Proposed Minister of Science: I Did Not Sign the 2009 Protest Letter

The spokesperson for the Education Commission of the Iranian Parliament quoted Mohammad Farhadi, the fifth proposed candidate by Hassan Rouhani for the Ministry of Science, denying that he signed a letter addressed to religious authorities regarding the "illegal and violent arrests" following the 2009 presidential elections. According to Fars News Agency, Qasem Jafari, the spokesperson for the Education Commission, stated on Sunday, December 2, that Mr. Farhadi said in the commission meeting: "I was involved in preparing the health and treatment programs of Mir Hossein Mousavi in 2009, but after that, I had no involvement in affairs and did not sign any letter, and I condemn the letter that has my name on it." Hours after the introduction of Mohammad Farhadi for the Ministry of Science in the Iranian Parliament, some media outlets close to the Revolutionary Guards and the Student Basij published a letter that Mr. Farhadi, along with some political figures including Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Mohammad Khatami, had written in 2009 to religious authorities. The signatories of this letter emphasized that the arrests following the 2009 elections were "without legal permits and accompanied by violent actions," which is unbecoming of a system and a country that claims to uphold justice and fairness. In further comments from parliament representatives regarding the proposed Minister of Science, Mohammad Kowsari, a representative from Tehran, stated on Sunday to ILNA news agency that if Mr. Farhadi declares his disassociation from the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election in the commission and faction meetings, the parliament will grant him a vote of confidence. Participation in the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election, which conservative parliament representatives refer to as "sedition," has been among the reasons for the opposition of parliament members to previous candidates proposed for the Ministry of Science. In contrast to these positions of some conservative representatives, Ali Motahari, a representative from Tehran, stated in an interview with Khabar Online on Saturday, December 1, that the interpretation of the Supreme Leader regarding the "red line of sedition" has been "misunderstood." Mr. Motahari emphasized: "I fundamentally reject the logic of this group of representatives who believe that if someone wrote a letter in protest against the behavior of some officials during the events of 2009, they are seditionists." He added: "In my opinion, such a person is not only not a seditionist but is a responsible and committed individual who has not remained silent in the face of lawlessness. Previous candidates, namely Mr. Mili-Monfared, Faraji Dana, Nili, and Danesh-Ashtiani, were also not seditionists, and they were wronged." The spokesperson for the Education Commission continued in his interview on Sunday: "Farhadi stated in this meeting that I have my own team and will use individuals who accept the system, the revolution, and the leadership, and will act in the interests of higher education in the country, and I will also use organizations such as the Basij for appointments and employing individuals." Some appointments in the Ministry of Science, including the appointment of Jafar Mili-Monfared as the deputy of this ministry, were among the reasons for the impeachment and dismissal of Reza Faraji Dana, the former Minister of Science, in the parliament session on August 29. On Saturday, November 24, Jafar Mili-Monfared, the educational deputy, and Saeed Semnaniyan, the minister's advisor and head of the Ministry of Science's Board of Trustees, announced their resignations in separate letters to Mohammad Ali Najafi, the caretaker of this ministry, but Mr. Najafi did not accept their resignations. In recent days, some figures opposing the previous candidates for the Ministry of Science have predicted that Mohammad Farhadi will receive a vote of confidence from the parliament. Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghadam, among these representatives, predicted on Sunday that this time the government's proposed minister would be able to receive a vote of confidence from the parliament. Simultaneously with the hope for the parliament's vote of confidence for Mr. Farhadi, Etemad newspaper reported on a "night meeting" of opponents of the proposed Minister of Science on Thursday, in a building outside the parliament. According to this newspaper, in this meeting, eight parliament representatives and "several party activists" planned for "widespread opposition to the proposed Minister of Science in the vote of confidence session." In this context, Najafi's leadership over the Ministry of Science was extended "with the Leader's permission."