Motahari: Friday Prayers in Iran Are Directive and Stereotypical

Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, stated that the current Friday prayers in Iran resemble those of the Abbasid and Umayyad eras, indicating that they "receive directives from a central authority." He also mentioned that the National Security Council's role is not to determine "punishments" and "house arrest" for individuals. In an interview with Khabar Online, Motahari criticized the "distribution of government platforms" in Iran, arguing that only those who do not criticize and merely praise the regime should speak from public podiums. He added, "Our Friday prayers should not resemble those of the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, where a script was provided and everyone had to say the same thing." The parliament member noted that Friday prayer leaders in Iran "speak in similar clichés," suggesting that it is clear they receive directives from a central authority to speak against certain individuals or topics each week, which undermines the independence of Friday prayer leaders. He criticized the exclusion of "thoughtful and quality individuals" from public platforms, stating, "It is perfectly acceptable to criticize the institutions under the leadership during Friday prayers. This way, people feel a sense of normalcy. We need to move away from artificiality." According to Motahari, the level of Friday prayer sermons in Iran has "declined, and the repulsion of the sermons outweighs their attraction, fundamentally harming this important social and political base of Islam due to their directive nature." He recommended utilizing independent and distinguished scholars for this position rather than those for whom the position is merely ornamental. In a part of his conversation with Khabar Online, Motahari deemed the attribution of certain decisions, such as the house arrest of opposition leaders from the 2009 presidential election or restrictions on former President Mohammad Khatami, by the judiciary to the resolutions of the National Security Council as "illegal." He stated, "It is entirely unconstitutional to refer a judicial matter to the National Security Council for them to decide and impose punishments." This parliament member added, "The National Security Council's job is not to determine punishments for individuals and say that someone should be under house arrest... If house arrest is to continue, the judiciary must provide its opinion, and if a heavier punishment is to be imposed, the judiciary must decide." Motahari emphasized that it is unacceptable to declare individuals traitors without following due process, stating, "In no part of the world is such a thing acceptable." He also criticized the judiciary for not addressing the cases of those involved in the 2009 events, calling it "unconstitutional" and asserting, "There is no such thing as house arrest without a judicial order to punish someone... This seven-year house arrest, worse than imprisonment, can be considered a punishment in itself and end the matter." Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi have been under house arrest since February 2011, and requests to end their house arrest have not yielded results. Motahari pointed out that the judiciary "lacks sufficient independence in some cases" and that it seeks "balance" in detaining political factions, leading people to feel that these actions are not genuine and represent a form of barter rather than the execution of rights and justice. He viewed the establishment of institutions such as the National Security Council, the Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, and the Special Clerical Court as a means of "circumventing the constitution," stating, "In our system... the institutions do not perform their duties correctly and interfere in each other's responsibilities." Motahari noted that the conservative faction in Iran has a "dogmatic and closed attitude" on certain issues and warned that without making general reforms, any leader emerging from this faction will not succeed. He criticized the conservatives' approach of defending the aligned government while attacking the opposing government in the harshest ways and remaining silent against the institutions and entities under the leadership, as well as their "misinterpretation" of the concept of velayat-e faqih (guardianship of the jurist), stating that this is why "a large number of people are turning away from them." According to Ali Motahari, this group has a "misunderstanding" of both freedom of expression and the preservation of the regime, believing that "to preserve the regime, we can do anything and engage in any wrongdoing, lie, and use any means." He described the conservatives as "more fervent than the soup" who lack sincerity and raised the question, "Has there ever been a time when conservatives criticized certain security institutions for their actions? Why is someone with dual nationality detained upon entering Iran, knowing that there is nothing significant, but a charge of espionage is fabricated to gain leverage later?" Motahari deemed the use of any means to achieve goals as un-Islamic and added that conservatives "claim that whatever is done in the regime is correct. Whatever is done in the institutions under the guardianship of the jurist is all correct and is what should have been done, and whatever is not done is what should not have been done." The Deputy Speaker of Parliament also opposed changing the presidential system to a parliamentary one, stating, "I do not consider this to be in the best interest." According to Ali Motahari, with this change, not only will the people's role in their destiny be "diminished," but "given the Guardian Council's supervisory oversight, the parliament will be arranged in such a way that the president will be predetermined." He stated, "In fact, the fate of the country will fall into the hands of Mr. Jannati." Previously, Ezzatollah Yusefian Molla, a member of Parliament, mentioned on October 2 that representatives might write a letter to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic regarding a review of the Iranian constitution and the change of the electoral system from presidential to parliamentary. According to the Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency (ICANA), the head of the Internal Regulations Committee of Parliament added that this letter is intended for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei because he raised the issue of establishing a parliamentary system during his trip to Kermanshah in 2011. Ayatollah Khamenei stated, "If one day in the future it feels that a parliamentary system is better for electing executive branch officials, there is no problem in changing the current mechanism." Ezzatollah Yusefian Molla defended the necessity of establishing a parliamentary system, stating that "if the parliament wants to interact with the government, it must make numerous concessions. Currently, the parliament sees many issues but does not speak out due to the need for interaction." However, this representative mentioned that the members of parliament have not yet made a definitive decision on whether to write to the Supreme Leader or for him to convey this matter to the president. Ezzatollah Yusefian Molla added that "the establishment of a parliamentary system should occur during the presidency of someone who is at the end of their term to avoid being perceived as a removal of the president." Additionally, according to the House of Representatives News Agency, Jalil Rahimi Jahangabadi, a member of the Hope faction in Parliament, stated that if a parliamentary system is established in Iran, "the prime ministerial and parliamentary system will be revived, which is beneficial for the country and requires a constitutional amendment." In a parliamentary system, the presidency of the executive branch will be held by a prime minister elected by the parliament, rather than a president elected in nationwide elections by direct public vote. Following this, the head of the Cultural Council of the Presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran stated on October 16 that although the Iranian constitution needs change, this change should not concern the transition from a presidential to a parliamentary system. Reza Akrami, announcing this in an interview with Young Journalists Club, stated that they had planned to send a letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to prepare the grounds for changing the presidential system to a parliamentary one in Iran. He stated that "changes in the constitution are necessary, but not regarding the transition from a parliamentary to a presidential system." The head of the Cultural Council of the Presidency added that considering the designation of the year 2017 as the year of "resistant economy, production, and employment" by the Supreme Leader, the constitution should be revised concerning the economy. The second necessary change, in his view, is to extend the terms of the Parliament, the presidency, and the Islamic councils of cities and villages to five years. This cleric also stated in this interview that elections belong to the people and that "the people do not consider any change in any election to be correct."