Warning from the Cultural Deputy of the IRGC about 'Another Sedition'

The Cultural Deputy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) protested the return of reformists to the 'election scene' and warned that individuals he referred to as 'supporters of the seditionists' are waiting for an opportunity 'to create another sedition and will become active as soon as they see a weakness in the system.' Mohammad Hossein Najaat, in an interview with Fars News Agency published on Sunday, January 6, called on the election executive bodies, which are under the Ministry of Interior, to disqualify those who protested the results of the 2009 presidential election, or as he described them, 'seditionists and supporters of seditionists.' He added, 'If the Ministry of Interior does not fulfill its legal duties, the Guardian Council must act.' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic and his close associates refer to the protests against the 2009 presidential election results as 'sedition.' Following the candidacy of reformists for the parliamentary elections and also the candidacy of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Expediency Discernment Council and his close associates in the Assembly of Experts elections, some of the leader's close associates and conservatives have warned about the repetition of protests against the 2009 presidential election. Meanwhile, Kazem Anbarlooee, the editor-in-chief of the Resalat newspaper, stated on Saturday that the protesters of the 2009 presidential election results intend to create a 'bipolar' situation in the upcoming elections and 'disrupt' them. A day earlier, Hamid Rasai, a representative from Tehran in Parliament, criticized Hashemi Rafsanjani's actions in 2009, stating that 'the past seditions are over, but the sedition is not finished, and the main and upcoming sedition is the greater sedition.' In recent weeks, several Friday prayer leaders have called for the disqualification of protesters against the 2009 presidential election results in the upcoming elections for the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Assembly of Experts. The Cultural Deputy of the IRGC also criticized the renewed activities of the Participation Front Party and the Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas and their 'registration under a new party.' Najaat also named the Kargozaran Sazandegi Party as 'one of the leading and active currents in the sedition' and accused its members of 'squandering public funds.' He accused 'radical' reformists of supporting the 'overthrow movement,' 'disrupting national security,' and 'preparing the ground for Western sanctions' against Iran. The Secretary-General and several members of the Union of Iranian Nation Party, which began its activities in August, are from the central council of the Participation Front Party. Several members of this party and other reformist parties, including the National Trust Party, Kargozaran Sazandegi, and the Participation Front, have registered as candidates for the parliamentary elections. 'Karrubi goes to the pool and sauna every day.' The Cultural Deputy of the IRGC stated in another part of his speech that 'the system has shown the greatest kindness' to Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi, the leaders of the 2009 presidential election protesters. He added, 'The leaders of the sedition are kept in a luxurious house; Karrubi goes to the pool and sauna every day; in any other part of the world, the punishment for such individuals would be execution.' Najaat's statements come as the families of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karrubi have repeatedly expressed concern about their living conditions and health status in recent years. For instance, Fatemeh Karrubi, Mehdi Karrubi's wife, criticized the Ministry of Intelligence's activities regarding the house arrest conditions of the two 2009 candidates in a letter to the Minister of Intelligence in May. Mehdi Karrubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Zahra Rahnavard, Mousavi's wife, have been under house arrest since late 2009 without a court ruling. After three years of 'detention' in a 'safe house' of the Ministry of Intelligence, Mehdi Karrubi was transferred to his home in Jamaran in February 2014, but he remains under house arrest.