Brother of Iran's President Files Lawsuit Against Hamid Rasai

Hosseini Fereydoun, the special assistant to the President of Iran and his brother, announced that he has filed a lawsuit against Hamid Rasai, a representative from Tehran in the Parliament, for 'spreading falsehoods.' Mr. Rasai referred to Massoumeh Ebtekar, the head of the Environmental Protection Organization, as the 'most prominent figure of the government' regarding the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential elections, which he termed 'sedition.' On Tuesday, February 17, Fereydoun stated, 'I have officially filed a lawsuit against Mr. Rasai for spreading falsehoods, and this complaint is currently being pursued.' According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), he emphasized that he has independently and personally filed the complaint, which has not been registered with the legal department of the presidency. In recent weeks, Hamid Rasai accused Hassan Rouhani's campaign of receiving 5 billion tomans from Babak Zanjani during the 2013 presidential election campaign, and Fereydoun was summoned for 'explanations' regarding this matter. In response to this claim, Akbar Turkan, an official from Rouhani's campaign, stated that these remarks come from individuals who 'have received money from the former vice president and want to change public perception with this trick.' Mohammad Reza Rahimi, the former vice president of Iran, wrote in a letter to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Jaber Abdali, one of the defendants in the embezzlement case from Iran's insurance, paid a total of 1.2 billion tomans to nearly 170 candidates for the eighth parliament, with documents and copies of issued checks 'registered and recorded in the file.' In response to Turkan's remarks, Hamid Rasai wrote on his Instagram page on February 10, 'If the news of the 5 billion toman assistance from Babak Zanjani to the purple campaign and the summons of (H - F) is what Akbar Turkan has denied, then let them file a lawsuit.' Following Rasai's reiterated emphasis, Hosseini Fereydoun stated on Friday, February 13, in response to a question, 'This is a preemptive escape for friends who have received this free money and today want to compensate for their dirty work with these words.' Fereydoun's lawsuit against Rasai comes at a time when in recent weeks, the head of the primary committee for administrative violations of the presidency has discussed the disqualification of two representatives from the ninth parliament from government services. Mohammad Ashrafi Isfahani, the head of the primary committee for administrative violations of the presidency, announced on January 27 in an interview with Khabar Online that a 5 and 10-year disqualification from government services had been issued for two representatives of the ninth parliament due to 'numerous violations.' Although Rasai's name was not mentioned in this interview, he strongly protested Ashrafi Isfahani's remarks, stating, 'Mr. Ashrafi Isfahani and Mr. Vatani, who is the brother-in-law of Rouhani, are members of the violations committee, and Mr. Vatani is, of course, looking to fabricate cases against others, and all the rulings this committee issues are invalid and violations. That is, they themselves should be referred to the violations committee.' Following these remarks, Ashrafi Isfahani threatened on February 6 that if Rasai insisted, he would 'reveal' his case. According to Ashrafi Isfahani, Rasai's case has been referred to the primary committee for administrative violations of the presidency by the Inspection Organization of Qom Province. Hamid Rasai was previously the director of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Qom Province before his parliamentary representation. Earlier, Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai, lawyer for Mehdi Hashemi, also reported in an interview with the state news agency IRNA about Rasai's financial corruption cases in the special court for clergy. However, Alizadeh Tabatabai's interview was deleted from IRNA just hours after publication. Rasai's accusations against a current official of the presidency regarding the Jason Rezaian case. In recent days, in response to Ashrafi Isfahani's remarks, Rasai reiterated his defense and made accusations against one of the current officials of the presidency. Rasai stated, 'It is appropriate for the mentioned committee to also investigate the violations of some current officials of the presidency, whose traces are seen in the espionage case of Jason Rezaian (Washington Post reporter) and his wife, who infiltrated the most sensitive parts of the presidency as a journalist.' This representative from Tehran added, 'With whom did Jason Rezaian correspond to pass through significant security obstacles in preparing his espionage content? Who is preventing the summons and investigation of this official (A - S) who is closely related to a high-ranking official in the presidency and is considered a red line so that security and judicial institutions do not approach him?' On Tuesday, February 17, Rasai also called for the broadcast of Jason Rezaian's 'confessions' by state television and added, 'We must see who has supported him so that he could visit sensitive centers of the Islamic Republic in the guise of a Washington Post reporter, even though after these visits, he published semi-positive reports in that newspaper.' Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post reporter in Tehran, was arrested on the last day of July along with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi, but Mrs. Salehi was released on bail while Mr. Rezaian remains in prison following the extension of his detention. 'Ebtekar has connections with the sedition body.' On Thursday, February 18, Hamid Rasai criticized Massoumeh Ebtekar for not traveling to Khuzestan during the early days of the air pollution crisis in the province, stating, 'From such behavior of Ms. Ebtekar, it appears that her initiatives are more in political activities and the connection she has with the sedition body does not relate to any of the government officials.' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic and his close associates refer to the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential elections as 'sedition' and name Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi as 'leaders of the sedition.' Massoumeh Ebtekar, the head of Iran's Environmental Protection Organization, traveled to Khuzestan on Tuesday, February 17, after several days of air pollution crisis in the province. In recent days, Ebtekar's failure to travel to Khuzestan has led to criticism from parliament representatives regarding her performance. The Fars news agency also reported on Saturday, February 14, that several members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly have prepared a plan to convert the Environmental Protection Organization into a ministry. On the same day, Ms. Ebtekar responded to these criticisms from parliament representatives by saying, 'The representatives who today protest the air situation and dust storms have previously been pursuing water transfer, dam construction, and agricultural development programs for their province without paying attention to the limited water resources in the country.' She also announced on Tuesday, February 17, that the parliament had removed the budget line for combating dust storms in Iran from the 2015 budget.