Ebrahim Yazdi Protests 'Illegal Behavior' of Security Agents in Letter to Rouhani

Ebrahim Yazdi, Secretary-General of the Freedom Movement, in a letter to Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, protested against the continued 'illegal behaviors' of the Ministry of Intelligence agents, who claim to have 'government orders' to deal with this group and its members. In the letter written on January 7 and published on January 26 on websites close to the Freedom Movement, including the website Mizan News, Yazdi stated that 'some agents of the Ministry of Intelligence are following the members of the Freedom Movement everywhere like a shadow and creating various disturbances under false pretenses with unlawful summonses.' Yazdi emphasized that these agents do not adhere to any legal boundaries in their dealings with the members of the Freedom Movement and 'explicitly' state that with the change of government, the conditions in that ministry for the Freedom Movement 'have not changed.' According to Yazdi, these agents 'claim' to have 'government orders' to deal with the Freedom Movement and its members. In the political language of the Islamic Republic, 'government orders' refer to orders issued by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. In his letter, Yazdi referred to Hassan Rouhani's election slogans and urged him to instruct the Minister of Intelligence to end the 'illegal' behavior of the agents of this ministry towards the members of the Freedom Movement. A copy of Yazdi's letter to Rouhani was also sent to the ministers of the Interior and Intelligence of the Islamic Republic. The Secretary-General of the Freedom Movement of Iran had also previously asked Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence, in a letter on December 19, 2014, whether there is a unit in this ministry for complaints against 'misbehaving agents' or if complaints should be directed to other 'legal authorities' in the country. At that time, Yazdi raised three questions to the Minister of Intelligence, seeking clarification about the ministry's actions to lift the house arrest of the leaders of the 2009 election protests, the release of political party members, and the resumption of reformist parties' activities. Islamic Republic institutions consider the activities of the Freedom Movement 'illegal' based on a letter from Ayatollah Khomeini, the former leader of the Islamic Republic, to Ali Akbar Mohtashami, the then Minister of Interior. The Freedom Movement of Iran has expressed doubt about the legitimacy of this letter and stated that this group has not been declared 'illegal' in any court and that its activities are legal. Based on Ayatollah Khomeini's letter, the qualifications of Freedom Movement members have also been rejected in parliamentary and presidential elections in recent years. Meanwhile, Yazdi also protested on January 9 against the disqualification of Ghafar Farzadi and Mohammad Hadi Hadi Zadeh Yazdi, two members of the Central Council of the Freedom Movement, by the executive committees. After the 2009 presidential election, several members of the Freedom Movement of Iran, including Ebrahim Yazdi, have been repeatedly arrested. Some members of this group, including Emad Bahavar, head of the youth branch and a member of the political office of the Freedom Movement of Iran, have been released after serving their sentences, while some members, including Mehdi Motamedi Mehr and Amir Khorram, remain in prison.