Motahari: Mohammad Ali Najafi Was Arrested While Sleeping and with Disrespect

Ali Motahari states that the judiciary lacks 'sufficient independence' and that a part of the 'government' used its 'powerful levers' to force Mohammad Ali Najafi to resign, arresting the former mayor of Tehran 'while sleeping' and with 'disrespect.' The Deputy Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly published these remarks on his Telegram channel in response to the Attorney General's stance against members of the Tehran City Council. On Sunday, April 19, members of the Tehran City Council opposed the resignation of the mayor, who cited 'illness' as the reason. However, a day later, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General of Iran, criticized the City Council's decision and asked Najafi to resign again and not to appear at work. Montazeri also stated, 'If this mayor cannot manage Tehran, who is responsible? I, as the public prosecutor, tell the Tehran City Council that the responsibility lies with you.' These comments faced significant criticism, with members of the City Council and some parliamentarians deeming them a violation of the principle of separation of powers. In response to Montazeri's remarks, Ali Motahari wrote in his note that 'the removal of Mr. Najafi from the Tehran mayoralty has harmed the Islamic Republic. A part of the Islamic Republic's government, which has opposed Mr. Najafi's holding of this position from the beginning, forced him to resign using its powerful levers.' He criticized what he termed 'dual governance' in Iran, adding, 'The dual governance in our country is quite evident. People vote for a council called the City Council, and from elsewhere, orders come that someone should not be elected as the mayor of Tehran; if you vote for him, he won't last more than six months, and then they act in a way that this happens.' This representative, without providing more specific details, wrote that 'the judiciary, instead of addressing the cases referred to it by Mr. Najafi, seeks to remove this honest and diligent man and, under the pretext of a program involving several girls under nine years old on Women's Day, arrests the respected mayor of Tehran while he is sleeping with disrespect.' This is the first time it has been stated that the former mayor of Tehran was arrested 'while sleeping.' Motahari further criticized this method of Najafi's arrest, adding, 'This issue alone is enough to understand why the fight against corruption in our country does not yield results. As long as the judiciary lacks sufficient independence, many of our problems will persist.' This member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly has asked the Attorney General to 'explain to the people what connection the City Council's opposition to the mayor's resignation has with him, that he threatens the City Council and orders that the mayor must resign again and the council must agree.' He deemed the judiciary's interference in the affairs of Tehran's municipality as something that brings 'laughter to the world' regarding Iran's governing system and added that 'the Tehran City Council certainly has the right to complain about the Attorney General.' Motahari also wrote that 'the Tehran City Council and Mr. Najafi did not perform well; they should have resisted to prevent the continuation of dual governance in the country and the disregard for the people's vote.' Previously, several members of the Tehran City Council, including Nahid Khodakarami and Zahra Sadra'azam Noori, had stated that the reason for Najafi's resignation was not illness. Morteza Alviri, the head of the City Council's Planning and Budget Committee, also stated that they must speak frankly with the people so that 'they know exactly what the reason for the resignation is, rather than ultimately saying the council has complied with pressures.' Alviri had also stated on Saturday in a television program that 'significant pressures' were the reason for Mohammad Ali Najafi's resignation. Previously, some websites had cited pressures from the IRGC's intelligence organization as the reason for the Tehran mayor's resignation. Mustafa Tajzadeh, a political activist and member of the Participation Front, also implied in a tweet that the reason for Mohammad Ali Najafi's resignation was pressures from the Supreme Leader and his associates. In this regard, Mohammad Naeimi Pour, a member of the Unity of Iranian Nation Party, and Bahareh Arvin, a member of the City Council, without naming names, stated that a security agency had threatened that if Mr. Najafi accepted the position of mayor of Tehran, 'files from his past activities would be referred to the court.' Ms. Arvin also mentioned the 'postponement' of the meeting time between the members of the City Council and the mayor of Tehran with the Supreme Leader and the 'humiliating' treatment by the judiciary in the case of the Milad Tower celebration as other reasons for Mr. Najafi's resignation. The former mayor of Tehran, on January 24, 2018, in a report on the status of the capital's municipality, accused the former mayor and managers of this institution of issues such as 'spending the municipality's budget in presidential elections,' 'sudden hiring of 13,000 people on the eve of elections,' 'betrayal in the employees' savings fund,' and 'arbitrary allocation of 674 properties.' Mr. Najafi also stated that the municipality intends to send a report on four or five cases of 'violations' during Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf's mayoralty to the judiciary. However, a week later, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the public prosecutor and revolutionary prosecutor of Tehran, criticized the publication of this report and announced that he had asked Mohammad Ali Najafi to 'immediately' provide his documentation in this regard to this institution. A member of parliament: The decision for Najafi's resignation was made in Saadabad. Although the validity of speculations regarding 'pressures' on the former mayor of Tehran to resign is increasing daily, Hossein Ali Hajideligani, a conservative member of parliament, claimed that Hassan Rouhani, Mohammad Khatami, Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri, Eshaq Jahangiri, and Hassan Khomeini had 'informed' Najafi to resign. Hajideligani stated in an interview with the Fars news agency: 'On April 16, 2018, a meeting was held in Saadabad with the presence of Hassan Rouhani, Mohammad Khatami, Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri, Eshaq Jahangiri, and Hassan Khomeini, and the issue of Mohammad Ali Najafi's resignation as the mayor of Tehran was discussed in this meeting.' He added that 'the final conclusion of the meeting was that Mr. Najafi's remaining in the Tehran mayoralty was not in their interest, and in fact, the original decision for Najafi to no longer be the mayor was made in this meeting.' This representative stated that 'the decision made in the Saadabad meeting was communicated to Mohammad Ali Najafi and the City Council,' and the reason for the council members' agreement to Najafi's resignation was this 'communication.'