Ministry of Intelligence Threatens National Front Central Council with Arrest

Hosseyn Mousavian, head of the Executive Board of the National Front of Iran, reported that "agents of the Ministry of Intelligence" have threatened members of the Central Council of this front with arrest if they hold a meeting. According to the 'Milliyon Iran' website, the organ of the National Front, Mr. Mousavian stated that a meeting of the Central Council was scheduled for Thursday, May 6, at the home of one of the members, but "agents of the Ministry of Intelligence" contacted several Central Council members a day before the meeting and announced that this political group has no right to hold "any kind" of meeting. He added that the Ministry of Intelligence agents also reiterated the "claims of apostasy and illegality" of this political group, threatening that if the meeting were held, all members of the Central Council of the National Front of Iran would be "arrested." Following the National Front's protest against the retribution ruling in 1981, Ayatollah Khomeini, the then-leader of the Islamic Republic, declared this group "apostate." Since these remarks by Ayatollah Khomeini, the National Front of Iran has consistently faced many restrictions on its political activities. The head of the Executive Board of the National Front of Iran protested the recent actions of the "agents of the Ministry of Intelligence" by saying: "We are not only not allowed to have a club and a newspaper within our own country, but we are also not allowed to gather in our own homes." Hosseyn Mousavian added: "If the gentlemen claim that the era of Ahmadinejad is over and they talk about a new era and rule of law, then what are these threats, pressures, and lawlessness against a number of individuals whose activities are entirely transparent and do not act outside the interests of the Iranian nation?" The Ministry of Intelligence under Hassan Rouhani's government had previously prevented the holding of meetings by some political and cultural groups critical of the Iranian government. For instance, the Iranian Writers' Association reported on its Facebook page on January 6, 2015, that the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic had prevented a literary meeting of this organization by summoning one of its members.