Request to Rouhani to Address Khatami's Ban and the Situation of Political Prisoners

The spokesperson for the "Hope" faction announced that members of this faction, during a meeting with Hassan Rouhani, called on him to address the media ban on Mohammad Khatami, political imprisonment, and the increase of freedoms in universities. Bahram Parsai said on Tuesday, March 13, to ILNA news agency that the members of the "Hope" faction told Rouhani that he should pay more attention to the issue of Khatami's media ban as the executor of the law. Parsai added that it was mentioned in this meeting that the President should have taken more effective actions regarding political prisoners. Mohammad Khatami, the former president of Iran, has been banned from appearing in media and traveling during Rouhani's presidency, and efforts to lift these restrictions have been unsuccessful so far. During Rouhani's presidency, pressures on civil, political, and media activists have not changed significantly, and the judiciary, the IRGC, and the Ministry of Intelligence continue their crackdowns and arrests. The political situation in universities has also not seen significant changes during this period, as members of the "Hope" faction pointed out in their meeting with Rouhani. Bahram Parsai stated that the members of this faction emphasized the need to increase the level of freedom in universities and called for more government attention to the issue of freedom of expression. He said it was mentioned in this meeting that many student organizations still face difficulties in obtaining activity permits, and the atmosphere in universities is not heated ahead of the elections. Requests made to Hassan Rouhani regarding the "management structure and the selection of managers with a national approach" and "greater utilization of capable women in management positions" were other issues raised in this meeting. It was also mentioned that Rouhani's future cabinet should be different from the current cabinet formed based on the ninth parliament. The "Hope" faction is one of the factions of the tenth parliament, which announced its existence on May 7 this year with 158 members. This faction can be considered part of the reformist political movement, which has announced that it will support Hassan Rouhani's candidacy in the upcoming presidential election. In its recent meeting, the policy council of this movement unanimously selected Hassan Rouhani as the "definite candidate of the reformists." Previously, the board of the Supreme Policy Council of Reformists had met and discussed with Hassan Rouhani on March 1. Rouhani has gained the support of reformists for the upcoming presidential election while some of his promises from the previous term, such as lifting the house arrest of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, have not yet been fulfilled. So far, no report has been published regarding the re-raising of this issue in the meeting of reformists with Hassan Rouhani, and it is unclear what the fate of lifting the house arrest of these two leaders of the "Green Movement" will be.