Tehran Prosecutor Calls for Interpol to Pursue Mohammad Hosseini

Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, the Tehran prosecutor, stated that the Tehran prosecutor's office has requested Interpol to arrest Mohammad Hosseini, the leader of the 'Restart' group, and extradite him to Iran. During a meeting with female judges in Tehran on Sunday, the prosecutor described Interpol's response to Iran's judicial request as placing the international police in a 'test cycle' and questioned why global media is quick to report on minor actions within Iran, yet the leader of this group sits in the U.S. issuing orders for looting, destruction, and arson of public and private properties without consequence. According to Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, 28 indictments have been issued against members of the Restart campaign, which he labeled as a 'hostile group', with 18 of these indictments resulting in sentences against members of this movement. He noted that 'an individual influenced by this group has set fire to a mosque in Tehran, a traffic kiosk, and a gas station, sharing videos of his criminal actions online.' He further stated that this unnamed suspect has also prepared and distributed leaflets against the regime and engaged in widespread graffiti across the city. The Tehran prosecutor announced that this suspect has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. The 'Restart' campaign was initiated a year and a half ago by Mohammad Hosseini, a former television presenter, entertainer, and comedian from the Islamic Republic of Iran. After emigrating from Iran in 2005, Hosseini initially settled in Dubai and is now based in the U.S., where he records and shares videos urging members of the Restart campaign to attack institutions such as banks, mosques, and Basij bases. The former television host has declared that the aim of these actions is to seek regime change in the Islamic Republic. In part of his remarks on Sunday, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi warned that 'the judiciary and the Tehran prosecutor's office will take serious action against those committing crimes against the people, the state, and public assets, as well as those insulting the sacred values of the Islamic country through acts such as burning religious sites and mosques.' Previously, in March 2018, Hassan Heydari, the deputy prosecutor of Mashhad, announced that a total of 68 years in prison sentences had been issued for 11 members of the 'Restart' group, including a 14-year sentence for a 37-year-old woman and an 11-year sentence for two men. According to this judicial official, five of those individuals were charged with 'attacking' two mosques in Mashhad, and the detainees were sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to 14 years for 'burning a mosque' and 'membership in a hostile group.' In October of last year, another video was released showing an attack on the 'Javad al-Aima' mosque in eastern Tehran with incendiary materials, which was attributed to Restart. In this video, shared online, a young man with his face covered first writes 'Restart' in spray paint in front of the mosque and then sets the entrance on fire with a flammable substance. In December 2017, a fire occurred at the entrance of the Persepolis Club in Tehran, injuring the club's guard. Following that, a video of the fire incident was shared online, showing that it was also part of the actions of Restart members, with the arsonist in the video stating, 'Restart is the only way to save Iran.' In some instances, Mohammad Hosseini has urged his audience in the Restart campaign to break the windows of banks, government offices, and vehicles with stones or shotguns to express their dissatisfaction with the government. This former Iranian television host runs a program by the same name (Restart) that is published in audio or video format online. He promised in a program last September that by next year, meaning September 2018, 'the Iranian regime will be overthrown,' stating that the government will be handed over to an 'empire of mysticism.'