Interior Minister: The Judiciary is Set to Present Documents Regarding Arrests

Simultaneously with the criticism from the Minister of Culture regarding the media coverage of the arrest of several journalists by state television, the Interior Minister stated that the Judiciary has documents related to these arrests and is set to show them to him in his capacity as the head of the National Security Council. According to ISNA news agency, Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, Iran's Interior Minister, responded to reporters' questions about the recent arrests on Tuesday, November 9. He said that 'as the head of the National Security Council, I have asked the Deputy Chief of the Judiciary and the Prosecutor of Tehran about the arrests of several journalists by the Revolutionary Guards, and they stated that they have documents and evidence that are under review.' Rahmani Fazli continued that after the review, the documents will be shown to him 'as the head of the National Security Council.' He emphasized that 'if the Judiciary has court-admissible documents, this matter should be pursued according to those documents,' but added that 'when the documents have not yet been judged, it should not create anxiety in society, and if this atmosphere is not managed, writers and journalists will be concerned.' The Iranian Interior Minister also stressed the necessity of 'maintaining societal security' ahead of the elections and stated that a balance must be established 'between preserving people's dignity and national interests.' Reports indicate that since the morning of November 2, Isa Saharkhiz, the director of press at the Ministry of Culture during Mohammad Khatami's presidency, Ehsan Mazandarani, the editor-in-chief of Farhikhtegan newspaper, Afrin Chitsaz, a columnist for Iran newspaper, and Saman Safarzadeh, a journalist for Andisheh Pouya magazine, have been arrested, and the Guards have introduced the detainees as members of a Western infiltration network. Ebrahim Raisi, the Attorney General, also referred to the arrested journalists on Wednesday, November 4, as 'an infiltration network in the media and social networks' as well as 'spies and mercenaries with American pens.' Criticism of the state television's handling of the recent arrests has emerged, with Ali Jannati, the Minister of Culture in Hassan Rouhani's government, stating that announcing the names of the recent detainees on state television and attributing certain accusations to them is 'against judicial procedure.' Jannati, during a visit to the press exhibition, responded to a question regarding the Ministry of Culture's approach to media that have engaged in 'spreading lies and defamation' about the recent detainees, stating that the Ministry has no program in this regard. He also described it as 'astonishing' that suspects of billion-dollar embezzlements are referred to by initials and without their full names and photographs until their trials are held, while journalists who have been arrested are treated differently. He stated, 'Unfortunately, we see individuals who have merely been accused, but their names are announced in the national media, and information about them is shared, which is truly against our main judicial procedure and should be addressed by the relevant authorities, and the President has also issued warnings in this regard.' Recently, Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, expressed agreement with the view that the arrests following the JCPOA were politically motivated, while Aladdin Boroujerdi, the head of the National Security Commission of the Parliament, deemed it 'unfair and unrealistic' to label these arrests as political.