Rohani's Assistant for Citizen Rights Resigns with Critical Letter to Government

Shahindokht Molaverdi, assistant to Hassan Rohani on citizen rights, criticized the implementation of the law prohibiting the employment of retirees in her resignation letter to the Iranian president. According to the law passed on July 24, 2018, the employment of government retirees in all positions is banned except for the heads of the three branches, the first vice president, the deputies of the parliament, members of the Guardian Council, ministers, representatives, and vice presidents. In line with this law, the president and his chief of staff agreed to the resignation of several officials and appointees of the presidency, including Shahindokht Molaverdi. Other individuals removed from the government and the presidency include Masih Mohajeri, the president's representative at the University of Islamic Religions, Ali Younesi, assistant to the president on ethnic and minority affairs, Akbar Turkan, advisor to the president on the revival of dilapidated areas, Reza Akrami and Ali Jannati, advisors to the president's chief of staff, and Fereydoun Vardinejad, media advisor to the president's chief of staff. Molaverdi, who had previously retired once, wrote in her letter to Rohani that the law remains 'silent' regarding the employment of retirees and that issuing a 'general ruling for all (retirees and those who have been bought out)' does not follow any logic. She criticized that based on the interpretation of this law, the political participation of those who have been bought out is 'closed forever,' which she stated is 'a violation of the most basic human rights.' Molaverdi also criticized that 'the legal and administrative assistantship of the president has outpaced each other and confirmed this wrong approach, which was established by the ninth parliament and aimed to slow down the eleventh government and occupy it.' She wrote to Rohani that 'it would have been desirable and rational for such a law to be implemented gradually and smoothly until the end of the twelfth government.' In response to Molaverdi's resignation, Elaheh Koulaei, a university professor and reformist political activist, tweeted: 'Alas, from the civil society and human rights defenders. The regrettable resignation of Ms. Molaverdi has made the inadequacy and irrationality of the law preventing the continuation of retirees' work clearer.' Masoumeh Ebtekar, the Iranian vice president for women and family affairs, also reacted to this event, stating that 'the amendment of the prohibition law on employing retirees has separated valuable forces from the government. Among the best, most hardworking, and deserving is Ms. Shahindokht Molaverdi.' The implementation of the law prohibiting the employment of retirees has been accompanied by many controversies and has not only led to the resignation of Mohammad Ali Afshani, the mayor of Tehran, after the resignation of Mohammad Ali Najafi but has also created turmoil regarding the resignation or continuation of Mahdi Taj, the president of the Iranian Football Federation. Although the Asian Football Confederation has warned that it will sanction Iranian football if the independence of the Islamic Republic's football federation is violated, the country's administrative and employment organization has announced that Mahdi Taj must resign from his position due to retirement. According to the explanations of the administrative and employment organization, the law prohibiting the employment of retirees also includes non-governmental public institutions and encompasses all federations, including the football federation, with no exceptions in this regard. The law prohibiting the employment of retirees includes executive bodies subject to Article 5 of the National Services Management Law and all bodies that use public budgets in any way.