Response of the Strategic Studies Center of the Presidency to Resalat Newspaper

On Sunday, June 4, the Strategic Studies Center of the Iranian Presidency denied a report by Resalat newspaper regarding the "arrest of the office manager" of Hesamoddin Ashna, advisor to Hassan Rouhani, stating that eight months ago a researcher who "has no connection to Mr. Ashna" was arrested. According to the state news agency IRNA, this institution announced that the researcher had "occasional cooperation" with several organizations, including the Strategic Studies Center of the Presidency. The statement emphasized that eight months ago, a researcher was arrested at his home by the Ministry of Intelligence and "a series of analytical reports prepared by himself and several communications referred to him were extracted from his personal computer." Based on this report, the charges against this individual "have not yet been specified" and his case "is on the verge of judicial review." The Strategic Studies Center of the Presidency emphasized that this researcher had no "administrative connection" with Hesamoddin Ashna's office and had "occasional cooperation" with various military, research, and media institutions as a freelance researcher, including this center. The report did not mention the name of this researcher. Gholamhossein Mohseni Eje'i, spokesman for the judiciary of the Islamic Republic, confirmed on June 1 that reports about the arrest of an individual at the workplace of Hesamoddin Ashna by the Ministry of Intelligence on charges of "espionage" were accurate. However, he did not provide further details about this case. Meanwhile, the judiciary-affiliated news agency Mizan reported, citing Mr. Mohseni Eje'i, about the arrest of the "office manager" of Hesamoddin Ashna, and this report was published as the front page headline of Resalat newspaper on Thursday. In this context, the Strategic Studies Center of the Presidency of Iran described the headline of Resalat newspaper regarding this matter as "unethical," "unprofessional," "biased," and "incorrect." Hesamoddin Ashna also referred to the reports about the arrest of his "office manager" on charges of "espionage" as "lies" in a post on his Telegram channel on Thursday, June 1. Mr. Ashna accused the judiciary's news agency of "distorting" the initial question related to Mehr news agency, replacing the phrase "one of Mr. Ashna's associates" with "one of the office managers." He also criticized the way Mr. Eje'i responded to this question in comparison to his responses to other questions regarding the arrests of individuals.