Rouhani's Mission to the Interior Minister Regarding 'Suspicious' Arrests of Media Activists

The President of Iran has asked the Interior Minister to prepare a report on the 'suspicious' arrests of several media activists ahead of the elections and to prevent the 'illegal' interference of certain entities in the elections. According to a report on Sunday, April 6, on the presidential website, Hassan Rouhani made this request during the first cabinet meeting of the new year. In this meeting, Mr. Rouhani asked Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, the Interior Minister, to provide a report on 'the measures taken to ensure complete security for a healthy and legal election' following a previous directive. According to this directive, the timing of which is unclear, the Interior Minister was also tasked with reporting on 'dealing with security violations.' The report on 'the suspicious arrests of several media activists ahead of the elections' is another focus of this directive. The presidential website did not specify whether the Interior Minister's report was presented at this meeting or when it would be submitted to the President and cabinet members. It appears that Rouhani's request to the Interior Minister came in response to the arrests of several media activists and managers of reformist Telegram channels late last year. While the Intelligence Organization of the Revolutionary Guard has been named as the authority responsible for these arrests, the Revolutionary Guard has not yet responded to these reports. These arrests occurred about two months before the upcoming presidential elections in Iran. Some analysts have assessed these arrests as a precursor to potential interventions by military and security entities in the upcoming elections. Hassan Rouhani, in the first cabinet meeting, without mentioning any specific entity, stated that 'illegal actions by entities that have no right to interfere in the elections must be seriously prevented.' The Revolutionary Guard and the Basij Organization are mentioned as two military and paramilitary entities in Iran that, according to some reports, have been intervening in elections both directly and indirectly for years. In most cases, these entities have denied these accusations or described them as necessary for maintaining the regime. In this context, last year in October, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued general policies on 'elections,' which prohibited the entry of military, intelligence, and security forces into 'political and electoral classifications.' Despite the issuance of these policies, the concerns of some officials and political factions regarding the interference of the Revolutionary Guard and Basij in the elections have not been completely alleviated, and the President's recent directive to the Interior Minister may reflect this ongoing concern.