Widespread Text Messages Against Rouhani's Fifth Ministerial Candidate for Science

The state news agency IRNA reported on Thursday about a "widespread wave" of text messages against Mohammad Farhadi, the proposed Minister of Science, citing a conservative parliament member who claimed the aim of these messages was to link Mr. Farhadi to the protests of 2009. Gholamali Jafarzadeh Imanabadi, the conservative representative from Rasht, announced on Thursday, November 29, that just minutes after Mohammad Farhadi was introduced as the proposed Minister of Science, several websites and news agencies in the country began sending text messages and "fabricating cases" against him. Only one day after the vote of no confidence against Fakhruddin Danesh Ashteyani, Hassan Rouhani introduced Mohammad Farhadi, the Minister of Culture and Higher Education in Mir-Hossein Mousavi's government and the Minister of Health in Mohammad Khatami's government, as his fifth candidate for the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology to the parliament. According to Mr. Jafarzadeh Imanabadi, "This trend indicates that there are ill intentions at play, and some are acting with a lack of piety and a particular malice." Sending text messages against Hassan Rouhani's proposed ministers for the Ministry of Science has precedent. Reports indicate that on the morning of Tuesday, November 20, before the introduction of Fakhruddin Ahmad Danesh Ashteyani, a multitude of text messages regarding this fourth proposed candidate for the Ministry of Science were sent to Iranian parliament representatives, all linking him to the protesters of the 2009 election results and also to protests following the attack on the university dormitory in 1999. According to the Rasht representative on Thursday, the content of the text messages sent against Mr. Farhadi was also related to the protests against the 2009 presidential election, "to suggest that the individual introduced aligns with the previous candidates." Hours after the reading of the letter introducing Mohammad Farhadi for the Ministry of Science in the Iranian parliament, some media outlets close to the Revolutionary Guards and the student Basij published a letter that Mr. Farhadi, along with some political figures including Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Mohammad Khatami, wrote to religious authorities in 2009. The signatories of this letter emphasized that the arrests following the 2009 election were "without legal permits and accompanied by violent actions," which is unbecoming of a system and a country that claims to uphold justice and equity. However, despite the publication of this letter in recent days, some opposing figures to the previous candidates for the Ministry of Science have stated that parliament representatives have a positive view of Mr. Farhadi. For instance, Aladdin Boroujerdi, the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the parliament, stated that parliament representatives have a "positive view" of Mr. Farhadi, and Gholamali Haddad Adel, a representative from Tehran, commented that the atmosphere in the parliament is not "negative" towards the proposed Minister of Science at first. Nevertheless, Elias Naderan, one of the opponents of the previous proposed candidates for the Ministry of Science, while acknowledging Mr. Farhadi's managerial background, warned that he must clarify his position with the "radical reformist circles" in the Ministry of Science. According to the House of Nation news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Consultative Assembly, Mr. Naderan added: "Mr. Farhadi signed letters during the 2009 unrest that definitely need clarification, and it must be determined what his position was at that time." Rouhollah Hosseinian, a member of the Stability Front, also predicted that the proposed Minister of Science is "likely" to receive a vote of confidence from the parliament. The Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran did not grant a vote of confidence to Fakhruddin Ahmad Danesh Ashteyani, the fourth proposed minister by Mr. Rouhani, for the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology on Tuesday, November 27. Mahmoud Nili Ahmadabadi, another proposed candidate by Mr. Rouhani, also failed to gain the parliament's vote of confidence on Wednesday, November 7. The Iranian parliament had previously impeached and dismissed Reza Faraji Dana, the Minister of Science, in its session on August 20. The parliament representatives also did not grant a vote of confidence to Jafar Mili Monfared, the proposed Minister of Science, at the beginning of Hassan Rouhani's cabinet formation.