138 University Professors Demand Accountability from Larijani Regarding Attack on Motahari

138 professors from Iran's state universities, in a letter to the head of the legislative branch, expressed their support for Ali Motahari and requested Ali Larijani to provide a "suitable response" regarding the attack on Mr. Motahari in the open session of the parliament. According to the Khabar Online website, part of this letter published on Friday, January 26, states: "We hope that the leadership of the system and the officials of the three branches will provide the means to heal the five-year-old wound on the body of this land." In this letter, a group of university professors expressed their "deep regret" over what happened on Sunday, January 21, in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stating: "We know well that according to Article 84 of the Constitution, each representative is responsible to the entire nation and has the right to express opinions on all domestic and foreign issues of the country; those who, instead of defending such a right, contribute to its violation in various ways and prevent the fulfillment of the duties and responsibilities of representation, how can they represent the ethical, peace-seeking, and justice-seeking people of this land? Those who have never paid attention to national unity." On Sunday, January 21, Ali Motahari, in his speech in parliament, reiterated his previous positions and called for the lifting of the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, two leaders who protested the results of the 2009 presidential election. The heckling of some parliament members towards Ali Motahari and the physical altercation following his request for lifting the house arrest during his speech led to a temporary suspension of the open session of parliament. After these altercations, Mohammad Hassan Abutalebi-Fard, the deputy speaker of parliament who was presiding over the open session, rang the bell to suspend the session in the middle of Mr. Motahari's speech. Additionally, after these events and the temporary suspension of the open session, journalists were asked to leave the parliament chamber. Following this incident, Ali Motahari considered the obstruction of his speech in the open session on Sunday as a "violation of constitutional principles" and stated that he might file a complaint against the representatives who prevented him from delivering his speech. This representative from Tehran also commented on the possibility of a rally against him after Friday prayers in Tehran, saying, "I have heard about this and God willing, I will participate myself." The Iranian Labor News Agency, ILNA, reported on Tuesday, January 23, that "some political groups are planning to organize a rally after this week's Friday prayers in opposition to Motahari." According to this news agency, "some are seeking" to call for Mr. Motahari's expulsion from parliament.