Minister of Culture in Ahmadinejad's Government: Members of 'Yekta' Have No Organizational Connection with Ahmadinejad

Mohammad Hosseini, the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance during Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency and a founding member of the Yekta Front, has denied any 'organizational connection' between the members of this front and the former president of Iran. On Sunday, June 14, he stated that the 'main individuals forming' this political organization are 'senior managers' from the ninth and tenth administrations, 'mostly from those who were present in ministries, executive bodies, provincial and county managements, and even in sectors.' The name Yekta Front stands for 'Front of Efficient and Transformative Companions of Islamic Iran.' The former Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance mentioned that 'a wide array of devoted and value-driven forces who felt they could work more cohesively at this juncture and serve the goals of the system constitute the members of this front,' adding that 'the members of this front have the honor to continue their activities to protect the line of Imam and leadership and to realize the aspirations of the Imam and leadership.' According to Mohammad Hosseini, the first conference of the Yekta Front is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, June 15. ISNA reported that besides Hosseini, individuals such as Hamid Reza Hajibabaei, Minister of Education in the tenth government, Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, Minister of Defense in the ninth government and Minister of Interior in the tenth government, Alireza Ali-Ahmadi, Minister of Education in the ninth government, Mohammad Mehdi Zahedi, Minister of Science and Research in the ninth government, Kamran Daneshjoo, Minister of Science and Research in the tenth government, Fereydoun Abbasi, head of the Energy Organization in the tenth government, and Masoud Zaribafan, head of the Martyrs Foundation in the tenth government, are among the founding members of this organization. News agencies Tasnim and Fars reported that members of the Yekta Front had previously met with individuals such as Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi, a member of the Assembly of Experts, Mohammad Ali Mohammadi Kermani, Secretary of the Combatant Clergy Association and Friday Prayer Imam of Tehran, and Mohammad Yazdi, head of the Assembly of Experts. The announcement of the formation of the Yekta Front comes a few months before the eleventh parliamentary elections and simultaneously with the arrest and sentencing of some senior managers from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, such as Mohammad Reza Rahimi and Hamid Baqai.