Ebadi's Letter to Rouhani: I Hope the Time for Reconciliation with the Iranian People Will Come

Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, in an open letter to Hassan Rouhani welcomed the lifting of sanctions against Iran and expressed happiness over the release of four Iranian-American prisoners, hoping that 'the time for reconciliation with the Iranian people will come.' In this letter, published on Tuesday, January 28, on the 'Human Rights Supporters' website and several other sites, she described the implementation of the nuclear agreement and the beginning of the lifting of sanctions as a positive step and expressed hope that the people of Iran would benefit from its results, but added, 'Although there will remain a deep regret for Iranians due to the spending of billions of dollars on wrong and fruitless programs.' Ebadi then referred to the release of four Iranian-Americans just hours before the implementation of the nuclear agreement, considering it a result of 'the reconciliation of the Iranian and American governments' and expressed hope that 'one day the time for reconciliation with the honorable Iranian people will come, and sweetly witness the opening of prison doors and the release of all political and ideological prisoners.' In her letter, she wrote, 'The Iranian government reconciled with its 37-year-old enemy, and I am astonished why it cannot reconcile with its own people? If the National Security Council can release a journalist who was taken hostage 'sweetly' in reconciliation with America, why can't it release a university professor and an artist like Zahra Rahnavard?' She stated, 'If the judiciary can release Saeed Abedini, whose only crime was his religious belief, due to his American citizenship, why does it not take action for the release of Mehdi Karroubi, whose only crime was protesting the election results? If Mr. Zarif can negotiate with a superpower like America to free some Iranian merchants from American prisons, why does he not do this for the release of prisoners from the events of 2009?' The Nobel Peace Prize winner described ideological and political prisoners as deprived of fair trials and 'somewhat hostages of security agents' and stated that the President, the Leader, the judiciary, and the Supreme National Security Council are well aware of this issue, and she regrets that 'other prisoners who only have Iranian citizenship must remain in prison unjustly.' Shirin Ebadi asked, 'When will the time for reconciliation with the Iranian people come, so that following this national reconciliation, the hostages of the Ministry of Intelligence, including Omid Kokabi (young elite), Abdolfattah Soltani (lawyer), Narges Mohammadi (civil activist), Bahareh Hedayat (student activist), Eisa Saharkhiz (journalist), Saeed Madani (political activist), and dozens of others who are in prisons will be released?' In the end, she reminded Hassan Rouhani that he swore to uphold the constitution and asked, 'Which of the political and ideological prisoners in Iran have been tried publicly and with the presence of a jury?'