Parliament's Pressure Yielded Results; Political Deputy of the Minister of Interior Dismissed

The Interior Ministry's information center announced the dismissal of its political deputy. This dismissal followed pressure from members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly on the Minister of Interior, threatening to impeach him. Hours after the news broke, Ehsan Salehi, the Secretary of the Government's Information Council, referred to this 'change' as a 'sacrifice and selflessness of the government to strengthen cooperation among the branches.' The challenge between the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Ministry of Interior began when a letter from the political deputy of the Ministry of Interior was sent to provincial governors and mayors on June 1, prohibiting representatives from intervening 'in executive matters in the final year of the parliament.' This issue sparked criticism of this decision, leading to claims from the Minister of Interior and the Speaker of the Parliament that parts of the 'controversial directive' from the Ministry of Interior were revoked. However, this was not the end of the matter, as representatives threatened Ahmad Vahidi, the Minister of Interior of the Islamic Republic, demanding the dismissal of his political deputy, Mohammad Reza Gholamreza. Although Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, denied this demand, several representatives confirmed it. In July of this year, the conflict between the parliament and the Ministry of Interior escalated to the media of both sides, with the 'Iran' newspaper, as the government’s newspaper, reporting on what it called 'new pressures' against the Minister of Interior under the pretext of the recent directive from the head of the election headquarters, attacking the parliament. The 'Iran' newspaper wrote that 'the parliament in its final year is overshadowed by the efforts of some representatives' pursuing their electoral goals at the cost of creating tension for the country. The government newspaper emphasized that even with the Ministry of Interior's decision to remove sections from the 'election health directive,' efforts to pressure the Minister of Interior and force him to change his political deputy continue. The government organ considered Mohammad Reza Gholamreza, the deputy minister and head of the country's election headquarters, as the 'cancellation of the representatives' electoral plans,' stating: 'The threat of impeachment against the Minister of Interior in exchange for the illegal demand to change the political deputy of the Ministry of Interior comes at a time when Gholamreza, as the head of the election headquarters, is responsible for executing one of the most important and fundamental political events in the country.' When Mohammad Reza Gholamreza was appointed, the 'Iran' newspaper wrote about this appointment, stating 'Haj Qasem's comrade became the political deputy of the Ministry of Interior.' This newspaper mentioned Gholamreza's background, noting that he held positions such as deputy of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during Qasem Soleimani's command, deputy minister of intelligence, and head of Tehran's intelligence organization. Some websites also referred to Gholamreza as the 'shadow Minister of Interior' after his appointment. A parliament representative criticized the widespread presence of military personnel: 'The country has become like a barrack!' A 'non-public' session of parliament was held to review the Ministry of Interior's directive; 'tension in the public session' occurred upon Ahmad Vahidi's arrival.