Ahmadinejad Says 'Freedom Situation' Has Deteriorated Compared to the Shah's Era

Fars News Agency has published a report from an interview with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in which the former president of Iran stated that the situation of freedom in Iran during the Islamic Republic's rule has become 'worse' compared to the era of the Shah, and the economy has also become more state-controlled. The news agency reported that Ahmadinejad's office did not allow journalists from this media outlet to bring cameras, audio recording devices, or mobile phones to the interview. Nevertheless, Fars News published a report from the interview and requested that Ahmadinejad's office provide the recorded video of the session. In this interview, Ahmadinejad compared the freedoms under the current and previous governments, stating: 'The severity of government actions against opponents has lessened, but the scope of government interference with people's freedoms has worsened. In comparison to before, the situation of freedom has deteriorated.' The former president emphasized that in the Islamic Republic, the treatment of political prisoners is 'not as harsh as the previous regime, but the range and scope of actions have increased,' and 'hundreds are imprisoned for freedom and criticism of the current situation.' He stressed that prisons are 'full of critics' of the heads of the three branches of government. Ahmadinejad's statements come at a time when Islamic Republic officials have considered 'political freedom' one of the achievements of the 1979 Revolution. During his presidency, Ahmadinejad frequently spoke of the 'absolute freedom' in Iran. However, after his presidency and conflicts with institutions under the Supreme Leader and the detention of his close associates, he has repeatedly criticized the Revolutionary Guards and the judiciary, particularly under the management of Sadegh Larijani. Hamid Baghaei, Ahmadinejad's executive assistant, and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, his chief of staff, have been sentenced to 15 and 5 years in prison, respectively. Ahmadinejad's recent positions come despite the fact that during his administration, the suppression of protesters often resulted in imprisonment and even death in custody. Some of Ahmadinejad's critics question why he remained silent during his presidency regarding the actions of the judiciary and the suppression of protests in 2009. Nevertheless, he has told a group of students that 'we did not know some issues. We really did not know and later became informed.' In this interview, the former president also stated: 'I have not changed. Of course, some issues have become clearer to me.' He compared the economic situation under the Islamic Republic and the Shah, saying that 'before the revolution, the country's economy was more popular.' According to Ahmadinejad, after the 1979 Revolution, 'foundations seized people's property under the pretext of combating capitalism, and everything was placed under the control of the government and institutions.' In a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei on March 13, 2018, Ahmadinejad wrote that the 15 Khordad Foundation, the Foundation of the Oppressed, the Executive Headquarters of Imam's Command, the Foundation of the Revolutionary Guards, the Foundation of the Army, the Foundation of the Basij, the Foundation of the Ministry of Defense, and the economic section of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee 'hold more than 700 trillion tomans in wealth, of which the public is unaware regarding their reports, income, and expenditure.' In international assessments, Iran ranks among the non-free countries in terms of economic freedom. The American Heritage Foundation, in its latest annual report (2018), ranked Iran 156th among 180 countries based on economic freedom indicators. Even among the 14 countries assessed by the Heritage Foundation in the Middle East and North Africa, Iran ranks second to last based on the same indicators. Over the past 40 years, Iran's average annual economic growth rate has been only about 2 percent. Considering Iran's population growth rate after the revolution, the average per capita growth rate in Iran over the past 40 years is estimated to be between zero and half a percent. Recently, Ahmadinejad also called for constitutional changes in an interview with the newspaper Etemad, stating that the Guardian Council's interpretations of the constitution have turned into a 'new constitution.' He stated that the Supreme Leader should also be held accountable to the extent of his powers. The Supreme Leader and his close associates supported Ahmadinejad during his presidency, but their differences began after a conflict over the dismissal of the Minister of Intelligence and Ahmadinejad's 11-day house arrest.