Warning to Green Movement Leaders: 'If They Stand Their Ground, the Regime Will Not Forgive Them'

The Attorney General of Iran reacted to the U.S. request for the release of Green Movement leaders and implicitly confirmed their steadfastness on their positions, stating that the only way for members of this movement is 'repentance' and 'if they want to stand their ground, the regime will certainly not forgive them.' According to Fars News Agency, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, the Attorney General, on Thursday, February 17, considered the U.S. request for the release of Green Movement leaders as indicative that the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election 'have roots in the U.S., directly or indirectly.' Earlier, Bahram Qasemi, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, also criticized the U.S. State Department's request for the release of Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Zahra Rahnavard. A day earlier, Mark Toner, the spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, had called for the 'immediate release of these individuals and all political prisoners unjustly imprisoned in Iran' on the occasion of the sixth anniversary of the house arrest of Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Zahra Rahnavard. The Attorney General also stated: 'Those who have been part of this movement, if they want to return to the embrace of the nation, the only way is to apologize to the nation, repent, and join the ocean of the people; but if they want to stand their ground, the regime will certainly not forgive them.' A day before these remarks, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, indirectly and harshly dismissed Mohammad Khatami's proposal for 'national reconciliation' as entirely 'meaningless' and warned that 'the people will not reconcile with the seditionists of Ashura 2009.' Sadegh Larijani, the head of the judiciary in Iran, also deemed the proposal for 'national reconciliation' as 'incorrect' and emphasized that those who, according to him, 'erred' in 2009 must return from their 'wrong path.' Some conservative figures, including Mohammad Reza Bahonar, the Deputy Speaker of the 9th Parliament, and Mohammad Nabi Habibi, the Secretary-General of the Islamic Coalition Party, have also criticized this proposal, and conservative media, including Kayhan newspaper, have called for 'apology and repentance' from Mr. Khatami and reformists. Meanwhile, Abbas Ali Kadkhodai, the spokesperson for the Guardian Council, wrote in a note in the Thursday issue of Jam-e Jam newspaper: 'Those who could not bear the successes of the revolution and, through their actions, caused a separation from the revolution and the system, no one will follow them unless they return from their mistakes and confess to their past errors.' Mohammad Khatami, the former president of Iran, recently expressed hope for 'the realization of national reconciliation and internal solidarity' in Iran, stating that 'now is the best opportunity to bring together all forces in the path of national interests and to repel and eliminate threats and conspiracies.' In response to the proposal for 'national reconciliation,' some social media users interpreted Mr. Khatami's remarks as an apology to the Supreme Leader and a forgetting of the protests against the 2009 presidential election. In contrast, some reformist figures, including Abdollah Ramazanzadeh and Mohammad Reza Aref, have supported this proposal, and Mostafa Tajzadeh has stated that 'national reconciliation' means 'accepting plurality from a position of equality and sameness, not that one apologizes to another or writes a letter of repentance.' In another part of his remarks, the Attorney General stated that the death sentence for Babak Zanjani will not be executed until he returns the money owed to the Ministry of Oil and the funds that 'are mostly abroad.' Mr. Montazeri mentioned that an individual recently arrested regarding the Babak Zanjani case is 'an influential element' in this case, and his case is under investigation. Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesperson for the judiciary, also announced on Sunday that Babak Zanjani's death sentence will not be executed by the end of this year. Mr. Ejei had previously informed that the death sentence for Babak Zanjani had been communicated to him. However, officials from Hassan Rouhani's government, including Bijan Zangeneh, have stated that executing Babak Zanjani would 'erase the black box' of the case and close the way to recover the funds into the treasury. Hossein Dehdashti, the head of the committee following the Babak Zanjani case in the 9th Parliament, also emphasized that with the execution of Mr. Zanjani, 'influential individuals' and 'the hands behind the scenes' in this case will be 'forgotten.' The announcement of Mr. Zanjani's death sentence also came a week after the return of Alireza Ziba Halat Monfared to Iran, whom media have named as one of the 'main agents' in Mr. Zanjani's case. Previously, Rasoul Koohpayehzadeh, Babak Zanjani's lawyer, had stated that a final decision regarding his client depends on the complete interrogation of the arrested individual. In the indictment, Babak Zanjani is accused of having paid '160 million euros' out of the '2.7 billion euros' he was obligated to pay to the oil company, spending the remainder on personal matters. Mr. Zanjani and his lawyer have repeatedly promised that the debt to the Ministry of Oil will be paid through individuals abroad, but this debt has not yet been settled.