Bahonar: I Do Not Consider Hashemi and Khatami Among the 'Leaders of the Sedition'

The Vice President of the Iranian Parliament emphasized that he does not consider Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani among the 'leaders of the sedition.' However, he stated that Mr. Khatami 'no longer has the right to return to the system' unless he compensates for what he calls his 'shortcomings' in 2009. Mohammad Reza Bahonar, in an interview with the Saturday, July 6 issue of the newspaper Etemad, said, 'The reformist president wronged the system during 2009. He could have acted much better and used his influence.' He stressed that Mohammad Khatami, the former president of Iran, 'no longer has the right to return to the system' unless he compensates for his 'problems' and what he calls his 'shortcomings' in 2009. Mr. Bahonar also commented on the ban on Khatami's image, stating, 'I have discussed this with my hardline friends... I do not consider the reformist president and Mr. Hashemi among the leaders of the sedition... we do not want this discussion to arise again from my words.' In the lexicon of conservatives and officials close to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, the protests following the announcement of the results of the 2009 presidential election are referred to as 'sedition,' with Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi labeled as 'leaders of the sedition.' However, some close associates of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, also refer to Mohammad Khatami as one of the 'leaders of the sedition' and strongly criticize Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council, for his alleged collaboration with Mousavi and Karroubi. Meanwhile, Mohammad Nabi Habibi, the Secretary-General of the Islamic Coalition Party of Iran, also stated on Tuesday, September 9, 2014, that Mohammad Khatami, the former president of Iran, supported the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election, and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has not taken a clear stance on this issue and the alleged election fraud. In recent months, the ban on the publication of images and news of Mohammad Khatami, which became official on February 16, 2015, following comments by Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesman for the judiciary, has made headlines, and Hassan Rouhani, the president of Iran, emphasized that the Supreme National Security Council has not issued any resolution in this regard. Meanwhile, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei announced on June 14 that the ban on the former president's image was carried out by the order of the prosecutor's office, not the Supreme National Security Council. One day after these comments, Ali Motahari, a representative from Tehran in the parliament, wrote a letter to Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, asking him to announce the 'legal documentation' of this order. The nuclear negotiations could significantly impact the upcoming parliamentary elections. Mr. Bahonar, in the continuation of this interview, assessed the probability of the reformists gaining an 'absolute majority' in the 10th parliament as 'weak' and 'below 50 to 40 percent,' while also linking it to the 'behaviors and outputs' of the remaining nine months until the elections. He emphasized that the 'performance of the government,' the 'outcome of the negotiations' regarding Iran's nuclear program, and 'emerging from recession' could 'greatly influence' the upcoming parliamentary elections. Mr. Bahonar had also stated on Sunday, March 29, that the outcome of the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the 5+1 group would affect the results of the 10th parliamentary elections, and the presence of reformists in this election would be 'more pronounced' than in the 8th and 9th parliamentary elections. Mr. Bahonar's statements come amid previous concerns expressed by some conservative parliament members regarding the impact of the nuclear negotiations on the 10th parliamentary elections, while also stating that the outcome of these negotiations would not influence the results of the upcoming parliamentary elections. Among them, Gholamali Haddad Adel, the head of the conservative faction in the parliament, stated on November 30, 2014, 'We representatives... clearly tell the Americans: Do not think that you can interfere in the upcoming parliamentary elections through threats and extensions regarding the negotiations and create an impact in your favor.' In recent months, some reformist figures have announced plans to participate in the 10th parliamentary elections. Meanwhile, Ali Saeedi, a representative of the Supreme Leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, stated on Tuesday, June 9, that changing the conservative parliament to 'another parliament' is a 'threat' to what he calls the 'interests of the system' as well as the 'ideals' of Ayatollah Khomeini and Ayatollah Khamenei.