Denial of Ismail Bakhti's Alleged Affiliation with the Workers' Communist Party

Asghar Karimi, head of the executive committee of the Workers' Communist Party of Iran, denied the statements made by the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament regarding Ismail Bakhti's affiliation with this party. Mr. Karimi, speaking to Radio Farda in response to the remarks of Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, added: "I explicitly deny Ismail Bakhti's affiliation with the Workers' Communist Party. He has neither applied for membership in the Workers' Communist Party nor is he a member of our party." Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, on Tuesday referred to a video of Ismail Bakhti's confessions, stating that Bakhti, a representative of the Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers, "confessed in a video to his affiliation with the Workers' Communist Party, but the audio was not entirely clear." He noted that "the Workers' Communist Party pursues a policy of expanding protests in Iran and has its base in a European country." Asghar Karimi commented on the reference made by the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission to Mr. Bakhti's televised confession, stating: "Any confession obtained under torture by the Islamic Republic from labor activists and political prisoners is invalid." The head of the executive committee of the Workers' Communist Party of Iran pointed out that in the past, televised confessions have been obtained and broadcast in the Islamic Republic of Iran, saying that "people have become aware enough not to trust such confessions." Mr. Karimi stated that it is the right of the Iranian people to be members of the Workers' Communist Party or any political movement, adding that "the Islamic Republic has taken this right away from the people." The statements made by the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission regarding Ismail Bakhti's confession to his affiliation with the Workers' Communist Party come at a time when security accusations have been leveled against workers, teachers, and labor and professional activists in recent years. These accusations have drawn criticism from human rights organizations and labor unions worldwide. Asghar Karimi stated: "The Islamic Republic is a government that cannot respond to the simplest demands of the people and, as a result, has no choice but to suppress and frame workers, teachers, students, and others, seeking legitimacy for itself, but society does not accept it." "There was no torture, there were altercations on the way to prison." The head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission stated in an interview with the House of the Nation news agency that officials from the Ministry of Intelligence have emphasized that Ismail Bakhti was not tortured. Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh also said: "There were some altercations between Ismail Bakhti and the agents during his arrest and transfer to prison, but there was no torture." Mr. Bakhti announced last Friday on his Instagram page that during his 25 days of detention, he was subjected to physical and psychological torture by intelligence agents, and Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence, invited him to participate in a live televised debate. This invitation has yet to be answered by the Minister of Intelligence. Ismail Bakhti was arrested on November 27 during the strike of the Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers by security agents in Shush County and was released on bail after 25 days. The denial of torture of Ismail Bakhti by the Ministry of Intelligence comes at a time when a special expert committee from the judiciary has arrived in Shush County to investigate the issue of Ismail Bakhti's torture, representing the Haft Tappeh sugarcane workers.