Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, Advisor to Ahmadinejad, Arrested

Judicial sources in Iran have reported the arrest of Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, the head of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's office and his closest associate. In an immediate reaction, Ahmadinejad has held judicial officials responsible for his health and demanded his release. The news of Rahim-Mashaei's arrest was published by the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office on Saturday, March 16. The announcement only states that police officers arrested Ahmadinejad's former chief of staff at the request of the Tehran Public Prosecutor for questioning, but it does not specify the charges against him, a matter also reflected in Ahmadinejad's statement. In a statement published by the government website, Ahmadinejad deemed the arrest of Rahim-Mashaei as 'unconstitutional' and wrote that 'security agents under the judiciary's command illegally stopped Mr. Rahim-Mashaei's vehicle and arrested him without announcing the reason and stating any potential charges.' He once again criticized the Iranian judiciary and even the entire Islamic Republic government, emphasizing that the arrest of Rahim-Mashaei confirms the 'correctness' of his views regarding the necessity of fundamental reforms in this important institution and other sectors of the system. This is the second legal action against Ahmadinejad's associates within less than a week. Four days prior, Hamid Bakai, the former head of the Cultural Heritage Organization and Ahmadinejad's deputy, was arrested to serve a 15-year sentence. Bakai has been accused of financial corruption during his tenure in Ahmadinejad's government, but Ahmadinejad and his circle, including Rahim-Mashaei, have labeled this ruling as 'political' and his trial as fundamentally 'preordained.' Rahim-Mashaei even went a step further by burning Bakai's ruling in front of the British embassy, an act that his lawyer suspects may be the main reason for his arrest. Mehran Abdollahpour told ILNA news agency that he is unaware of the reason for Rahim-Mashaei's arrest but suspects it may be related to the burning of Bakai's ruling in front of the British embassy. He also stated that Rahim-Mashaei did not have an open case that would warrant an arrest warrant; rather, he only had a case in the fourth branch of the prosecutor's office for which a security measure had been issued. Rahim-Mashaei has claimed that Bakai's ruling was dictated to the Iranian judiciary by the Queen of Britain, the Prime Minister, and the Foreign Secretary. In contrast, the hardline newspaper Kayhan has labeled Ahmadinejad's circle as British agents, stating that 'this move is a continuation of their servitude to Britain.' Rahim-Mashaei was a controversial figure in Ahmadinejad's government, who was not allowed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to assume the position of first vice president. Since then, principlists close to Khamenei have referred to Rahim-Mashaei and other Ahmadinejad associates as 'the deviant sect.' Rahim-Mashaei also ran for president in the 2013 elections, but the Guardian Council rejected his qualifications.