Mohammadi Kermani: America's Intent to Influence the Parliament and Experts Assembly is Dangerous

Continuing the warnings from the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic and his close associates regarding America's attempts to "infiltrate decision-making centers" in Iran, the secretaries general of two conservative groups, the Society of Combatant Clergy and the Islamic Coalition Party, warned about "America's infiltration" into the Assembly of Experts and the Parliament. According to Tasnim News Agency, Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani, Secretary General of the Society of Combatant Clergy, said on Sunday, January 20, that America "wants to infiltrate the Islamic Consultative Assembly and, if possible, the Assembly of Experts, and both infiltrations are very dangerous." He emphasized that those who should enter the Parliament must be "followers of the leadership and not fall prey to the enemy's infiltration." Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the Islamic Coalition Party also stated that "we must strive to ensure that a pro-American Parliament is not formed." According to ISNA News Agency, Mohammad Nabi Habibi emphasized that "America is watching the elections in Iran and is manipulating it through the JCPOA." Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, has repeatedly warned about what he calls "America's attempts to infiltrate decision-making and policy-making centers" in Iran following the Vienna nuclear agreement. Mohammad Khamenei, the older brother of Ali Khamenei, also described Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council, as the "American candidate" for "infiltration" in Iran last year, stating that he and Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri had competed over "dealing with America." In recent weeks, several appointees of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, including Ahmad Jannati, Secretary of the Guardian Council, Sadegh Amoli Larijani, Head of the Judiciary, and Ali Saidi, the representative of the Supreme Leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, have warned about the entry of Rafsanjani's like-minded individuals into the Assembly of Experts and the potential entry of reformists who protested the results of the 2009 presidential election into the Parliament. Meanwhile, the issue of Hassan Khomeini's absence from the Assembly of Experts exam has made headlines recently. Hossein Shariatmadari, the Supreme Leader's representative in the Kayhan newspaper, criticized Hassan Khomeini's absence in the editorial of Saturday's newspaper, advising the Guardian Council not to make any "exceptions" in confirming his qualifications. He also stated that one of the "prominent members" of the Assembly of Experts' board had contacted Hassan Khomeini to invite him to participate in the exam. In contrast, the Entekhab website reported that six members of the Assembly of Experts' board, including Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani, Ahmad Khatami, Ghorbanali Dori Najafabadi, Ebrahim Raisi, and Hashem Hosseini Bushehri, stated that they had no contact with Hassan Khomeini. The website also quoted "one of the close associates" of Mohammad Yazdi, the head of the Assembly of Experts, as saying that Yazdi intended to contact Hassan Khomeini but had changed his mind. According to this report, a member of Hassan Khomeini's office also stated: "There was a contact from Ayatollah Yazdi's office, but when we wanted to connect him with Haj Hassan Agha, Ayatollah Yazdi's office announced that he had changed his mind and said: there was a problem that has been resolved." The website demanded that the editor-in-chief of the Kayhan newspaper disclose the name of the member of the Assembly of Experts' board who claimed to have contacted Hassan Khomeini. However, the Kayhan newspaper, in its Tuesday issue, attacked the Entekhab website and other media outlets that published these reports, stating that the previous claim of the newspaper's editor-in-chief was "accurate, documented, and completely credible." The newspaper, however, did not mention the name of this member of the Assembly of Experts' board or any other evidence. Media outlets supporting Hassan Khomeini have recently published reports confirming his ijtihad by several prominent clerics and religious scholars from the Qom seminary, including Mohammad Alavi Gorgani, Ali Akbar Masoudi Khomeini, and Ali Karimi Jahromi. Meanwhile, Abdul Karim Mousavi Ardebili, a religious authority and head of the Supreme Court during Ayatollah Khomeini's leadership, stated on Sunday that Hassan Khomeini has the "qualifications" to be present in the Assembly of Experts and that "the obstacles created will lead nowhere." Nejatollah Ebrahimi, spokesperson for the Guardian Council, stated on Saturday that the qualifications of candidates who did not participate in the Assembly of Experts exam might be "verified," but the absence of candidates who do not meet the "scientific level" required by the Guardian Council's jurists "deprives them of the means to prove their ijtihad."