Hassan Abbasi Released

Hassan Abbasi, an officer of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran, who was detained on Wednesday, August 4, due to a complaint from the army and for refusing to provide bail, was released on Saturday. According to the Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the IRGC, Abbasi, referred to by conservative media as the head of centers such as "Doctrinal Studies" and "Yaqin Think Tank," was released on the afternoon of Saturday, August 7. Gholam-Abbas Torabi, the military prosecutor of Tehran, had reported on Wednesday that a bail order was issued during the second session of questioning of Abbasi, but he refused to provide bail and was sent to detention. Recently, an old video clip of Abbasi has been circulated on the internet and social media, in which he defends the actions of the IRGC and Basij, describing the army as a "silent force." In part of this one-minute clip, he addressed the United States, saying: "You want something like an army that is silent in the barracks and if the water of this country (Iran) is taken away, they do not make a sound and take no position." These remarks provoked a strong reaction from Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, commander of the ground forces, and some other commanders of the Iranian army, leading the ground forces to file a complaint against Abbasi. Abbasi then apologized in a letter to the commander-in-chief of the army for his comments and described the released video as a "one-minute cut" from a speech session. Ramadan Sharif, the spokesperson for the IRGC, and Masoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff of the armed forces, criticized Abbasi's statements, while Ali Motahari, the deputy speaker of parliament, stated that the army's non-involvement in politics and economics is its strength. Additionally, Mohsen Rezai, former commander of the IRGC and secretary of the Expediency Discernment Council, considered the insults to the IRGC and army as a demand from Israel and the United States. In contrast, several extremist forces close to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, including Hamid Rasai, Mehdi Koochakzadeh, Saeed Qasemi, and Mohammad Ali Ramin, strongly criticized Abbasi's detention. Abbasi, who is part of the IRGC, speaks at IRGC, Basij, and other meetings of groups supporting the Supreme Leader without military attire, and has made severe criticisms of Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, as well as Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami, former presidents, in his speeches over the years.