Motahari: We are concerned that the arrests of journalists may be related to the elections

Ali Motahari, a representative from Tehran in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stated that "there is concern" that the recent arrests of several journalists aim to "create terror in the expression of journalists before the elections." According to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), Mr. Motahari, on Tuesday, December 3, at the University of Science and Technology in Tehran, referred to the presidential elections in 2013 and said: "Before the presidential elections in 2013, it was announced that thirty or forty people related to foreign entities had been arrested." He added: "It later became clear that the purpose of these arrests was to instill fear in some media and newspapers before the elections." Ali Motahari, referring to the recent arrests of journalists in Iran, said: "We are currently pessimistic that such objectives may exist in these arrests of journalists." He emphasized: "Many journalists are currently worried and terrified that they may be arrested at any moment. This is bad for the country, contrary to freedom of expression, and detrimental to the country." Recently, several journalists, including Eisa Saharkhiz, a reformist journalist, and Ehsan Mazandarani, the editor-in-chief of the Farhikhtegan newspaper, have been arrested, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has also announced that they have arrested "members of an infiltrating network of Western governments." On Tuesday, Ali Motahari stated that "the reason for the arrests of journalists is still unclear to me" and added: "I do not want to say that this action is merely an excuse for pressure, but sufficient explanations have not yet been provided." These remarks by Mr. Motahari come as Alireza Zakani, another representative from Tehran in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stated that "the information we received regarding the arrests of journalists indicated a bad situation for this case." Fars News Agency reported that Mr. Zakani also said at the University of Science and Technology: "Last week, the brothers from the IRGC Intelligence came and showed the networks and documents. The IRGC Intelligence has worked on this issue for three years and prevented many from being arrested, and those who have recently been arrested were the main figures who were receiving funds in their accounts." Concurrently with these arrests, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic warned about the issue of Western "infiltration" in Iran, and Ali Motahari also stated on Tuesday that "it cannot be said that there has been no infiltration," adding: "However, we must be careful that the issue of infiltration does not become a tool for political purges." Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has also recently warned that "we must seriously and realistically fight against any foreign infiltration" and cautioned that "some should not play with the word infiltration." Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, also agreed with the view that the recent arrests were aimed at "political purging." However, Mr. Shamkhani stated a few days later that the recent arrests were "to protect journalists so that there would be no infiltration for the enemy." Ali Motahari also stated in his recent remarks that "the issue of infiltration should not be used as a tool to claim that some are seeking infiltration and are foreign agents, thus paving the way for the elimination of our rivals from the political scene." In another part of his speech on Tuesday, Ali Motahari said: "Currently, to some extent, infiltration has occurred in the cultural sector, so that by looking at the type and style of life, one can see the distance from the Islamic lifestyle and the proximity to the Western lifestyle." He added: "In this regard, a deep and extensive report was published and submitted to the Supreme Leader. The report included the increase in divorce rates, addiction, and urban marginalization, among other discouraging issues." The Tehran representative continued: "I heard that the Leader himself spent six hours listening to the report and in the end said that he himself is responsible and shed tears in some areas." Ali Motahari also stated that "we also want to infiltrate there" and added that "it is our Islamic duty to spread Islam and infiltrate." Mr. Motahari emphasized that "Islam has come with a global claim to take over the whole world" and added that "the path to human happiness is for the world to be under the control of Islam."