Parliament Representatives Protest Against 'Deprivation of Freedom' from Critics of Rouhani

One hundred representatives of the Iranian parliament wrote a letter to President Hassan Rouhani, urging him to focus on solving the numerous economic and cultural problems facing the people of Iran instead of, as they claimed, 'dealing with peripheral issues or insulting and humiliating critics.' According to Fars News Agency, these members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly wrote in their letter on Tuesday, March 4: 'Unfortunately, instead of welcoming the constructive criticisms of critics as their legal right, you have hurled numerous insults at them in your various speeches.' The signatories of this letter mentioned insults such as 'illiterate, undocumented, coward, political child, go to hell, newly arrived, lacking sound mind' as some of the 'insults' directed at critics by Hassan Rouhani. The letter continued: 'Mr. President! Will the trend of insulting critics come to an end, or will the path of insult and deprivation of legitimate freedoms and complaints against them continue?' Since the beginning of Hassan Rouhani's administration, several members of parliament, especially those from the Stability Front, have strongly criticized his government's performance, particularly in foreign policy, domestic affairs, and cultural matters. In the most recent instance, in early Bahman of this year, several parliament members and some Friday prayer leaders in Tehran severely criticized Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for walking with his American counterpart John Kerry. Following these criticisms, Hassan Rouhani stated on Bahman 11: 'Some sometimes applaud for the other side; we ask them, why do you applaud for the other side? They say we criticize, and criticism is good; oh God, grant sound mind to a healthy body.' On August 20 of this year, Rouhani also severely criticized the 'fear of interaction and negotiation' from those who, according to him, fear Iran's nuclear negotiations with major world powers, labeling them 'political cowards.' In another section of their letter on Tuesday, parliament members emphasized: 'Mr. President! What necessity is there for you to flaunt your fragile 0.7% votes before critics and ask them to abandon their responsibilities and make way for those who were either part of the sedition or silent during it?' The letter addressed to Mr. Rouhani adds: 'You are practically doing this, leaving no one from the principlists, at least do not proclaim it.' Hassan Rouhani became the seventh President of Iran in the 2013 presidential election, receiving over 18 million votes. The final results announced by the Iranian Ministry of Interior indicated a 12 million vote difference between Rouhani and his closest rival, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. Since Rouhani's government came to power, some principlists have protested against the presence of those who opposed the results of the 2009 presidential election in managerial positions, claiming the 'removal of principlist forces.' For instance, Mohammad Nabi Habibi, the Secretary-General of the Islamic Coalition Party, said on Bahman 16: 'The removal of principlists from positions has gone beyond mere harvesting.' Previously, Ahmad Jannati, the Secretary of the Guardian Council, had repeatedly protested against what he called 'placing sedition pieces' in Rouhani's government. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, and his close associates refer to the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election as 'sedition.' In response to these criticisms, some of Hassan Rouhani's supporters criticize what they call 'hardliners' attacks on the government. For instance, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council of Iran, stated: 'Rouhani's government is facing an ocean of destruction. With an empty treasury and a full artillery facing hardliners, from an extremist minority that had all kinds of resources in the 2013 election and lost, from state media to dozens of other small and large platforms. Everyone wanted the line of moderation not to succeed, but it did. Now everyone has gathered to take revenge on the people's vote from their elected government.' On Saturday, March 2, Rafsanjani also stated that the problems left over from the previous government for Rouhani's government are 'worse' than the problems left over from the Iran-Iraq war.