Protests Against Zarif's Remarks: 'Rouhani and His Foreign Minister Are Lying'

A number of journalists and former political prisoners reacted to the statements made by Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who claimed that 'no one' in Iran is imprisoned 'for their beliefs.' They accused Zarif of 'lying.' In an interview with PBS's Charlie Rose, aired on Wednesday night, Zarif stated that 'individuals who commit crimes or violate the laws of the country cannot hide behind being journalists or political activists.' In response, Bahman Ahmadi Amoui, a journalist who spent five years in prison after the 2009 elections, wrote on his blog about the 'interrogation and psychological and physical torture' he endured during his detention, asserting that 'just as Ahmadinejad and other judicial and political officials have lied about this, the Rouhani government and its foreign minister are also lying.' Ahmadi Amoui also called for the full text of his verdict and case file to be published, stating that 'in this case, it will become clear who is lying, and other officials of the Islamic Republic will not have to struggle to find appropriate words and phrases in such matters.' Meanwhile, Ali Jamali, a member of the Central Council of the Construction Workers Party and a former member of the Unity Consolidation Front, who was imprisoned for two years after 2009, wrote on his Facebook page, naming several political prisoners, that 'no expediency, even supporting Rouhani's government and its reputable and wise foreign minister, should lead us to abandon our honorable struggle against lies and deceit over all these years.' Previously, President Hassan Rouhani, during his trip to New York in 2014, stated in an interview with CNN that he did not believe anyone had been arrested in Iran for journalistic activities. 135 Iranian journalists criticized Rouhani's remarks, describing them as a reminder of 'distortion and denial of reality.' Following Zarif's comments, journalist Amin Bozorgian also wrote on his Facebook page about the expulsion of Mahsa Amrabadi, the wife of imprisoned journalist Masoud Bastani, from a project at the National Library, stating that 'not only does he deny political prisoners, but he also expels their families from a small job in a corner of the National Library.' Mahsa Amrabadi and Reyhaneh Tabatabai, two journalists who had previously been imprisoned, recently reported that they lost work at the library 'to publish a few books' due to pressure from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the library's security. Meanwhile, Mahsa Amrabadi accused the 'Presidency of Iran' of exerting 'pressure' to have her removed from this job. Journalists like Nosha Behmiri and Siamak Ghaderi have also accused Zarif of 'lying' in their Facebook posts. Currently, several journalists who were arrested and imprisoned following the protests against the 2009 presidential elections, including Ahmad Zeidabadi, Masoud Bastani, Alireza Rajaei, and Keyvan Samimi, remain in prison. Additionally, Jason Rezaian and Sirajuddin Mirdamadi were also arrested after Hassan Rouhani's government came to power, and while the status of Jason Rezaian's legal case remains unclear, Sirajuddin Mirdamadi has been sentenced to three years in prison. Last year, several journalists, including Yeganeh Salehi, Yaghma Fashakhami, and Saba Azarpayek, were arrested and later released. According to multiple reports from the United Nations and non-governmental organizations advocating for human rights and media freedom worldwide, the Islamic Republic of Iran has consistently ranked among the most repressive governments against the press, journalists, civil-political activists, intellectuals, dissenters, religious minorities, and civil and social institutions. In the latest instance, in Freedom House's annual report on press freedom in countries around the world, Iran ranked 191 out of 199 countries, placing it among the 'worst of the worst.'