Davaei's Letter to Rouhani: Stop Media Ban Against Khatami

The newspaper Etemad reported on its front page titled "The End of the Matter," stating that "the case of past issues regarding Iran's nuclear program will be closed with the proposed resolution of the 1+5 to the Board of Governors of the Agency on December 15." Sara Masoumi wrote in Etemad that "ten years after the days when Iran's nuclear file was transferred from the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency to the UN Security Council, the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany provided a draft resolution to the Board of Governors of the IAEA as promised to Iran in paragraph 14 of the JCPOA; a draft under which the so-called military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program will be consigned to history, and from the day after the approval of this resolution by the Board of Governors, Iran and the international community will think about the future of Iran's nuclear program, not the past that has added to tensions in Iran's relations with the IAEA over the past decade." However, the newspaper Javan described the "Iranian team's understanding with the 1+5 regarding the Board of Governors' resolution" as a "gray passage from PMD," stating that "parts of the draft resolution of the Board of Governors have kept a window open for the re-examination of challenging issues regarding Iran." The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz referred to the "proposed resolution to the Board of Governors" as "PMD 2." Mehdi Mohammadi, a member of the negotiating team during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency and secretary of Saeed Jalili in the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, wrote in Vatan-e-Emruz that "discussions about how to conclude what is referred to as the remaining past and present issues regarding Iran's nuclear program are becoming clearer." The reporter from Vatan-e-Emruz noted that "two factors have contributed to the greater clarity of this issue," writing that "first, the series of statements from the Iranian negotiating team since last Wednesday, which have summarized that the acceptance of some 'studies' related to weapons in Iran has been implicitly deemed acceptable, with Mr. Baidi-Nejad explicitly referring to this issue, and as a result, they welcomed the IAEA's report," and second, "the collection of what has been published by Western sources, officials, institutions, and experts in this regard. In this second case, the summary of the Western perspective is that what we sought regarding Iran has been proven, and now this issue will be concluded, but this does not mean the end of everything." Mahmoud Davayi, the managing director of the newspaper Etemad, in the editorial of Wednesday's issue titled "A Heartfelt Talk with the Familiar President and Words for Excited or Concerned Brothers," published a letter addressed to Hassan Rouhani, describing the Tehran prosecutor's action to impose a media ban against Mohammad Khatami, the former president, as a "violation of the constitution" and a "violation of citizens' rights." The newspaper Ebtekar reported on the approval of an urgent "bill to prevent dual nationals from holding sensitive jobs," describing this bill as "a plan to counter the creation of Khavari-like individuals." The newspaper Etemad highlighted the statements of the government spokesman regarding Hassan Rouhani's promise to lift the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard, quoting Mohammad Baqer Nobakht as saying, "The government will take effective actions regarding the 'house arrest.'" The newspaper Bahar quoted Asadollah Athari, a senior researcher at the Middle East Strategic Studies Research Institute, stating, "Tensions in relations with Turkey should be managed." Asadollah Athari told Bahar that "the positions of Iran and Turkey regarding Syria somewhat distance the two countries from each other, and it is not the case that the interests of the two countries align in various regional issues. The differing interests of the two countries in the Middle East necessitate the management of these interests and their pursuit in the region; it is better that the differences in interests are managed and that emphasis is placed on common interests. Expanding cooperation in the areas of common economic, energy, and trade interests will be in line with the national and mutual security interests of both countries." Javad Etefat, a member of the central council of the National Trust Party and a university professor, in an interview with the newspaper Vaghaye Ettefaghieh, rejected the possibility of an alliance between reformists and moderate conservatives, including Ali Larijani and Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri, stating, "An alliance between reformists and conservatives is not relevant, as both are rooted movements in the country, and the principle is that these two movements should compete with each other." This reformist political activist emphasized that "alliances between two political currents or parties usually occur against a common rival, and if the two main factions of the country were to ally, the essence of competition would be fundamentally undermined," adding that "reformists prefer to have rivals who respect the rules of the game, and given the moderate approach of Mr. Larijani and Nategh Nouri, reformists would be pleased to have such rivals." The newspaper Shargh published on its front page the statements of Amir Abbas Soltani, a member of the parliamentary committee investigating the oil corruption case, regarding "the nighttime dealings of Saeed Mortazavi and Babak Zanjani," reporting that after 20 sessions of the court, the official news agency of the judiciary for the first time announced the full names of the second and third defendants in this case as "Mehdi Shamszadeh and Hamid Fallah Heravi." Davayi's letter to Rouhani; Stop media ban against Khatami. Mahmoud Davayi, the managing director of the newspaper Etemad, in the editorial of Wednesday's issue titled "A Heartfelt Talk with the Familiar President and Words for Excited or Concerned Brothers," published a letter addressed to Hassan Rouhani, describing the Tehran prosecutor's action to impose a media ban against Mohammad Khatami, the former president, as a "violation of the constitution" and a "violation of citizens' rights." The managing director of the newspaper Etemad, who is a close associate of Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, wrote in his letter to Hassan Rouhani: "Following the publication of an interview with the former president of Iran in the Etemad newspaper, the head of the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office filed a complaint against me and requested that the matter be addressed through the Special Clerical Court," and at the same time, "some aligned websites and media also referred to this action as an illegal act and excitedly called for investigation, while no law or resolution has been passed in any legislative body regarding this matter, and the Supreme National Security Council has explicitly stated that it has no resolution in this regard." Mahmoud Davayi pointed out that recently, Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, in a meeting with some managing directors of newspapers, including the managing director of Etemad, "requested the non-publication of materials and images of Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Khatami." He wrote that in that same meeting, he told the Tehran prosecutor, "Considering that your action is based on taste and there is no law or resolution in this regard, the Etemad newspaper will not accept this matter, and we will continue our logical process in publishing news about