Cancellation of Ahmadinejad's Speech and Two Former Ministers

News agencies close to the IRGC reported the postponement of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech in Malard due to "opposition" from the governor's office and the cancellation of Haidar Moslehi's speech, the former Minister of Intelligence, at Azad University. Hamid Haji Babayi, the former Minister of Education, also did not receive permission to speak in Ahvaz. According to Fars News Agency, Haj Ali Bahri, the head of the cultural center of the Malard Grand Mosque, which was organizing the event, stated on Wednesday, April 25, that due to the "opposition" of the governor's office to Ahmadinejad's speech at the "Martyrs' Garden," the center has postponed the event to "another time." Mr. Bahri noted that before the cancellation of Ahmadinejad's trip to Malard, "informational banners for this speech had been removed from the city." However, Mojtaba Shah Qalian, the political deputy of the Malard governorate, stated in an interview with the local website "Eghtedar Malard" that "the Martyrs' Garden of Malard has its own management" and the cultural center cannot request permission to hold a speech there. He also mentioned that "before obtaining permission" for this event, banners announcing the program had been installed in the county "while installing banners in the city requires obtaining permission from the municipality, which had not been obtained." According to Mr. Shah Qalian, the county security council decided that "this event should be held after the second round of the parliamentary elections and preferably in places such as mosques, husseiniyahs, and stadiums to ensure necessary measures for maintaining order and security during the event." Mahmoud Ahmadinejad traveled to Amol on April 19. Some Iranian media have described the beginning of his travels as an attempt to return to Iranian politics and run for the presidency in the 2024 elections. In contrast, Akbar Turkan, a senior advisor to Hassan Rouhani, referred to Ahmadinejad as a "burnt piece" and stated that his time is "over." In recent days, reports have emerged about the latest status of the complaint against Ahmadinejad, with Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the judiciary, announcing that this case is "in the preliminary investigation stage." Mohsen Eftekhari, the head of the Criminal Court of Tehran Province, also stated on Tuesday that his case is "in the process of inquiries from various authorities." Mr. Eftekhari attributed the prolonged process of handling this case to inquiries from "various authorities" and stated that the delay has nothing to do with Ahmadinejad's previous position. The first court session for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Branch 76 of the Tehran Criminal Court was held on December 5, 2013, without his presence or that of his lawyer, ultimately resulting in the judge ordering a rescheduling of the session. Shortly after Hassan Rouhani's victory in the 2013 presidential election, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was summoned to court, but the judiciary spokesperson described the summons as "misleading" and stated that the judiciary officials were unaware of this matter. The newspaper Shargh had previously reported the existence of "23 complaints against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the judiciary," including complaints from the parliament. Concurrently with the reports about the postponement of Ahmadinejad's speech in Malard, Tasnim News Agency announced that officials at Azad University North Tehran had "opposed" Haidar Moslehi's speech at this university, leading to its cancellation. This news agency quoted an unnamed student Basij official stating that "since last night, the officials of the Azad University unit contacted the Basij officials requesting the cancellation of the program." According to this Basij official, on Wednesday, the university's atmosphere "had become security-laden due to the increased number of security forces," ultimately resulting in the cancellation of the speech. University officials did not respond to this report. The state news agency IRNA also reported that the political and social deputy of the Ahvaz governorate announced the cancellation of Hamid Haji Babayi's speech by the county's security council. Ali Mozaffari explained the reason for the cancellation of this program, which was scheduled to take place on Wednesday evening at the Ershad Mosque in Ahvaz, stating: "This program was arranged to support the principlist candidates for parliament, and since campaigning before the designated time is against the law, this event was canceled." In 2014, principlist media had also announced that speeches by Hossein Shariatmadari, the representative of the Supreme Leader at Kayhan Institute, Hamid Rasai, Alireza Zakani, and Mahmoud Nabavian, members of parliament, had been canceled at universities on the occasion of December 7. Mohammad Farhadi, the Minister of Science, stated regarding the cancellation of these speeches that "many individuals themselves did not want to speak, and the speaking programs of some were postponed to another time." Last year, speeches by several reformist political figures were interrupted or canceled before being held. In the latest instance, Sasan Mooghi, the student deputy of Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences, announced that the speech by Mostafa Moein, the former Minister of Science, scheduled for Tuesday, April 23, at this university, was canceled by the order of the Ahvaz prosecutor. According to Mr. Mooghi, this speech was canceled "based on electoral laws and considering that the time for campaigning for the second round has not yet arrived, and the use of state facilities for campaigning is prohibited."