New Reaction from the Minister of Culture: 'No Negative Reports' on the Gilan Director Before Recent Incident

The Minister of Culture of the Islamic Republic reacted to reports regarding his and other government officials' prior knowledge of the sexual scandal involving the Director General of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Gilan province, claiming that there had been 'no negative reports' about him before this incident. Mohammad Mahdi Esmaeili, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Ebrahim Raisi's government, stated about Reza Taqati, the dismissed Director General of Islamic Guidance in Gilan, to the ILNA news agency: 'There were no negative reports before this news was published.' Regarding claims by some members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly that they had previously informed government officials about reports, he stated: 'No, that is incorrect. Such a thing did not happen.' Reza Taqati, who was also the founder of the 'Chastity and Hijab' workshop, was dismissed last week following the release of a video allegedly showing his sexual relationship with a young man. The release of this video sparked widespread reactions, mostly pointing to the hypocrisy and concealment by Islamic Republic officials. Meanwhile, Morteza Mahmoudvand, a member of the National Security Commission of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, stated in an interview published by the 'Didban Iran' website on August 3rd that they were aware of the relations of the Director General of Culture in Gilan before the video was released and had warned the Minister. The Minister of Culture added that on the same day the report came out, when 'no media was aware,' they decided to appoint a new caretaker to prevent the work process from being entangled with this issue. This sexual scandal involving this cultural official occurred after a local Telegram channel first published images and details about Reza Taqati's sexual relationship with another man secretly, and in the following days, after the news spread widely on social media and various media outlets, he was dismissed, and his deputy was appointed as the caretaker of the Gilan Islamic Guidance Office. Payman Behboudi, the editor of the Telegram channel 'Radio Gilan,' which first published the video of this sexual relationship, reported on August 5th in an exclusive interview with the Persian section of 'Voice of America' that this government official and 50 others were arrested in connection with this case. According to him, the video of the sexual relationship of the head of the 'Chastity and Hijab Headquarters of Gilan' was also shown in the National Security Commission of the Parliament, and members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly had asked the 'Minister of Culture' to dismiss this director as soon as possible, which 'this request also remained unanswered by the Minister of Culture.' Public reactions to the recent actions of a senior cultural official of the Iranian government have arisen because the Islamic Republic has never recognized homosexual relationships, heterosexual relationships, and other sexual orientations outside of marital relations and has always harassed, imprisoned, and even executed individuals in this regard under accusations such as 'illicit relations.' Payman Behboudi stated: 'If the Minister of Culture had dismissed Taqati in a timely manner, he would not have allowed the release of this video.' The whistleblower of Taqati's sexual relationship recounts more details in an interview with Voice of America. Payman Behboudi says he obtained the video of Reza Taqati's sexual relationship from his victim. The Minister's role in the scandal of 'Mr. Director General'; the Minister of Culture's negligence in dismissing Taqati led to the release of the video. The expansion of the dimensions of the release of the 'forbidden relationship' video; the whistleblower claims the Minister of Culture was aware of this scandal. A member of Parliament: 'We had warned the Minister of Culture about Reza Taqati's relationships.' The whistleblower of Taqati's scandal told Voice of America: 'He had multiple sexual partners who have been arrested.'