Government's 'Advice' to Judiciary Chief: If You Have Something to Say, Bring It Up in the National Security Council

One day after the head of Iran's judiciary criticized supporters of ending the house arrest of Green Movement leaders, the spokesperson for President Hassan Rouhani responded by advising him to raise his opinions in the Supreme National Security Council meetings instead. Sadegh Amoli Larijani, the head of the judiciary, stated on Tuesday that the views of some presidential candidates, including the call to end the house arrest of leaders protesting the 2009 election results, were 'against national security' and questioned, 'What authority do you have to break the house arrest?' President Hassan Rouhani, in one of his election speeches before the twelfth presidential election in Kerman, promised to 'convey' the requests for lifting the house arrest of Green Movement leaders from participants in his speech and to pursue it 'with all his might.' On Tuesday, Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, Rouhani's spokesperson, reacted to this attack on the judiciary chief, advising him to discuss such matters in the Supreme National Security Council meetings instead of bringing them to the public. He said, 'I recommend that the respected gentlemen definitely raise any comments they have in meetings. One of them is the Supreme National Security Council, where the head of the judiciary is a member, and if he participates in the meetings, he can raise them there.' He also reminded the judiciary chief that 'power in the structure of the Islamic Republic is distributed among the three branches, and the president is the head of the executive branch and is responsible for enforcing the constitution and uses his powers.' Ayatollah Amoli Larijani had warned on Tuesday in a harsh tone against 'media and individuals' who, according to him, 'are trying to repeatedly and harmoniously echo such issues and exert pressure in this way.' He stated, 'We warn that they should stop this, otherwise the judiciary will decisively put an end to it.' On the same day, Rouhani's spokesperson also responded to Ebrahim Raisi, Rouhani's unsuccessful rival in the recent elections, regarding his accusations of 'engineering' the elections and 'numerous violations.' Raisi had described the events of the 2017 presidential election as 'unprecedented' and claimed that 'engineered violations in the elections were numerous.' Nobakht responded to this accusation by saying, 'Certainly, this engineering of the elections is not a correct statement, and we must define what we mean by these terms. While denying the engineering of the elections, I remind you that the election process was overseen by the Guardian Council.' He emphasized that 'the counting of votes was done correctly and healthily, and repeatedly, members of the Guardian Council and its spokesperson have stated that nothing occurred that would affect the election results.' He also addressed Rouhani's rivals, saying, 'They have been campaigning for the elections for a year, and we have seen what projects and accusations they have raised, from astronomical salaries to elitism. They even showed the homes of individuals one by one. Was there anything they left out? They said everything, and in the debates, you saw how boldly issues were raised. The people also saw all the statements and voted, and now we must back down.' He continued to advise, 'You have said everything, and it is better to back down now.' According to Abbasali Kadkhodaei, the spokesperson for the Guardian Council, this council will announce its opinion regarding the elections of May 29 on Wednesday. Kadkhodaei stated that in the council's meeting on Sunday, reports from several experts regarding the elections were presented, and further reports would be reviewed on Wednesday. In this context, Raisi again called for addressing the 'engineered violations' in the elections, and the Guardian Council will announce its final opinion on the elections on Wednesday.