Governor of Khorasan Razavi: The Prosecutor's Office of Mashhad Canceled Motahari's Speech Based on a Letter from the IRGC Intelligence

The governor of Khorasan Razavi stated that the Prosecutor's Office of Mashhad canceled the speech of Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, based on a letter received from the IRGC Intelligence. This news comes after Mr. Motahari mentioned in a letter to Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, that the Prosecutor's Office cited a letter as the reason for canceling his speech, which he claimed 'had reached him'. He expressed hope that this letter was not from Ahmad Alamolhoda, the representative of the Supreme Leader in Khorasan Razavi. Reports now indicate that the IRGC Intelligence Unit had requested the Prosecutor's Office of Mashhad to cancel the Deputy Speaker's speech due to what they termed 'the possibility of certain violations'. According to IRNA news agency, Alireza Rashidian, the governor of Khorasan Razavi, told reporters on Tuesday, December 2, that 'given the Interior Minister's emphasis on resolving the issue, I personally followed up and during a phone call with the Chief Justice of Khorasan Razavi, he stated that the Prosecutor acted based on correspondence from the IRGC Intelligence regarding the possibility of certain violations'. He added, 'However, it was decided that the Chief Justice would review the matter again with the Prosecutor and announce the results. At the same time, it was emphasized that there was no specific problem or likelihood of violations in this program, but after this call, we received no further communication from him, and no contact was made'. The governor of Khorasan Razavi stated that he had discussed the issue with the Attorney General of the country and the heads of the Parliament and Judiciary, and emphasized that 'Ayatollah Alamolhoda was not aware of this event and had no connection to the Prosecutor's ruling'. The representative of the Supreme Leader in Khorasan Razavi threatened to file a complaint against the Deputy Speaker of Parliament after the publication of Motahari's letter and being accused of disrupting his speech. Simultaneously, Mr. Motahari's lawyer filed a complaint against the Prosecutor of Mashhad and submitted it to the 'Judicial Authority of the Government Employees Prosecutor's Office in Tehran'. Rashidian stated, 'The basis for the Prosecutor's actions in the provincial center was the letter received from the IRGC Intelligence colleagues. However, based on reports obtained from the Intelligence Department, the provincial police, and a letter from the Deputy of IRGC Intelligence sent to the Khorasan Razavi governorate, no incident or crime was anticipated at this mourning ceremony, and there was no request for the event to be canceled or not held'. The news of the IRGC Intelligence's involvement in canceling the speech of the Deputy Speaker of Parliament is significant because Mr. Motahari had previously identified the assailants and instigators of the attack against him at Shiraz Airport on March 9, 2015, as members of the Basij and IRGC, but officials did not confirm this. In the initial proceedings in Branch 101 of the Shiraz Criminal Court regarding this case, six defendants were sentenced to two months in prison and 10 lashes, which was suspended for two years, and for two other defendants, a sentence of four and a half months in prison and 37 lashes was issued, which was also suspended for one year. The disruption of Ali Motahari's speech in Mashhad has had significant repercussions in political and media circles in Iran, with the President of Iran calling it 'a source of shame' and demanding that the Interior Minister and the Judiciary address the issue. Ali Larijani, the Speaker of Parliament, also described this action as 'regrettable' during a public session of the Iranian Parliament on Tuesday. Meanwhile, conservative media and figures supported the decision of the Mashhad Prosecutor's Office and criticized the Deputy Speaker of Parliament. In this context, Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani, the temporary Friday prayer leader of Tehran, defended the Mashhad Prosecutor's ruling to cancel Mr. Motahari's speech, stating, 'We must silence our mouths for the Supreme Leader and for the sake of God'. In relation to the cancellation of the Mashhad speech, Motahari wrote to Rouhani, the governor of Mashhad was changed, and Ali Motahari's lawyer filed a complaint against the Prosecutor of Mashhad. Alamolhoda denied any connection with the cancellation of Ali Motahari's speech in Mashhad. Rouhani commented on the cancellation of Motahari's speech, stating that they want to pave the way for extremism in Khorasan Razavi. The Friday prayer leader of Tehran stated that we must silence our mouths in front of the Supreme Leader. The Interior Minister warned following the cancellation of Ali Motahari's speech in Mashhad.