Protest by '80 Representatives' of Parliament Against Hope Faction's Meeting with Khatami

Several Iranian news agencies reported that '80 representatives of Parliament' signed a letter protesting the meeting of some representatives with Mohammad Khatami and demanded action from Ali Larijani regarding this issue. The conservative news agencies Fars and Mizan that published this report did not name these representatives. Jawad Karimi Qodosi, a representative from Mashhad and a member of the Stability Front, also published the text of this letter on his website but did not mention the number of signatory representatives. In this letter, the meeting of several members of the Hope faction, including two members of the Parliament's presiding board, with Mohammad Khatami, the former president of Iran, was described as 'against the oath of representation and causing irreparable damage to national unity and the dignity of Parliament.' The authors of this letter asked Ali Larijani to 'protect and preserve the dignity of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the representatives.' In response to this letter, Gholamali Jafarzadeh, a representative from Rasht, stated that 'there has never been a precedent where representatives are denied the opportunity to meet with individuals.' He added, 'As representatives of the nation, we can visit prisoners and those sentenced to death; he has been the president of this country, and none of the officials have provided an explanation based on legal documents regarding the reason for Khatami's media ban.' He continued, 'Unfortunately, instead of demanding an explanation from Karimi Qodosi for all the false statements and baseless accusations against officials and remarks contrary to national security, these representatives are collecting signatures to take action against two other representatives for meeting with the former president of this country.' According to reports, about 50 representatives, including Ali Motahari and Mohammad Ali Vakili, two members of the presiding board, and Mohammad Reza Aref, the head of the Hope faction, visited Mr. Khatami on March 7, on the occasion of the anniversary of the victory of the Hope list in the tenth parliamentary elections. Mohammad Khatami was one of the main supporters of the Hope list in the tenth parliamentary elections in Esfand 94. There has been no report or photo of this meeting published on Mr. Khatami's website, but some representatives have quoted parts of the remarks made during this meeting in interviews. The former president of Iran is banned from appearing in Iranian media, and in Farvardin 93, about 40 representatives questioned Ali Jannati, the then Minister of Culture, for attending Mr. Khatami's Nowruz meeting. The issue of banning the publication of images and news about Mohammad Khatami was raised in winter 93, and at that time reports indicated that Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Tehran, warned media managers in a meeting against publishing images and mentioning the name of the former president of Iran, threatening violators with the suspension and closure of their media outlets. Recently, Mr. Khatami expressed hope for 'the realization of national reconciliation and internal solidarity' in Iran, stating that 'now is the best time to create solidarity among all forces in the path of national interests and to repel and eliminate threats and conspiracies.' However, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on February 16, indirectly referred to this plan as 'meaningless,' stating that 'they will not reconcile with the seditionists of Ashura 88.' Before him, Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, the head of the judiciary, deemed the topic of 'national reconciliation' as 'incorrect' and emphasized that those who, according to him, 'erred' in 88 should return from their 'wrong path.' Nevertheless, reports have emerged about the proposal of Mohammad Khatami for 'national reconciliation' being discussed in the meeting between Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president of Hassan Rouhani, and the leader of the Islamic Republic. After this meeting, the first vice president stated that he discussed the reformist movement with the leader of the Islamic Republic, and Ayatollah Khamenei also stated that he is 'interested in all political currents.' Mr. Jahangiri, in an interview with the newspaper 'Etemad,' parts of which were published on Sunday, March 5, also mentioned that the leader of the Islamic Republic told him about a month ago in a meeting that he has no objection to communication with reformists. According to this report, Ayatollah Khamenei also requested that Eshaq Jahangiri play the role of intermediary in response to the first vice president's request for reformists to communicate with him. However, Jawad Karimi Qodosi stated in a speech in Qom that the leader of the Islamic Republic rejected Eshaq Jahangiri's request for a meeting between Mr. Khatami and him and emphasized that he 'absolutely cannot return.'