Iran’s Reformists, Rights Defenders React To Recent Arrests
The Reform Front of Iran made up of several groups held an extraordinary meeting Saturday to discuss the arrest of prominent reformist activist Mostafa Tajzadeh.
The Reform Front of Iran made up of several groups held an extraordinary meeting Saturday to discuss the arrest of prominent reformist activist Mostafa Tajzadeh.
The pro-reform Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) reporting on the meeting said that the activist was arrested when he was alone at home, so there is no information about where he has been taken.
Tajzadeh's wife, Fakhrossadat Mohtashamipour, said a video released on Twitter that someone from the Prosecutor's Office called her and said that her husband will be “a guest for a few days.” She said in another video that the "government is trying to make up for its inability to run the affairs of the state and wasting of national resources by arresting reformist activists."
Meanwhile, the Reform Front's Spokesman Ali Shakuri Rad wrote in a tweet that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei probably knew about Tajzadeh's arrest.
Two Iranian filmmakers, Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Alehahmad were also arrested on Friday for encouraging other artists to sign a petition in support of the people of Abadan and other cities during their protests in May. The petition called on security forces to put down their guns and refuse to shoot protesters.
The Iran Human Rights Organization on Saturday condemned the two filmmakers' arrest as "an elaborate violation of human rights in Iran" and a move that signalled the weakness of the Islamic Republic. The organization's chief Mahmoud Amiri Moghaddam described the arrests as "the government's useless attempt to scare the society and to silence rights defenders." Meanwhile, he called on the international community to react to these events.
Several other activists including women's rights advocate Faezeh Hashemi and National Front Leader Kourosh Zaim have also been reportedly indicted or summoned to the courts in Iran during previous days.
Meanwhile, reformist commentator Abbas Abdi wrote in a series of tweets that there could be more than one reason for Mostafa Tajzadeh’s arrest. These reasons, include his willingness to debate with regime change advocates on the social media chat application Club House in recent weeks. Tajzadeh who has become an outspoken critic of Iran’s hardliner rulers, he has nevertheless remained loyal to the ideal of an Islamic Republic.
Abdi summarized the other reasons for Tajzadeh's arrest as related to the shifting political atmosphere in Iran. Many recent developments have put the government on the defensive. The failure of nuclear negotiations with the United States, mysterious incidents showing possible Israeli infiltration in Iran’s security and intelligence networks, resulting in major changes in IRGC intelligence, all coincided to negatively impact the government’s image.
The authorities wanted to send a message to the public that these developments have not weakened it and limitations on freedom of speech and political activity remain in force.
Hours after Tajzadeh's arrest, Alireza Soleimani, the editor of the ultraconservative Raja News website, a mouthpiece of the Paydari Party, wrote in a tweet on July 8 that "Tajzadeh is not the last one to be arrested."
Several Twitter users including Ali Pourkheiri wrote that "Tajzadeh's arrest is a precious gift to the Iranian opposition," reminding of his role in advocating reforms rather than regime change in Iran.
Human rights activist Hassan Younesi addressed Khamenei in a tweet and wrote: "You are making your choice between reforms and regime change."
In short reports, websites affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard said Tajzadeh was arrested on charges of “assembly and collusion against state security,” an accusation routinely used to jail all opponents and even those who are considered generally loyal to the principle of having an Islamic Republic.
Tajzadeh was deputy-interior minister during the presidency of reformist Mohammad Khatami in 2000s and had become an outspoken critic of policies pursued by dominating hardliners in Iran in recent years. He spent seven years in prison after months of nationwide protests to the results of 2009 presidential elections reinstating Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a second term.
But in the past three years, Tajzadeh became increasingly vocal against the hardliners and even Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. From his public comments it was apparent that he remained loyal to the concept of an Islamic Republic but otherwise criticized almost every aspect of the political system Khamenei has nurtured.
In recent days, Tajzadeh vehemently opposed the increasingly harsh methods to enforce hijab in his tweets. In March he opposed the government's policy of not condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
"Iranians still remember the bitter experience of Saddam Hussain's war (1980s) and his aggression against Iran, a neighboring country. For this, Iranians condemn the military attack" on Ukraine, he tweeted in March.
Late Friday, the government’s official news website IRNA announced that two film directors, Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Alehahmad have also been arrested. They were signatories of a collective statement titles “Lay down the gun” issued by more than 100 film industry personalities in the end of May calling on military and security forces who “have become tools for cracking down on the people,” not to suppress protesters who simply want their basic rights.
Dozens of Rasoulof’s films have won international awards and he is known as an independent filmmaker, who spent one year in prison for filming without a permit from the censors of Iran’s clerical regime.
After the public statement by filmmakers, Rasoulof wrote on his Instagram page that security forces were calling signatories asking them to renounce their signatures or give interviews to state media discrediting the statement.
Some Iranian activists tweeted on Friday and Saturday that Tajzadeh’s arrest puts an end to any notion that even loyal reformists would be allowed to exist in Iran.
Mehdi Nasiri, a regime insider who was once the editor of the conservative flagship, Kayhan Daily tweeted, “Mostafa Tajzadeh’s arrest…who was still defending reforms and opposing political violence for regime change, only means that the rulers are not able to discern their own interests, or those of the people and Iran.”