Alamolhoda: The Assembly of Experts Has No Oversight Over the Leader and His Institutions

The Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, in response to critical remarks by Ali Motahari, a member of parliament, regarding the lack of oversight by the Assembly of Experts over Ayatollah Khamenei and the institutions under his supervision, indirectly confirmed this statement and declared that members of the Assembly cannot oversee the performance of their 'guardian.' He also responded to Motahari's comments about his opposition to some of the Supreme Leader's views, stating: 'Will the Imam of the Time hand over the Islamic community to someone who later comes from a corner and says he is making mistakes?' According to the state news agency IRNA, Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad, on the evening of Wednesday, December 5, responded to questions from attendees regarding the remarks of a Tehran representative at Ferdowsi University in Mashhad, saying: 'The leadership is a guardian, and the Experts are subordinate to him, and when he is my guardian, how can I oversee his performance?' Alamolhoda, who is also a member of the Assembly of Experts, added: 'The oversight of the Experts is on the preservation of the conditions of leadership, not oversight of the leader's performance, and the Experts have no oversight over the office of the leader and the institutions under his supervision.' In recent days, an audio recording of Ali Motahari's speech at Ferdowsi University has been widely circulated on social media and websites. In this speech, Motahari stated: 'We do not have individuals above criticism in the country. The duty of the Experts is to oversee the performance of the leadership. They get involved in every topic except their own work. Has there ever been oversight over the leader's subordinates? The Executive Headquarters of Imam's Order has turned into an economic cartel and is building towers... Have they overseen this?' In response to this statement, the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad said on Wednesday: 'We do not believe in the infallibility of the jurist, but we do not have the right to say that every decision he makes that we do not agree with is a mistake, because the jurist is wise, a guardian of the religion, opposed to desires, and obedient to the command of his Lord, and he considers all aspects of matters in decision-making and consults.' He also stated that Ayatollah Khomeini, the former leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, regarded the guardianship of the jurist as the same as the guardianship of the Prophet of Islam. Alamolhoda added: 'Therefore, opposing the jurist and confronting him is a struggle and confrontation with the Prophet himself, even if the one confronting is a Muslim, a Shia, and a believer in revelation, leadership, and prophecy.' Ali Motahari also mentioned at Ferdowsi University that there is nothing wrong with someone not agreeing with some views of the Supreme Leader. He stated that 'some of those around want to imply that we should build a statue and revolve around it, while this is not the case.' The Friday prayer leader of Mashhad also commented on the continued house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the leaders of the 2009 presidential election protesters, saying that the prosecutor issued the order for their detention based on 'political interests.' Alamolhoda added: 'On June 25, 2009, after the protesters' march against the election results, about 23 people were killed, and since the perpetrator of these killings was not identified, the instigator of the killing is considered a murderer, and the instigator of the killing is the one who issued a statement and called for an illegal march.' Alamolhoda's remarks about the deaths of 23 people on June 25, 2009, come at a time when previous officials of the Islamic Republic have only officially confirmed the deaths of seven or eight people in this march. The Friday prayer leader of Mashhad continued his remarks by saying that no law in the country limits the prosecutor in determining the time of detention, whether to keep the accused for one day, two days, or one year. He added: 'Instead of keeping these individuals in prison, the prosecutor has ordered their detention at home, and these individuals are staying near the sea and their summer resort, coming and going with guards, and the leadership has no involvement in this order and has left it to the law.' Ali Motahari, in his remarks at Ferdowsi University, referring to the Supreme Leader's opinion about not prosecuting the leaders of the 2009 presidential election protesters, said that 'the Prophet of Islam cannot say that the sentence of a certain individual is heavy and issue a sentence without trial and hearing their defenses.' Motahari's reference is to a previous meeting he had with the Supreme Leader. On Sunday, July 8, he stated that in a meeting with Ayatollah Khamenei, Khamenei told him that the 'crime' of Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi is 'very great,' and if they are prosecuted, a 'heavy sentence' awaits them. He stated in his remarks at Ferdowsi University that he was not convinced by the Supreme Leader's remarks and still insists that house arrest without a judicial order is 'oppression.' Motahari also wrote a letter to Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday, October 15, requesting the lifting of the house arrest of the leaders of the 2009 protesters and threatened that if Rouhani 'neglects' this issue, it will be pursued 'in the form of a question' from the President in the parliament.