Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Attacks Iran's Judiciary Again

The former president of Iran issued a strong statement against the judiciary, protesting the arrest of several of his supporters and claiming that "the judicial system has become a main pillar of oppression against the nation." In this statement, published on the website "Dolat Bahar" on Monday, February 5, marking the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad added: "Those who harbor aspirations for leadership or the presidency and the continuation of the current situation seem to think that by removing us from the path, their way will be cleared." In recent months, eight media activists supporting Ahmadinejad have been arrested in various cities. According to the Dolat Bahar Telegram channel, among them, "Mohammad Gholabash, Mohammad Hossein Heydari, and Mehdi Mehrsharif were released on bail after enduring solitary confinement, but Hossein Shamlou, Omid Delfani, Abdol-Salam Salehi, Sajjad Yousefi Sooreh, and Pouria Hosseinzadeh remain in custody." Two days after the appeal court for his deputy Hamid Bakai, Ahmadinejad claimed: "Some insist on arbitrarily imprisoning individuals in solitary confinement and pressuring them to obtain dictated confessions." Ahmadinejad stated that the judiciary of the Islamic Republic is "raiding" a group of his "media activists and supporters," and "a person from Tehran is illegally ordering the sudden arrest of various revolutionary individuals and activists in cyberspace from different provinces, even without issuing summons, at their homes, workplaces, or on the streets, and handing them over to his agents in Tehran." This member of the Expediency Discernment Council wrote that these actions, in his opinion, are "planning to stabilize or elevate the position" of some who have "settled in power centers by any means." He concluded that "any kind of accusation, defamation, or case-making and arrest" of his supporters and close associates is because they have "no base in the government and power factions." Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his associates, especially Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei and Hamid Bakai, have recently criticized the current situation in the country and the performance of the judiciary and the Larijani brothers at several ceremonies, gatherings, and meetings. On February 26, he published a detailed letter to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, stating that the Larijani brothers have inflicted "irreparable damage to the trust of the people, the revolution," the parliament, and the judiciary. Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary, Ali Larijani, the speaker of the parliament, and Mohammad Javad Larijani, the international deputy of the judiciary, are mentioned. Ahmadinejad's criticisms of Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary appointed by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, escalated to the point where the Supreme Leader was eventually compelled to respond. Khamenei, without mentioning Ahmadinejad and his team, stated: "Those who have or had all the country's resources have no right to play the role of opposition." Following this speech and the onset of nationwide protests in early December, which he was indirectly identified as one of the causes of, the former president and his close associates appeared less in public, and fewer news reports about them were published. With the decline of protest gatherings and the arrest of several supporters of the Ahmadinejad-affiliated faction, this member of the Expediency Discernment Council has again criticized the judiciary's performance and warned that he will "stand against any confrontation with all his might."