Jannati Criticizes Rouhani and Hijab Protesters After Re-election in the Assembly of Experts

In the session of the Assembly of Experts on Tuesday, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati was re-elected as the head of this assembly for the second year. Jannati dedicated his first speech after re-election to a sharp criticism of Hassan Rouhani's government. According to reports, the only significant change in the composition of the Assembly's board was the election of Abbas Kabi to replace Ghorbanali Daryanajafabadi as the secretary of the board. Jannati was re-elected as the head of the Assembly of Experts with 66 votes on Tuesday, March 13. Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi and Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani were elected as the first and second vice presidents with 72 and 70 votes, respectively. In this session, Ahmad Khatami and Abbas Kabi were elected as the secretaries of the board with 50 and 42 votes, respectively. The number of representatives in the Assembly of Experts is 88, but Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Nasrollah Shahabadi passed away after the elections. Last year, Jannati was elected as the head of the fifth term of the Assembly with 51 votes. Some media and analysts had mentioned Ibrahim Amini as a candidate supported by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council and a member of the Assembly of Experts. In the elections of March 7, 2016, Jannati was the sixteenth, meaning the last, candidate in Tehran province. In his speech on Tuesday, Jannati criticized Rouhani's government, accusing it of having non-revolutionary officials. He said, 'Mr. President, do not let the revolution fall into the hands of the unworthy; there are people in your administration who are at most not revolutionary and at least distanced from the revolution.' He added, 'Care must be taken in selecting individuals because some of these individuals are seeking to amass wealth.' Jannati has previously criticized the appointment of several reformists in Rouhani's government. Close associates of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic also refer to issues such as the salaries of government officials, known as 'astronomical salaries,' accusing them of 'living in luxury.' In the session, Jannati also described the protests against compulsory hijab as 'a kind of promotion of vice and immorality.' He added, 'We must firmly confront those who want to pretend to be immoral and stop them from dancing and removing their hijabs, which is essentially the removal of their modesty and dignity.' He also stated, 'Before the revolution, young girls in miniskirts corrupted our youth, which has disappeared, and hijab-wearing women have come, who are a source of pride for us; we must be careful that our boys and girls do not go astray.' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, referred to the public protests against compulsory hijab in Tehran and other cities over the past two months as 'small and insignificant' while also criticizing 'the issue of compulsory hijab being raised by some elites.' The following day, Friday prayer leaders in several cities of Iran emphasized the enforcement of the 'hijab decree,' and simultaneously, a member of the Assembly's board stated that this 'decree' would be enforced 'to the blindness of the opponents.' Public protests against compulsory hijab began in December and have so far led to the arrest of more than 35 women, including Vida Mohammadi, Narges Hosseini, Azam Jangrooi, Shaparak Shajari Zadeh, and Maryam Shariati, who were arrested and later released. Several political figures, such as Mostafa Tajzadeh, have also opposed the compulsory hijab, and Alireza Beheshti, the son of Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti, the first head of the Supreme Court of Iran after the revolution, has stated that his father was against compulsory hijab and did not enforce it until his last day in the judiciary.