Security Forces Prevented the 50th Anniversary Ceremony of the Iranian Writers' Association

According to reports, security forces prevented the holding of the 50th anniversary ceremony of the Iranian Writers' Association on Friday, June 4. Akbar Masoumi Beigi, a member of the Iranian Writers' Association, wrote on his social media pages that security forces 'brutally raided' the house where the ceremony was to take place and blocked the street leading to the house. According to this report, security forces took away all posters, memorabilia, tributes, and materials that had been prepared by the members of this association over the past year for this event. Hassan Mortazavi, another member of the Writers' Association, also wrote on Facebook that 'they are afraid even of a simple ceremony in a private home.' Security forces had also prevented a ceremony by the Iranian Writers' Association to commemorate Ali Ashraf Darvishian, a novelist and researcher in popular literature, on December 1, 2017. In recent years, besides the Intelligence Organization of the Revolutionary Guards, the Ministry of Intelligence under Hassan Rouhani's government has also prevented the holding of meetings by some political and cultural groups critical of the Iranian government, including the National Front and the Iranian Writers' Association. Meanwhile, the Human Rights Defenders Association had previously asked Hassan Rouhani to supervise the Ministry of Intelligence more closely during his second presidential term and to 'resist' against the 'violations' of parallel intelligence agencies and introduce these agencies to the people. The Iranian Writers' Association, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, issued a statement declaring that it 'continues to struggle against censorship and defend freedom of expression and to organize writers.' This association was founded on April 20, 1968, with the signatures of 49 writers, including prominent figures such as Jalal Al-e Ahmad, Bahram Beyzai, Dariush Ashouri, Mohammad Ali Sepanlou, and Ismail Nooriala. Over its 50 years of activity, the Iranian Writers' Association has faced many ups and downs, including the murder of Mohammad Makhtari and Mohammad Pouyandeh, two active members of the association by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence. These murders were part of the crackdown on opponents and critics of the Islamic Republic, referred to as the chain murders, which also claimed the lives of figures such as Dariush Forouhar, the leader of the Iran Nation Party, and his wife Parvaneh Forouhar, Majid Sharif, and several others. Meanwhile, some analysts attribute the murder of Ali Akbar Saidi Sirjani during the chain murders of writers and dissidents in the 1990s to his letters to Ayatollah Khamenei, which were not published at the time they were sent to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. In this context, the Iranian Writers' Association criticized the atmosphere of 'threat and repression' and the prevention of a literary meeting of several translators by a 'security agency.' The Iranian Writers' Association stated that the President is responsible for book censorship. Amnesty International has called for the immediate release of those detained during the memorial ceremony for Pouyandeh and Makhtari. The National Front of Iran reported the 'prevention' by the Ministry of Intelligence of its meeting.