Trial of Chamber of Commerce President for 'Insulting' Khamenei and Khomeini; Observers: Confrontation with the Private Sector

Following reports of judicial actions against the dismissed President of Iran's Chamber of Commerce, Hossein Salavati confirmed that he is being tried in one of the branches of the Islamic Revolutionary Court. The website 'Eko Iran', which focuses on Iran's economy, reported on Sunday, January 14, that Hossein Salavati, President of the Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture of Iran, is being tried in Branch 29 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran for insulting Ruhollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei, the founder and current leader of the Islamic Republic. According to this report, the Deputy Prosecutor General of Tehran has 'proposed the issuance of a summons for the investigation and the issuance of an indictment' against Salavati, and he is 'currently on trial.' The final verdict of the court has not yet been announced. The case against this economic activist in Iran has arisen following his repeated criticisms of the mismanagement of the Islamic Republic's officials in the economic sector. Hossein Salavati, who previously wrote on social media that 'the case-makers are hard at work,' following his trial, quoted a poem by Saadi saying: 'Although suffering reaches the soul, hope is the remedy.' Some observers interpret the 'case-making' against Salavati as a 'confrontation between the government and the private sector in Iran,' stating that after they 'could not legally remove Hossein Salavati, the President of the Chamber of Commerce, they resorted to case-making and initiated a complaint for insulting officials against him.' The elections for the 'Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce of Iran' were held on June 18 in an environment described as 'security-oriented' in Tehran, where Hossein Salavati, the former Vice President, was elected as the President of the tenth term of the Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture of Iran by receiving the majority of votes. After that, the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic, the security of the Ministry of Industry, Mine, and Trade (SMT), and some media close to the government, including 'Noor News,' which is close to the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic, called for Hossein Salavati to withdraw from the elections for the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce. Some government media criticized Hossein Salavati's comments during the nationwide protests of 2022, with the Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, labeling him as a 'covert and overt supporter of the overthrow of the regime.' Following that, in mid-August, news agencies in Iran reported that during a meeting of the 'Supreme Supervisory Council of the Chamber of Commerce,' a dispute occurred between the Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade of the Islamic Republic and the President of the Chamber of Commerce, where Hossein Salavati told government officials, 'I will not step down, and if you can, remove me.' The 'World of Economy' website reported at that time based on 'heard information' that the Minister of SMT defended a letter from the security of this ministry regarding the 'non-approval of Salavati's competence' and called it 'legal,' while neither according to the law nor the regulations does this information agency 'have any role in approving or disapproving competence or even announcing it.'