Mohsen Rezaei Attacks Government in Defense of the Supervisory Board of the Expediency Council

Mohsen Rezaei, the Secretary of the Expediency Council of Iran, harshly criticized the government of Hassan Rouhani while defending what he called the "supervisory duties" of this body, accusing the cabinet of "evading accountability." In response, Ali Motahari, a member of parliament, stated that overseeing the implementation of the country's general policies is "beyond the duties" of the Expediency Council. According to the laws of the Islamic Republic, parliamentary resolutions must be approved by the Guardian Council, but in the event of a disagreement between this council and the parliament, the Expediency Council acts as the final arbiter. However, in recent years, there has been a change in this process, with a 15-member group within the Expediency Council, known as the "High Supervisory Board," reviewing parliamentary resolutions in light of the "general policies of the system." This board recently provided its first direct opinions on two bills passed by parliament: the "Amendment to the Anti-Money Laundering Law" and the "Palermo" bill. Despite both bills being approved by parliament and their issues resolved by the Guardian Council, this body returned them to parliament to consider the "opinions of the Council." This issue has sparked significant criticism, and for the first time, Mohsen Rezaei, who has become the de facto leader of the Council in the absence of Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, responded to these criticisms. On Tuesday, November 29, Rezaei attacked the Rouhani government, stating that the Supreme Leader has been "formulating policies for all matters of the country with the Council's consultation for over 20 years," yet these policies are not being implemented. He added, "If these policies were implemented, the people would not be facing economic problems. The resistant economy document is not being executed. Now, with the introduction of oversight on the implementation of these policies, they have launched a propaganda bombardment to prevent oversight and evade accountability." Without naming the government, Rezaei stated that "in one day, several tons of gold and billions of dollars of central bank reserves are directed to fake markets over several months, and they evade accountability." Officials in Hassan Rouhani's government, including his legal and parliamentary deputies, government spokesperson, and presidential advisor, have strongly opposed the entry of the Expediency Council's supervisory board into the legislative arena. Meanwhile, Mohammad Dehghan, a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, has described this board as "above the Council," and several current members of this body, including Mostafa Mirsalim, have defended it, dismissing concerns about limiting the parliament's independence. Critics refer to this board as the "second Guardian Council" and "Senate." Motahari: The Supervisory Duties of the Council are Limited Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, who is critical of this board's oversight over the country's general policies, has stated that the duties of the Expediency Council are "clearly defined and limited in the Constitution." In a letter to Gholamreza Mesbah Yazdi, a member of the Council who supports this oversight, he wrote that "oversight on the implementation of general policies is outside these duties," and the Council's supervisory board "can express its opinions on the conformity of bills and proposals under review in parliamentary committees to the committees." Motahari wrote: "The duties of the mentioned supervisory board end here, as beyond this, entering into legislation and the work of parliament is unconstitutional; that is, reviewing parliamentary resolutions for conformity with general policies and expressing opinions to parliament for their amendment is an action beyond the Constitution." He added that after the approval of a bill or proposal, "only the Guardian Council can review the resolutions, and that is solely in terms of conformity with Sharia and the Constitution." The Deputy Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly wrote to Mesbah Yazdi: "The Constitution does not allow us to create a new basis for the conformity of parliamentary resolutions other than Sharia and the Constitution, nor does it allow the establishment of another Guardian Council. This requires the formation of a Constitutional Assembly to amend the Constitution." On November 20, he also described the Expediency Council's entry into the legislative process as a "novelty" and urged the Supreme Leader to end this "illegal procedure." The members of the supervisory board consist of the President and Secretary of the Council, along with 13 others, including Ebrahim Raisi, Mostafa Mirsalim, Ghorbanali Dari Najafabadi, Ahmad Tavakoli, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, Morteza Nabavi, Hossein Mozaffar, Ahmad Vahidi, Majid Ansari, Gholamreza Mesbah Yazdi, Davood Danesh-Jafari, Ali Aghamohammadi, and Mohammad Javad Iravani.