National Front of Iran Reports 'Prevention' by Ministry of Intelligence from Holding Meeting

The National Front of Iran announced on Wednesday that the Ministry of Intelligence has once again prevented the formation of a meeting of the central council of this political organization critical of the Islamic Republic. The public relations office of the National Front stated in a release that the meeting was scheduled to take place on Thursday, May 21, at the home of Asghar Fani-Pour, a member of this group. However, on the morning of Tuesday, May 19, Mr. Fani-Pour was summoned by phone by the Ministry of Intelligence and was warned to 'refrain from holding the meeting.' The statement noted that the Ministry of Intelligence threatened the National Front that 'if this warning is ignored, the police will take action and there will be serious consequences for holding the meeting.' In May 2015, Hossein Mousavian, the head of the executive committee of the National Front of Iran, reported that agents of the Ministry of Intelligence had threatened members of the central council of this front that they would be arrested if they held a meeting. A few months after this incident, in September 2015, Mr. Mousavian stated that the Ministry of Intelligence had declared the National Front of Iran 'illegal.' Just a few days before the Ministry of Intelligence's latest action to prevent the National Front of Iran's central council meeting, the organizations of this political front abroad issued a statement declaring that they would not participate in the upcoming presidential elections. The statement read: 'In the debate among the selected candidates, instead of presenting their government program, they lamented the plight of the people's livelihood problems, as if the people were unaware of their own misery and despair. The people know very well that they have no ability to fulfill the promises they make, and they have no executive power against an unaccountable authority like the Supreme Leader. In such a situation, elections are not only not an exercise of the people's sovereignty, but they are a black bean that the people are sent after every few years.' The organizations of the National Front of Iran abroad further emphasized in this statement that 'the lack of electoral freedom is an insult to the great nation of Iran, and they neither can nor want to participate in such elections. Our supporters know very well that the source of any fundamental and sustainable change in the country begins with the end of dictatorship and tyranny and the holding of free elections to establish a national, independent, free, and democratic government through a non-violent struggle.' The National Front of Iran, which supported the 1979 revolution, was declared 'apostate' by Ruhollah Khomeini, the then-leader of the Islamic Republic, following protests against the law of retribution in 1981. Since then, the National Front of Iran has always faced many restrictions on political activity. The Ministry of Intelligence under Hassan Rouhani's government has previously prevented meetings of some political and cultural groups critical of the Iranian government, including the Iranian Writers' Association. In this context, one person was arrested in Isfahan on charges of promoting 'election boycotts.'