the noble, beloved, and cultured personality of the revolution and the long-time companion of Imam and the leader, Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Khatami, with dignity and away from controversy, and we consider this work to be a service to the system, the revolution, and the people." The managing director of the Etemad newspaper emphasized that "the principles 20-22-23-24-34-36-37-58-71-72 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran" affirm that "the enjoyment of the citizens of a land of basic human rights as natural and inherent rights has a history as long as humanity and humanity itself. Rights such as the right to life, which in its manifestation protects the life, property, home, and job of individuals from infringement, as well as the prohibition of the investigation of beliefs and the infringement and prosecution of individuals solely for holding an opinion, as the press and publications are free to express their views and can only be limited and prohibited within the framework of the law." Mahmoud Davayi reminded Hassan Rouhani that "the right to seek justice is considered a legitimate right of every individual, and the judicial system is based on the fundamental principle of the rule of law, which is one of the results of this principle being the global rule of law regarding crimes and punishments, without prior establishment of individual social orders by the legislative authority, which has the inherent and exclusive competence, it is not permissible for government officials to arbitrarily criminalize and consequently impose punishment on individuals, which contradicts another obvious rational principle, namely the presumption of innocence." The editorial writer of the Etemad newspaper recalled that even under current laws of the Islamic Republic, "any of the officials and agents affiliated with government institutions who unlawfully deprive the personal freedom of citizens or deprive them of the rights stipulated in the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be sentenced to imprisonment from two months to three years, in addition to dismissal from service and deprivation of one to five years from government jobs." The managing director of the Etemad newspaper, while referring to the duties and powers of the prosecutor under current laws, wrote that "it can be clearly understood that the action of the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Tehran, Mr. Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi, in restricting the freedom of media, including broadcasting and newspapers, in prohibiting the mention of the name and reflection of the image of Hojjatoleslam Mr. Khatami, the former president of Iran, violates the principles regarding his fundamental rights as a citizen of the nation, as stipulated in the mentioned principles of the Constitution, and also constitutes a violation of the prosecutor's authority from fundamental legal principles such as the principle of legality of punishments and the law respecting legitimate freedoms and preserving citizens' rights as ratified in 2004." Mahmoud Davayi concluded his editorial in the Etemad newspaper by addressing Hassan Rouhani, stating that "given the explicit powers of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran under Article 113 of the Constitution, it is appropriate to communicate these matters to the head of the judiciary to stop this illegal trend." The prohibition of "dual nationals from holding sensitive jobs" with the approval of the parliament. The newspaper Ebtekar reported the approval of an urgent "bill to prevent dual nationals from holding sensitive jobs," describing this bill as "a plan to counter the creation of Khavari-like individuals." According to this newspaper, the representatives of the ninth parliament in their public session on Tuesday approved the second article of the urgent bill "on the appointment of individuals in sensitive jobs" with 153 votes in favor, 7 against, and 7 abstentions out of a total of 214 representatives present at the session. According to the newspaper Ebtekar, "Article 2 of this bill states that the appointment of those with dual nationality, those who do not believe in and practically adhere to Islam and the Islamic Republic, absolute guardianship of the jurist, and the Constitution is prohibited for holding sensitive positions and jobs." This prohibition, "except for recognized religious minorities in the Constitution who must believe in and practically adhere to their religious principles," also applies to "those who played a significant role in strengthening the foundations of the former regime, those who have been convicted of crimes of breach of trust, fraud, embezzlement, bribery, and illegal appropriation of public property, affiliates of organizations and groups that are hostile and illegal, members of deviant sects and promoters of misguided thoughts and false mysticism, as well as those convicted of crimes against internal and external security and religious limits, suspects and perpetrators of espionage in favor of foreigners and contacts with foreign nationals that security and intelligence agencies have prohibited, instigators and perpetrators of launching anti-Islam and anti-revolution satellite networks and websites, activists against the regime and their related agents, as well as activists in the dissemination of obscene materials in cyberspace, users and addicts of alcoholic beverages, narcotics, and psychotropic substances, those convicted of drug trafficking and psychotropic substances, weapons and military ammunition, notorious for corruption and those flaunting immorality, and those who have been found guilty in the course of parliamentary investigations and have been convicted by the judicial authority." According to Ebtekar, Article 5 of this bill, which was also approved with 109 votes in favor, states that "the instances of sensitive jobs of each agency will be determined based on the criteria of sensitive jobs specified in the executive regulations of this law, proposed by the highest authority of the agency and approved by a working group consisting of the Ministry of Intelligence and the relevant agency as appropriate." The parliament also mandated the Ministry of Intelligence to draft the executive regulations in cooperation with the Management and Planning Organization of the country during the review of the bill on the appointment of individuals in specific jobs. Hamid Reza Tabatabai Naeini, a member of the board of directors of the Judicial and Legal Commission of the ninth parliament, told the newspaper Ebtekar that "the types of sensitive jobs referred to in this bill had previously been included in the law, which included heads of powers and their deputies, ministers and their advisors, and members of parliament, but in the current bill, mayors, governors, and district governors are also included among these jobs." According to this representative, "the bill states that individuals must be approved by the Ministry of Intelligence regarding their identity before being appointed to such positions, ensuring that they do not have a history of financial crimes or connections with individuals or groups opposed to the regime." Hamid Reza Tabatabai Naeini emphasized that "commitment to the divine religion of Islam or recognized religions with scriptures and adherence to the principle of guardianship of the jurist are other requirements that must be confirmed by the Ministry of Intelligence before individuals are appointed to sensitive positions." Hadi Shushtari, another representative, also told the newspaper Ebtekar that this bill emphasizes "the necessity of verifying individuals' identities through the Ministry of Intelligence before they are placed in key positions.