Complaint Filed by Several Representatives Against Nader Qazizadeh for 'Offensive Remarks'

In response to the remarks made by Nader Qazizadeh, the representative of Urmia in the parliament and elected member of this constituency in the tenth parliament, the head of the Women's Faction in Parliament announced that a complaint from the members of this faction and several other representatives against Mr. Qazizadeh has been 'sent' to the Attorney General of the country. Fatemeh Rahbar, the head of the Women's Faction, stated on Tuesday, March 8, that following the 'offensive' comments made by the Urmia representative about women, members of the Women's Faction and some other representatives have filed a complaint against Mr. Qazizadeh which has been sent to the Attorney General. Ms. Rahbar did not mention the number of representatives who signed this complaint. According to the text of the complaint published by the ISNA news agency, the remarks made by the Urmia representative in parliament are described as 'vulgar and offensive', 'contrary to the dignity and accepted norms of representation', and 'insulting to members of parliament, especially women'. The representatives stated in their complaint that Mr. Qazizadeh's remarks have led to what they call 'feeding opposition media aimed at overthrowing the regime'. Nader Qazizadeh, in comments that were circulated on social media, stated that 'the parliament is not a place for women, it is for men [send women to parliament] so that they bring disgrace upon you'. He continued, 'the parliament is not a place for sissiness, send men to parliament, at least let one of them do something'. Mr. Qazizadeh, in further remarks that were met with cheers from the audience, made offensive sexual comments about Ghodratollah Ali Khani, a representative from Qazvin in the eighth parliament. In recent days, some social media users have called for the rejection of Mr. Qazizadeh's credentials in the tenth parliament. However, this elected member of the tenth parliament stated in an interview with Khabaronline on Tuesday that 'I will have no problem regarding the review of credentials'. He also mentioned that 'I did not mean all women' regarding his comments about female candidates in the parliamentary elections, adding that 'two women from our city participated in this election, and you can ask them about my views on women'. The elected representative from Urmia emphasized that despite the critical atmosphere against him, the people of his constituency continue to support him, and if elections were held again, he would receive 'twice' the votes. He accused the 'publishers' of the video of having 'edited out the beginning and end of his remarks'. In the meantime, the Tabnak website reported, citing the editor-in-chief of the Farhang Shams publication, that Hamed Attaie, a journalist and 'publisher' of Mr. Qazizadeh's speech, was 'beaten by unknown individuals'. Mr. Mostafa Zadegan, the editor-in-chief of Farhang Shams, reported that Hamed Attaie was assaulted last Thursday in 'Enghelab Square in Urmia' in the presence of 'his wife and children'. According to Mr. Mostafa Zadegan, the incident 'occurred in front of a bank's camera, and the Urmia prosecutor's office is currently investigating to find the perpetrators of the incident'. According to the Tabnak website, he stated that Mr. Attaie 'sustained serious injuries to several parts of his body, including his cheek and left ear, and it is said that his eardrum was ruptured, and he has lost his hearing'. Nader Qazizadeh, who has been the representative of Urmia in the eighth and ninth parliaments, was re-elected to the tenth parliament with over 160,000 votes as the first elected representative of this constituency.