Motahari Responds to Mohammadi Kermani: There Is No Need to Align Our Views with the Leader

Ali Motahari, a representative and deputy speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, reacted to the remarks of the interim Friday prayer leader of Tehran, stating that there is no need to align his views with those of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. The news website 'Ruydad 24' reported on Saturday, December 6, regarding the comments of Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani related to the recent event in Mashhad and the cancellation of Ali Motahari's speech in that city, conducting a brief interview with this member of parliament in which he emphasized the need for freedom to speak against the Supreme Leader. Mr. Motahari said, 'We do not need to align our views with those of the Leader because no two people have completely identical opinions. Of course, the issue of imitation in religious rulings, which is the imitation of the ignorant from the knowledgeable, is another matter. The discussion of obedience to the Wali Faqih is in the realm of action, not opinion.' The matter relates to the cancellation of Ali Motahari's speech in Mashhad at the instruction of the city's prosecutor, where Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani defended this action by saying that we should 'close our mouths for the pleasure of God' in front of the Supreme Leader, and that Ali Motahari should first align his views with the Supreme Leader and go to him to say, 'I intend to say this.' However, Mr. Motahari expressed regret over these remarks, calling supporters of such interpretations 'ignorant friends of the revolution.' He stated, 'The Leader does not have such a request and has said several times that someone may have an opinion contrary to mine; they are free to express it. We should not portray the guardianship of the jurist as opposed to freedom of expression or democracy, which unfortunately some ignorant friends of the revolution do.' Prior to this, the prosecutor of Mashhad had stated that he ordered the cancellation of Mr. Motahari's speech with the aim of 'preventing crime.' Ali Motahari is one of the few figures associated with the principlists who openly criticizes Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's decision to place the leaders of the Green Movement, Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi, under house arrest, deeming this decision illegal. He has also opposed the controversial decision of the judicial authorities of Razavi Khorasan Province and the Friday prayer leader of Mashhad to cancel all music concerts in the city, stating that perhaps if the eighth Imam of the Shiites were present, 'he would attend a concert.' Mr. Motahari assured in his interview with Ruydad 24 that he considers the country's interests in expressing all his opinions, 'However, the country's interests should not be confused with personal or group interests, and we should not consider our own or others' interests as the country's interests.' He ultimately stated, 'Sometimes, what is harmful to the country is portrayed as beneficial; for example, silence in the face of constitutional violations is called beneficial... The important thing is to correctly identify what is beneficial and that our silence is not due to seeking comfort.' In this regard, Motahari reacted to someone who called him impure, saying, 'Join your brothers in ISIS.' The cleric regarding the cancellation of Motahari's speech stated that they want to pave the way for extremism in Razavi Khorasan. The Minister of Interior warned following the cancellation of Ali Motahari's speech in Mashhad. The governor of Razavi Khorasan stated that the Mashhad prosecutor canceled Motahari's speech based on a letter from the 'IRGC Intelligence.' The IRGC denied intervening to prevent Ali Motahari's speech. The deputy of the Society of Teachers criticized the attention given to the cancellation of the speech in Mashhad.