The First Deputy of the System: From Pasteur to Evin in 18 Months

The newspapers Etemad and Ebtekar dedicated their front page on Monday to the arrest of Mohammad Reza Rahimi, the first deputy of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the tenth government, and his transfer to Evin prison. The newspaper Arman published an illustration of Mohammad Reza Rahimi in prison clothes on its front page and reported under the headline "He didn't leave, they came and took him," that "the execution of Rahimi's sentence has begun in Evin." The newspapers Shargh and Mardomsalari also featured Mohammad Reza Rahimi on their front pages, reporting on the execution of the 5 years and 91 days prison sentence for Ahmadinejad's first deputy. Other newspapers, including Iran, Jomhouri Eslami, Jahan San'at, Shahrevand, Donya-e-Eqtesad, and Farhikhtegan, also reported on "the transfer of Mohammad Reza Rahimi to Evin prison" as one of their front-page headlines. Among the newspapers close to various factions of the principlists, the newspapers Javan, Hemayat, Khorasan, Vatan-e-Emruz, and Quds mentioned the execution of Rahimi's prison sentence on their front pages. However, the newspapers Kayhan, Resalat, and Siyasat-e-Rooz did not mention Rahimi's transfer to prison on their front pages. Instead, Resalat quoted Mohammad Javad Larijani, brother of the head of the judiciary, stating: "Decisive action on the case of Mehdi Hashemi is the people's demand." The newspaper Shargh noted that "southern representatives came to the chamber with white masks," describing this action by some members of parliament as a protest against the crisis of dust storms, and wrote that several representatives appeared in the open session of parliament on Sunday with masks on their faces; a symbolic move to express sympathy with the residents of these areas and draw attention to officials who now have to fill this pit by any means necessary. Vatan-e-Emruz also dedicated its front page to the presence of Khuzestan representatives with masks in parliament, labeling it as "a protest against the performance of Masoumeh Ebtekar," the head of the Environmental Protection Organization. This newspaper also quoted the director general of the environment in Khuzestan, stating: "The Ministry of Oil has not fulfilled its commitment to spray the dust storm areas." The newspaper Iran reported that the Iranian Journalists' Association issued a statement criticizing efforts in the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare to create another organization instead of this association, which is "the most comprehensive professional-civil organization of journalists in Iran." The newspaper Etemad reported on the potential unexpected trip of Hassan Rouhani to Qom next week, stating that this "sudden trip by the president to Qom" would involve "a change" in the government's plans. This newspaper described Rouhani's potential trip to Qom as a "sudden, tactical, and problem-solving" visit. The newspaper Iran also reported on its front page that President Hassan Rouhani, during a meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister, emphasized that "a nuclear agreement is possible in the near future," saying, "We hope that with China's cooperation and within the framework of negotiations with the 1+5, we can witness a comprehensive agreement as soon as possible that not only secures the rights of the Iranian people but also increases the grounds for international understanding and cooperation." The newspaper Ta'adol reported on the "approval of the budget by the representatives of Baharestan for the generalities of the 94 budget," stating: "Finally, on Sunday, the budget for the year 94, after three weeks of hammering in the joint commission, was sent for final review to the open session of parliament, and the representatives voted in favor of the generalities of the budget that the eleventh government has drafted for its future income and expenses." The newspaper Kayhan simultaneously criticized the "absence of resistance economy in the generalities of the 94 budget" on its front page. The newspaper Shahrevand reported on the "beginning of the reform of fuel rationing for vehicles" and the cancellation of "four million fuel cards." The transfer of "Mohammad Reza Rahimi, the first deputy of Ahmadinejad, to Evin prison" was reported by the newspaper Arman, which published an illustration of Mohammad Reza Rahimi in prison clothes on its front page, stating: "Finally, the doors opened for Ahmadinejad's first deputy have closed as Mohammad Reza Rahimi has entered prison to spend five years there." Arman noted that the news of Mohammad Reza Rahimi's transfer to Evin prison was published by the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office on Sunday afternoon. According to this newspaper, the Tehran Prosecutor's Office announced on Sunday that "given the finality of the conviction of Mohammad Reza Rahimi, the former first deputy president to serve five years in prison, the head of the execution of sentences of the government employees' prosecutor's office issued an order to execute the prison sentence through the police," and accordingly, "on February 15, 2015, police officers, upon arriving at the residence of the convicted individual, summoned him, and after explaining the execution of the sentence, he was introduced to Evin prison to serve his sentence." Motahareh Shafiei in Arman's report wrote: Mohammad Reza Rahimi "never imagined that he would one day go to Evin prison, but years ago when [Ali Akbar] Javanfekr went to prison to serve his sentence, he might have had the opportunity to accompany the then president Ahmadinejad if permission had been granted for