Judiciary and Basij Leaders Attack Leaders of 2009 Protests

On Tuesday, January 6, the head of the judiciary and the head of the Basij Organization separately criticized the leaders of the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election. According to reports, Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary, stated in a meeting with judicial officials that 'the sedition case is still open and must be addressed.' Larijani accused the protesters of causing 'huge damage to the country, destroying many opportunities, and, worse, by giving a green light to the enemies, exacerbating pressures and sanctions, and encouraging foreign interference in domestic affairs.' The accusation of increased economic sanctions against Iran following the events of 2009 has been previously raised by officials of the Islamic Republic, but Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the leaders of the 2009 protests, have denied these claims in recent years. Larijani further stated that 'some criticize why we still address the issue of sedition,' adding that 'more complex seditions are being designed by the enemy, and if we do not analyze and examine the past sedition, we cannot confront future seditions.' In the rhetoric of Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, and his supporters, the protests against the 2009 election results are referred to as 'sedition,' and the leaders of the protests are labeled as 'seditionists.' Larijani accused the leaders of the protests of attempting to seize power by force and outside legal frameworks, claiming that 'they sought to trample on the people's votes and bypass the Constitution under the pretext of protecting the people's votes and democracy.' He described the demonstrations of the supporters of the Supreme Leader on January 9, 2009, as 'a popular and conscious epic,' stating that 'our insightful people surpassed some officials and, with their conscious presence on January 9, dismantled the sedition.' On the same day, Gholamhossein Ghaibparvar, the head of the Basij Organization, also accused 'the enemies of the Islamic system' of attempting to overthrow the Islamic Republic using the worn-out tool of sowing discord during the 2009 sedition. According to Mehr News Agency, the head of the Basij emphasized the importance of the demonstrations of Ayatollah Khamenei's supporters on January 9, 2009, as 'the antidote to the sedition,' adding that 'some of the elites of the Islamic Revolution have practically distanced themselves from the line of guardianship due to incorrect analyses and have suffered irreparable slips in the seditions that have occurred.' In recent years, supporters of the Supreme Leader have labeled several religious and political figures in Iran as 'insightless elites,' referring to Mohammad Khatami, the former president of Iran, and Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council. The head of the Basij also called for 'complete vigilance of the Basijis against potential future seditions.' Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran stated in a statement that 'the deep sedition and velvet coup of 2009, in terms of its nature, scope, and depth, the alignment of domestic and foreign actors, the process and conditions prevailing in the national and transnational environment, its effects and consequences, and even its lessons and admonitions, has a distinct and unique existence compared to other conspiracies against the Islamic Revolution, emphasizing the importance of understanding the issue of infiltration into individuals and layers of the country's management.' Previously, Ayatollah Kazem Sedighi, the interim Friday prayer leader of Tehran, dismissed calls for lifting the house arrest or holding a trial for Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi as 'irrelevant remarks.' According to ISNA, he described the protests of 2009 as a 'heavy sedition and coup attempt,' claiming that its danger to the Islamic Republic was 'deeper and more rooted' than all past dangers. Additionally, according to a report from the Saturday edition of the Hamdeli newspaper, the interim Friday prayer leader of Tehran reacted to calls for ending the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, his wife, and Mehdi Karroubi, saying that 'some benefit from saying that the house arrest should be lifted.' The interim Friday prayer leader of Isfahan also stated that the leaders of the sedition are currently 'enjoying' their time in their homes. Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard, leaders of the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election, have been under house arrest without trial since February 2011. In this context, calls for ending their house arrest have gone unanswered. Nevertheless, Mohammad Reza Aref, the head of the Hope faction in Parliament, expressed optimism on January 2 regarding the process of lifting the house arrest of the leaders of the protests against the 2009 election results, hoping that this issue would be resolved 'with wisdom and patience.'