Instagram post where Hor Mansouri describes the day of the court, we see that Abdi’s lawyer threatens Mansouri, saying (quote from Mansouri):
“Mr. Mansouri, see how your family has been captured. See, for my client, paying someone and throwing 1 kilo of crystal meth in your house, car, and yard is no big deal. In that case, you will have to spend your whole life in prison and be destroyed. I will coordinate with Hajji, he is a kind and generous person, forget about coming with a group for the meeting, I will coordinate with Hajji, come to him (wink), he will help you…”
In the court session, Abdi’s lawyer threatens Hor Mansouri and at the same time tries to persuade him to cooperate with ‘Hajji,’ who is Abdollah Abdi himself. Because Hajji is “a kind and generous person.”
Being called ‘Hajji,’ which is common among the security and military forces of the Islamic Republic, is one of the terms that, like a codename, indicates that the person is an insider.
Petrochemical Miankaleh press conference and efforts to buy out journalists
The representative of the Miankaleh investor held a press conference on July 4, 2023, in the pastures of Hosseinabad in Mazandaran. In this press conference, 50 journalists were officially invited, but according to Babanejad, a reporter from Tasnim News Agency, 120 journalists were present.
Ghasem Khalil Khalili, a representative of Abdollah Abdi, one of the shareholders of this petrochemical complex and one of the organizers of this meeting, claimed that the permit for this petrochemical plant had been issued and that since this petrochemical is in Hosseinabad, Behshahr, and located 4.5 kilometers away from the Miankaleh wetland, it will not have an environmental impact, and this petrochemical has been attributed to Miankaleh as a result of the media.
Ghasem Khalil Khalili is a close associate of Abdi. One of his positions since 2020 is the chairmanship of the board of directors of Iranian Alborz Steel Company; a company that belongs to Abdi.
Hanif Reza Golzar, a senior soil and water expert who is one of the critics of building this petrochemical in the Miankaleh area, in an interview with Shargh newspaper about the meeting of petrochemical managers, said:
“The most important tool for us to convey our protest in the past one and a half years has been the media. The opposing side also wanted to take a similar action and on Wednesday invited a number of selective media to their press conference. They hosted a banquet in the pastures of Hosseinabad, provided hospitality, and gave explanations, most of which were selective and incorrect, insisting on clichéd statements. In the end, gift cards with a value of two million tomans were presented to the journalists.”
On the sidelines of this meeting, Hor Mansouri was arrested on the pretext that he wanted to set the journalists’ tent on fire with gasoline.
According to Hanif Golzar, Hor Mansouri was invited by the environmental consultant of the petrochemical company to attend this press conference. However, upon Mansouri’s arrival at the meeting, some individuals prevented him from entering. This led to a verbal altercation. Eventually, two vehicles took several of the protesters away. Among those detained, Hor Mansouri spent 24 hours in custody and was then released on bail.
After his release, Hor Mansouri, in an interview with Radio Tabiat, stated that the Miankaleh investor had tried several times to silence him with bribes. Mansouri said:
“If there wasn’t something fishy going on, they wouldn’t have put so much pressure on me and other critics, and wouldn’t have tried to buy us off.”
Which authorities are looking out for Abdi?
Abdollah Abdi is connected to the security apparatus. His accumulated wealth and judicial immunity, even after being convicted in court, are indicative of this connection. In a previous report, we mentioned the fervent support of Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in the parliament. Other officials who have openly supported him are Seyed Mahmoud Hosseini Pour, the Governor of Mazandaran, Gholamreza Shariati, the representative of the people of Behshahr, and Ayatollah Seyed Arab Ali Jabari, the Friday Prayer Leader of Behshahr.
Even though Ebrahim Raisi and Mohsen Ejehi had ordered the construction of the petrochemical plant to be halted, Ayatollah Seyed Arab Ali Jabari, the Friday Prayer Leader of Behshahr, said in a Friday prayer on April 17, 2022:
“The opponents have secretly, like moths in cyberspace, started opposing. The opponents of the Miankaleh Petrochemical are traitors and against the leadership. The entire country has pinned its hopes on this project. They are opposing the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, with their words. You are mistaken; we stand by this petrochemical complex and are not afraid of anything, even if we have to protest and go to Tehran. This petrochemical is our absolute right.”
The Governor of Mazandaran also fiercely attacked Hedieh Tehrani in the ‘Campaign to Stop the Miankaleh Petrochemical,’ openly supporting the construction of the petrochemical plant, and told Hedieh Tehrani that behind some celebrities there is corruption, cronyism, and money.
So far, three public campaigns have been formed to stop this petrochemical plant. The latest campaign started in August 2023.
“The investor bought these lands very cheaply, and he can sell a part of it at a high price by changing its use and make a profit.”
