Mohseni Eje'i Reiterates Ebrahimi's Espionage Status, Rejects Intelligence Minister's Statements

Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje'i, the first deputy and spokesperson of Iran's judiciary, on Sunday, May 13, rejected the statements of the Minister of Intelligence and reiterated that the judiciary is the authority for determining espionage. According to the judiciary, Abdolrasool Ebrahimi, a member of the nuclear negotiation team, is considered a spy. Mohseni Eje'i, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with the Attorney General of Pakistan, responded to a question regarding recent comments by Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence, stating that the Ministry of Intelligence is not the authority on determining whether individuals are spies, and that Ebrahimi's crime has been proven in court and a definitive sentence has been issued. Ebrahimi, who was responsible for banking affairs during the nuclear negotiations, was arrested last year and, despite opposition from Hassan Rouhani's government, was ultimately sentenced to five years in prison for espionage last October. In recent months, Mahmoud Alavi has repeatedly stated that the Ministry of Intelligence is the authority for determining whether individuals are spies and that, according to experts from the ministry, Ebrahimi did not engage in espionage. Nevertheless, Mohseni Eje'i stated on Sunday that the Ministry of Intelligence can only say, 'Based on our documents, this person is accused of espionage or not; however, it cannot state that in our opinion this individual is a spy.' According to a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, the Minister of Intelligence's statements regarding espionage were made a few days ago in this commission. Hossein Naqavi Hosseini said last Tuesday that the Minister of Intelligence, in response to a question about Ebrahimi's presence in the JCPOA negotiation team, stated, 'Ebrahimi is not unknown to the ministry, and I say now that he did not engage in espionage.' Additionally, according to Naqavi Hosseini, the Minister of Intelligence mentioned that the judiciary was 'forced under pressure to issue a minimum sentence of 5 years.' However, Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje'i rejected these statements and, according to Fars News Agency, said, 'They are talking nonsense; the sentences issued in this regard are 5 to 10 years.' On the other hand, Mahmoud Alavi also mentioned in last week's National Security Commission meeting that Ebrahimi has 'dual citizenship.' This is while Hamid Baidi-Nejad, a senior nuclear negotiator, previously denied the issue of Ebrahimi's dual Iranian-Canadian citizenship and called reports published in conservative media incorrect. The issue of 'dual citizenship managers' has repeatedly been raised by Iranian officials in recent years, and some conservatives and judicial officials have identified Iranian officials with 'dual citizenship' as one of the most important channels of 'influence' and have called for their dismissal. According to a report from the Islamic Consultative Assembly regarding 'dual citizenship managers' published on Sunday, 210 dual citizenship managers have been identified in the past two years. According to this report, a number of relatives of ministers and senior officials of the Islamic Republic 'have dual citizenship or residency in foreign countries.' The report also states that 'currently, information on more than half a million Iranian citizens with dual citizenship is registered in files, and more than 77,000 people are registered in a system with the police.'