Four Parliament Representatives Demand Accountability from Rouhani Regarding Recent Arrests

The arrest of several journalists and civil-political activists by the security agencies of the Islamic Republic in the last days of the year has continued to provoke reactions. On Friday, March 17, four members of parliament called for President Hassan Rouhani to be accountable in this regard. Elyas Hazrati, Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh, Bahram Parsai, and Mohammad Ali Vakili, in a joint letter to Rouhani, deemed the recent arrests, occurring 'on the eve of the New Year and the closure of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and Nowruz travels,' as 'suspicious' and stated that regardless of which security agency carried out these arrests, the President of Iran must be held accountable. According to ISNA, these representatives emphasized that 'the legal process' was not followed in these arrests and added, 'It is unclear what logic this action was taken under and what analysis justifies the arrest of these individuals.' The representatives referred to the arrest of '12 managers of reformist Telegram channels' and some journalists, including Hengameh Shahidi, Morad Taghafi, and Ehsan Mazandarani, who have been arrested in the past week. No agency has yet taken responsibility for these arrests, but some reports indicate the involvement of the IRGC's intelligence and the Ministry of Intelligence of Rouhani's government in these detentions. The four parliament members, who are part of the reformist 'Hope' faction, introduced the detainees as 'close to the government or officials managing reformist and moderate Telegram channels and supporters of the government' and stated, 'Meanwhile, the managers of the Telegram channels opposing the government are completely free and are using various methods, resorting to slander, lies, forgery, and negative propaganda, to undermine the reputation of your government.' The mentioned representatives have initially called for 'resolving this issue' and emphasized, 'If no action is taken in this regard, we will definitely invite the relevant ministers (including the Minister of Intelligence, Minister of Justice, Minister of Interior, and Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance) to the parliament when it reopens in the new year, and we will pursue the matter until the facts are clarified and the rights of the detainees are secured, even if it requires questioning the relevant ministers.' The recent arrests have also faced criticism from two other parliament members, and Rouhani's press advisor has linked them to the presidential elections. Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, threatened the Minister of Intelligence on March 16 to explain both the arrests of the managers of reformist Telegram channels and the arrest of Ehsan Mazandarani, and if he does not provide a convincing answer, he will pursue questioning or even impeaching him in parliament. Mahmoud Sadqi, another parliament member, has also criticized Rouhani and Sadegh Larijani, the heads of the executive and judicial branches, for their 'silence,' 'indifference,' and 'lack of accountability' regarding 'violations of citizens' rights.' Hossein Dehghan, Rouhani's press advisor, also tweeted: 'We will set up a channel and gather all the debris. When the time comes, we will deal with all of them... We will also arrest anyone else we have a problem with under the pretext of potential connections to that channel. Now that the city is closed and deserted, no one is around to follow up. Sir, the elections are fine.' The presidential election is scheduled for June next year, and the main political currents in the Islamic Republic have not yet introduced their candidates. However, according to reports from some media outlets and personalities close to Rouhani, his candidacy in the elections is certain. The Hope faction, whose four representatives have criticized Rouhani regarding the recent arrests, officially announced their support for his candidacy in the presidential election last week. The arrest of journalists and political-civil activists ahead of parliamentary or presidential elections is not unprecedented, and the charges against them are usually 'acting against national security.' However, what makes the recent arrests different is the detention of managers of Telegram channels, which played a significant role in swaying voters towards the so-called reformist groups in the 2013 presidential and 2016 parliamentary elections. In this context, Rouhani's advisor linked the recent arrests of political activists to the 2017 elections. Motahari threatened the Minister of Intelligence with impeachment due to the 'arrest of 12 Telegram managers.' Criticism of Rouhani and Sadegh Larijani's silence regarding recent arrests continues, along with the ongoing detention of political and civil activists; the editor-in-chief of the magazine 'Goftogu' has also been arrested.