Hor Mansouri
We know the officials who have publicly supported the Miankaleh investor so far, but in this support network, there are also intermediate figures who play an important role, yet their names are not mentioned. One of the intermediate government officials who supports Abdi but has been overlooked in the media is the head of the IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) in Mazandaran province. A local source, who remains anonymous for security reasons, told Radio Zamaneh:
“The link between Abdi and the governor is a person named ‘Hadi Ebrahimi Kiapi,’ who is the head of IRIB in the province. Many of those who know Ebrahimi say he is a lackey of Abdollah Abdi. A few years ago, Abdi bought him an apartment in Sari and once appointed Ebrahimi to a governor’s position through his connections, and this time he has managed to fully mobilize the current governor for Abdi.”
Hadi Ebrahimi, one of the conservatives in Mazandaran province, has been the head of the IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) organization in this province since December 2, 2018. Ebrahimi, who is from the village of “Kiapi,” began his career in IRIB as a journalist and quickly climbed the ranks. In 2007, he became the governor of Tonekabon and has held positions such as Deputy of Information and News at IRIB’s Mazandaran center, Director-General of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and Deputy of Political and Security Affairs at the Governor’s Office of Mazandaran.
According to a local source informed about Radio Zamaneh, last year, when the construction of the petrochemical plant was halted by the order of the Attorney General of the country, many efforts were initially made to start the work, all of which hit a dead end. The petrochemical constructors eventually became disappointed, and towards the end of 2022 and the beginning of this year, news related to the start of the project on a new site was discussed.
According to this informed source, the new land is located in the Goharbaran area, more than 20 kilometers away from Miankaleh, amidst agricultural lands. A request for environmental clearance was even sent to the Department of Environment. While the Mazandaran Department of Environment was preparing a comprehensive report to oppose the new proposed site, highlighting its environmental flaws and social consequences, a very strange incident occurred.
What role did Mohseni-Eje’i play in this?
Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i visited Mazandaran on June 8, 2023. He had a speech in the ports [Noshahr and Amirabad] about the issue of oil and the spoilage of oils that had not been cleared. According to a source informed about Radio Zamaneh, Eje’i made a strange speech at the provincial Security Council on the same day, June 8, parts of which are included in a document, which marked as “Very Confidential.”
From Eje’i’s statements, it appears that when he entered the province, the Miankaleh investor, the governor, and the head of the IRIB in the province had strongly defended the construction of this petrochemical plant and had also provided Eje’i with incorrect information.
Radio Zamaneh cannot independently verify the details of this account and what follows.
The informed source continued:
“Even Eje’i had thought that the petrochemical plant was halted by the order of a local prosecutor, while in reality, Montazeri, the Attorney General of the country, had stopped the project. At the same time, rumors were circulating among the intermediate managers of the province that were noteworthy. The story was that Abdollah Abdi had apparently bought a villa in Dubai for the governor so that he, as the representative of the government, would make every effort to support this project.”
According to this informed source, Eje’i, in the Security Council meeting, had called the provincial judicial officials “incompetent” because, in his claim, they had blocked an employment-generating project. Eje’i had ordered that any obstacle preventing the construction of this petrochemical plant be removed as long as the resolution is in effect.
An informed source
Many of those who know Hadi Ebrahimi Kiapi say he is a lackey of Abdollah Abdi. A few years ago, Abdi bought him an apartment in Sari and once appointed Ebrahimi to a governor’s position through his connections. This time, he has managed to fully mobilize the current governor for Abdi.
This informed source told Radio Zamaneh that Eje’i did a significant favor for Abdi:
He returned Abdi, who had been driven out of the Hosseinabad pasture last year by the order of Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General of the country, and had marked new land in Goharbaran and was trying to get a permit, back to the Hosseinabad pasture, ignoring the judicial order of the Attorney General.
The strange thing was that two months after this provincial visit, on August 16, Eje’i appointed Mohammad Jafar Montazeri as the head of the Supreme Court and Mowhedi-Nejad as the Attorney General.
Eje’i’s visit to the province was a green light for the Miankaleh investor. This informed source told Radio Zamaneh that just a few days after Eje’i’s arrival, Abdi started construction and fencing in the Hosseinabad pasture and held a press conference on July 4.
Therefore, Eje’i’s presence and the green light he gave to the authorities and the Miankaleh investor caused the order of Montazeri, the then Attorney General, to stop the construction of this project to not be implemented.
According to this informed source, there are also rumors among the government employees in that area that part of the money Abdi has obtained belongs to Shamkhani. Radio Zamaneh has not found any evidence to confirm this claim.
How much is the project loan?
Is this loan profitable for Abdollah Abdi and the shareholders? In July of this year, the Etemad newspaper wrote that for the construction of this project, about 18 trillion Tomans of government credit with a five-year repayment period has been considered, and in addition, the cost of natural gas consumption for petrochemicals is very low, distributed at a 30% discount.
In 2020, in a report published by the IRNA news agency, Behzad Mohammadi, the Deputy Minister of Oil at the time, had announced that this project would be constructed with a budget of 380 million dollars.
Considering the fact that the cost of natural gas consumption for petrochemical units is very negligible, these two factors could have been the reasons for encouraging the Miankaleh petrochemical investor to establish this unit.
This investigation is one segment of a four-part series. You can access the first two parts below.
