Motahari: They Want to Use the Term 'Infiltration' as a Tool for Creating Repression

Ali Motahari, a member of parliament, stated on Thursday, November 5, that some individuals want to use the term 'infiltration' like 'sedition' as a tool for creating repression. Reports indicate that Ali Motahari wrote in his 'Telegram channel': 'Some individuals want to use the term infiltration like the term sedition to detain people and limit freedom of expression, and of course, the people will not allow them to do so.' Groups close to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic refer to the protests following the 2009 presidential election in Iran as 'sedition.' In these protests, dozens were killed and thousands were arrested. This parliament member also added: 'The political life of these individuals depends on creating restrictions, and they cannot compete with their rivals in a free environment, so they talk about sedition after the JCPOA and the fourth sedition, while all of this is their own devilish fantasies and is not real.' Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, warned about American 'infiltration' after the nuclear agreement. Following this warning, Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also referred to attempts at infiltration in Iran after the nuclear agreement as 'the fourth sedition.' A day after the IRGC commander's statements, some media in Iran reported the detention of 'several members of an infiltration network cooperating with hostile Western governments who were active in cyberspace and the country's press' by IRGC intelligence forces. So far, the detention of Eisa Saharkhiz, the director of press at the Ministry of Culture during Mohammad Khatami's presidency, Ehsan Mazandarani, the editor-in-chief of Farhikhtegan newspaper, Afrin Chitsaz, a columnist for Iran newspaper, and Saman Safarzadeh, a journalist for Andisheh Pouya monthly, has been confirmed. Ali Motahari also pointed out that 'the danger of political, economic, and cultural infiltration has existed since the beginning of the revolution and is nothing new,' stating: 'Just as we have not allowed infiltration since the beginning of the revolution, we will not allow it in the future, and this requires action, not slogans.' Ebrahim Raisi, the Attorney General of Iran, on Wednesday referred to the detained journalists as 'an infiltration network in the media and social networks' and also as 'spies and mercenaries with pens in the hands of Americans.' Meanwhile, Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, also warned on Wednesday that 'some should not play with the term infiltration.' In the same context, Reporters Without Borders condemned the detention of four Iranian journalists in recent days, stating that 'several other journalists have been summoned for questioning or have been interrogated and threatened by phone.' The website 'Saham News' had previously reported that '20 reformist journalists close to Hassan Rouhani and Hashemi Rafsanjani' were asked to separately visit 'Soapchi Street' on November 4 to be interrogated by 'IRGC interrogators.'