Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei to Sue Iran's Minister of Justice

One day after the remarks of Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Iran's Minister of Justice, regarding the 'significant role' of Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei, the head of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's office, in a 3,000 billion toman embezzlement case, a close associate of Ahmadinejad announced that Rahim-Mashaei will sue the Minister of Justice of the eleventh government. According to ILNA news agency, Abdolreza Davari described Pourmohammadi's statements as 'defamation and dissemination of falsehoods' and stated that his remarks are not true. Davari mentioned that one of the lawyers is responsible for pursuing this complaint, and the lawsuit against the Minister of Justice will be submitted to the judiciary next Saturday. A few days ago, Pourmohammadi stated in an interview with Iran newspaper that 'most of the major cases and billion-dollar violations occurred during the last two years of the tenth government.' In recent weeks and days, Iranian media have reported a plethora of news related to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's lawsuit against Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president of Hassan Rouhani's government. Adel Heydari, Ahmadinejad's lawyer, accused Jahangiri in an interview with the 'Information Base of the Offices of the Ninth and Tenth Presidents' of making baseless accusations against the previous government 'to undermine public beliefs and create confusion in public opinion.' In response to Ahmadinejad's lawsuit against Jahangiri, the office of the first vice president of the eleventh presidency announced that 'we welcome Mr. Ahmadinejad's lawsuit in the judiciary and will submit evidence of Ahmadinejad's violations and mismanagement to the judicial authority.' Previously, Ahmadinejad's lawyer had also reported that he was suing Mohammad Ashrafi Isfahani, the head of the preliminary committee investigating violations of the presidency. Ashrafi Isfahani also stated that 'he has a complete response for these lawsuits' and emphasized that 'Ahmadinejad and his associates should know that with these maneuvers, they will not achieve anything; the judiciary is examining their cases and will address all their violations at the appropriate time. At the right time, we will tell the truth to the people; we are not like them, seeking to exploit and take advantage in the run-up to the parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections.' Abdolreza Davari, in an interview with ILNA, responded to the question of what Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's goal is in filing extensive lawsuits against officials of the eleventh government ahead of the parliamentary and Assembly of Experts elections, saying: 'Considering that the nuclear case has reached a relative conclusion, there is no reason for Ahmadinejad and his associates to remain silent against the massive onslaught of defamation and falsehoods against them.' After the end of Ahmadinejad's government and the rise of the eleventh government, several officials of the previous government have been accused of economic crimes. Mohammad Reza Rahimi, Ahmadinejad's first vice president, has been sentenced to prison for corruption. Hamid Baghaei, Ahmadinejad's executive assistant, was also arrested in June on embezzlement charges, and several other officials from the previous government are under similar accusations.