Ahmadinejad in Letter to Khamenei: Rouhani and the Larijani Brothers are United

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former president of Iran, in his latest letter to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, has introduced Hassan Rouhani, the current president, and the "Larijani brothers," heads of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Judiciary, as "together" and "responsible for the current conditions of the country." This letter, published on the Telegram channel "Dolat-e Bahar" close to Ahmadinejad, was sent to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on December 18. Ahmadinejad has previously written other letters to Khamenei, one of which requested his intervention in the case of Hamid Baqai, a senior manager from his presidency who is currently in prison, and he protested against the judicial sentences issued against him. Baqai was tried for "embezzlement and illegal appropriation of state property" and sentenced to 15 years in prison and a fine of 43 billion tomans. Ahmadinejad also wrote in one of these letters to the Supreme Leader that the Larijani brothers have inflicted "irreparable damage to the trust of the people, the revolution," the parliament, and the judiciary. In his new letter to Khamenei, he stated that after his criticism of Hassan Rouhani and his request for a debate on various issues, the ruling on Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei in the appeals court was confirmed "without addressing the objections and violations of the judicial hierarchy." The former president of Iran considered this issue as "clear support" from the judiciary for Hassan Rouhani and added: "I have previously stated that the Larijani brothers and Mr. Rouhani are together and responsible for the current conditions of the country." Ahmadinejad wrote to Khamenei that "although my previous letters" to the Supreme Leader "have remained unanswered, I expect that such political sentences and great injustices against the pure, hardworking, and revolutionary children of the nation are not issued and enforced." Mr. Mashaei was also arrested on March 14, 2018, after he burned Baqai's ruling in front of the British embassy in Tehran and was sentenced to six and a half years in prison, five years of which are enforceable. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, while severely criticizing this ruling, said that if Mr. Mashaei had not burned this ruling, "I would have gone and burned it myself." He, who was previously supported by the Supreme Leader and the institutions under his supervision, faced criticism from some of Khamenei's close associates and supporters after the dismissal of Heydar Moslehi, the Minister of Intelligence, and the incident known as the "11-day house arrest." After Khamenei's explicit opposition to his participation in the presidential elections again and the increasing pressure on senior managers from his presidency, Ahmadinejad has turned to openly criticizing the structure of the Islamic Republic. Recently, he addressed the security and judicial forces of the Islamic Republic, saying that their goal in arresting Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei is to "hit" him. Speaking on the occasion of Mashaei's birthday in front of his supporters, he added: "They openly declare that we want to hit Ahmadinejad. Of course, I am nobody, but be men and have a bit of chivalry. Being a man is a good thing... If you have a dispute with me, very well, I am at your service. If you want to hit me, let's go, we are here." Ahmadinejad's recent remarks about the state of prisons and courts in the Islamic Republic come at a time when during his presidency, the suppression of protesters was accompanied by imprisonment and even death in prison. Some of Ahmadinejad's critics ask why he remained silent during his presidency against the actions of the judiciary and the suppression of 2009. However, he has stated in front of a number of students that "we did not know some issues. We really did not know and later became informed."