Ahmadinejad to visit Evin prison." The newspaper Arman published a short interview with Mohammad Reza Naderi, the lawyer of Mohammad Reza Rahimi, stating that he also had little information regarding his client's arrest and transfer to Evin prison, saying that "I learned about Rahimi's presence in prison through the websites but knew that he had been summoned for Sunday and had refused to attend, and therefore he was transferred from his home to Evin." Mohammad Reza Naderi, Rahimi's lawyer, noted that "I also learned about the incident from the websites and messages that came in," and told Arman that Rahimi had been summoned by the execution of sentences of the Tehran prosecutor's office and "was supposed to go and do this; as far as I knew," but "he did not have the opportunity. He was summoned for Sunday." Mohammad Reza Naderi, Rahimi's lawyer, also told Arman that he had requested a retrial, which is currently under review. The newspaper Shargh also reported on February 15, stating that "Ahmadinejad's deputy was arrested," writing: "The wait for the cells of seven or eight of Evin prison has ended as Mohammad Reza Rahimi has gone to Evin. These are the same cells where financial convicts and fraudsters are serving their sentences," and "now former inmates of 'Shahram Jazaeri,' who are still in prison, have come to welcome 'M. R.'" The newspaper Ebtekar reported under the headline "The Neighbors of Ahmadinejad's in Evin," stating: "With the execution of Mohammad Reza Rahimi's prison sentence, he was introduced to Evin prison on Sunday to become the third accused in the economic corruption cases of the ninth and tenth governments, following Meh Afarin Amir Khosravi and Babak Zanjani to see the inside of prison bars." Ebtekar noted: "Meh Afarin Amir Khosravi has been executed, and Zanjani is awaiting trial, and now [Mohammad] Rahimi must spend five years in prison." The newspaper Vatan-e-Emruz, close to the Front of Steadfastness, only published a brief news item about the Tehran prosecutor's announcement at the end of one of the columns on its second page, stating: "Mohammad Reza Rahimi went to Evin." The newspaper Javan, close to the Revolutionary Guards, also published a brief and similar news item about the Tehran prosecutor's announcement on its front page, stating: "Mohammad Reza Rahimi went to Evin prison." Among the newspapers close to various factions of the principlists, three newspapers Kayhan, Resalat, and Siyasat-e-Rooz did not mention Rahimi's transfer to Evin prison on their front pages. The newspapers Resalat, Javan, and Vatan-e-Emruz simultaneously published the statements of Mohammad Javad Larijani, brother of the head of the judiciary, stating: "Decisive action on the case of Mehdi Hashemi is the people's demand." The newspaper Etemad emphasized on its front page that "Rahimi went to Evin," stating: "The execution officers, upon arriving at Ahmadinejad's first deputy's house, took him for a five-year imprisonment to prison." This newspaper also wrote: "The last bastion of Ahmadinejad's red line has collapsed. The imprisonment of Mohammad Reza Rahimi has begun; a period that should last for five years and 91 days unless there is a reduction along the way. The statement from the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor's Office on Sunday marked the end of the first phase of Rahimi's story." According to Etemad, "Mohammad Reza Rahimi himself did not think he would one day find such a fate as yesterday" because "until this September, he still considered himself 'the first deputy of the system.' At that time, in response to the judiciary, he said: I have 34 years of service in the Islamic Republic of Iran; therefore, this issue should not be viewed so simply." This newspaper also noted that Mohammad Reza Rahimi and his lawyers "emphasized for months that they expected nothing but acquittal. However, the court initially sentenced him to 15 years in prison, ordered him to repay 2 billion and 850 million tomans, and imposed a fine of 1 billion tomans. Upon his appeal, the case went to the Supreme Court, which upheld his conviction but reduced his prison sentence to five years and 91 days, while confirming his monetary penalty. The newspaper Etemad emphasized that "the main punishment for Rahimi is not the number of days in prison or the amount of his fine. Perhaps the path he has traveled over the past 18 months from Pasteur to Evin is much harder and heavier than staying at the destination of this journey." This newspaper pointed out that "the next phase of Rahimi's conviction story, however, begins elsewhere; in Ahmadinejad's camp and among his former close associates; a camp that has been shaken by the collapse of Ahmadinejad's red line. There are still many cases under review involving his associates." According to Etemad, "So far, Saeed Mortazavi is next in line. Ahmadinejad has neither distanced himself from him nor has Mortazavi distanced himself from Ahmadinejad. Rahimi, until the day before his sentence was issued, was in the same situation. Until then, Ahmadinejad's supporters still considered him one of their own," but "once Rahimi's sentence arrived, a letter denying Ahmadinejad was published. The tenth government president did not even allow the ink of his deputy's sentence to dry. In the blink of an eye, he denied everything; all the four-year stands he had taken behind Rahimi. All the threats he had made to investigate the Iran Insurance corruption case." This newspaper reminded that Mohammad Reza Rahimi also "did not leave the letter from his former boss unanswered; Rahimi's loud grievances clarified many things. The most important being that Ahmadinejad's camp was nothing but a house on water."