Prosecutor Denies Sending Threatening Text Messages to Journalists

Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Tehran, denied the involvement of the judiciary and the Tehran prosecutor's office in sending threatening text messages to political and media activists. According to the Tehran public and revolutionary prosecutor's information website, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi emphasized in an interview with reporters on Tuesday, July 22, that 'the Tehran prosecutor's office will officially announce any actions before proceeding.' The Tehran public and revolutionary prosecutor considered the claims to be aimed at undermining the judiciary and the Tehran prosecutor's office. On Friday, July 10 of this year, a large number of journalists, media, civil, and political activists in Iran received a 'threatening' text message from 'four personal phone numbers' asking them to cut ties with 'anti-regime elements abroad.' The message stated that this was the 'final warning' and that the judiciary would take action against them if these connections continued. Following this, Mahmoud Vaezi, the Minister of Communications and Information Technology of the eleventh government, denied the role of his institutions in sending these messages but promised that the matter would be investigated. The Ministry of Intelligence also issued a statement denying its role in sending these messages, stating that sending 'any threatening text messages' to citizens or media activists was 'contrary to this ministry's approach to protecting citizens' rights.' Mahmoud Alavi, the Minister of Intelligence, considered 'the very act' to be 'an unprofessional and careless action from an intelligence perspective' and emphasized that he found it 'unlikely' that these messages were issued by 'an official security authority.' While two ministries of the eleventh government announced that sending these messages was not their doing, Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje'i, the spokesperson for the judiciary, emphasized during his weekly meeting with reporters on Sunday, July 13, that the sent messages were 'not threats' and that if anyone 'has contact with anti-revolutionaries, they must definitely be warned.' He also stated, 'If an organization wants to issue a warning, it is very good for them to provide their address and identification, and I see no problem with that.' So far, no entity has taken responsibility for sending these messages, and despite the government's promises, the perpetrators and instigators of such threatening messages have not been identified. However, Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje'i's statements implicitly confirming the content of the messages have strengthened speculation that the judiciary and the Tehran prosecutor's office are responsible for this action. Ali Motahari, the first deputy speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Elias Hazrati, and Mohammad Ali Vakili, representatives from Tehran, had previously called for the identification and prosecution of those responsible for sending these messages, and Mostafa Kaveh Kabi, another representative from Tehran, had warned the Minister of Communications about this issue.