Ayatollah Khamenei's Uncle Urges Iran's Leader to Change His Behavior 'Before Everything Falls Apart'

The uncle of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a critical letter regarding the performance and policies of his nephew, has urged him to 'change his approach before it is too late, before your era ends, and before everything falls apart, and the kingdom and the nation are lost.' Hussein Mirdamadi, in a letter published by the website Kalemeh on January 19, openly criticized the behavior of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic towards various political figures in Iran, such as Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mohammad Khatami, Zahra Rahnavard, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Mehdi Karroubi. In this letter, he protested against the political situation in Iran, political and ideological prisoners, journalists, and human rights activists, stating, 'Time has not completely slipped away yet, and perhaps there is still a glimmer of sunlight left in the sunset of life. Replace violence, vendetta, oppression, and exclusivity with kindness, tolerance, respect for human dignity, and loyalty to the principles of kindness and compassion.' Mirdamadi called for the release of political prisoners, those who protested the 2009 elections, and 'listening to the advice of the late Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani' in his last Friday prayer after the 2009 protests. Rafsanjani had called for a change in the government's approach towards protests and addressing the demands of the protesters in his last sermon. After that, he was not allowed to participate in another Friday prayer and repeatedly became the target of attacks and criticism from groups and figures close to the Supreme Leader. Mirdamadi noted that the removal of Rafsanjani from the Friday prayer leadership, his dismissal from the Assembly of Experts, and his disqualification in the 2013 presidential elections 'certainly did not happen without the permission, approval, and consultation with the leadership or at least his silence.' He then referred to Khamenei's behavior towards Mohammad Khatami, reminding him that 'even Khatami's second-round vote was significantly higher than Khamenei's own second-round presidential vote.' Mirdamadi wrote that despite all the 'services' that the former president of Iran provided, he was not even allowed to attend Rafsanjani's funeral, and when Hassan Khomeini acted as a mediator, 'they still prevented him from the Leader's office.' Mirdamadi described this situation as 'tragic and contradictory.' Despite this, Khatami recently expressed hope that what he described as the creation of 'relative reconciliation' in Iran following the death of the head of the Expediency Discernment Council would continue. During Rafsanjani's funeral, despite nearly eight years since the protests against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election, repression, and widespread arrests of protesters, slogans were chanted in support of the protesting figures. At the end of his letter, Khamenei's uncle urged the Supreme Leader to 'end the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard.' He called for the issuance of an order for the release of all political and ideological prisoners, journalists, and human rights advocates, both men and women, young and old, who may have been critics of Khamenei and are serving long-term prison sentences, some of whom are mothers of young children. He also requested that Khamenei use his 'government decree' to instruct revolutionary, military, and special clerical courts 'to refrain from issuing harsh sentences contrary to God's will, such as the 20-year prison sentence for Sheikh Ahmad Montazeri merely for publishing an audio file of the late Ayatollah Montazeri's heartfelt words after his death.' Ahmad Montazeri was sentenced to 21 years in prison in early December for publishing an audio file regarding the widespread executions of 1988, and it has been reported that with the aggregation of sentences, six years of this sentence will be enforced. Mirdamadi had previously written critical letters to his nephew, including after the execution of a Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia and the Supreme Leader's severe verbal attacks on Riyadh, stating that criticisms of Saudi Arabia 'are justified' and also 'clearly reflect the reality within the Islamic Republic of Iran regarding most political prisoners, ideological prisoners, and journalists under pressure.' Hussein Mirdamadi, the younger uncle of Ayatollah Khamenei, resides in Mashhad. He is the father of Saraj al-Din Mirdamadi, a reformist activist and the son of Hashem Mirdamadi Najafabadi, a prominent cleric during the 'Goharshad Mosque Uprising.'