Arash Aramesh

Tehran’s highest judicial official reacted harshly to Mir Hossein Moussavi’s recent statement condemning the executions of five Iranian citizens, four of whom were Kurds. According to Raja, a pro-government website with close ties to the administration of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi, chief prosecutor of Tehran’s Revolutionary and General Courts, said Moussavi’s recent statements added yet another “crime” to the long list of his crimes and that Iran’s judiciary will take “appropriate action at the right time.” He asserted, “Many positions adopted by Moussavi and the other defeated presidential candidate [Mehdi Karroubi] are criminal.”

On Saturday May 15, Jafari-Dolatabadi referred to Moussavi’s statements and said, “I would like to direct your attention to two lessons from the Koran. First, do not speak about matters about which you do not know anything. Second, do not hide the truth. Hiding the truth is one of the worst characteristics of the Prophet’s enemies as described by the Koran.”

Tehran’s Chief Prosecutor – a powerful judiciary post in Iran — criticized Moussavi’s actions and compared them to when he was Iran’s Prime Minister during the time of Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini and said, “He was the Prime Minister during those years when the hypocrites [Members of the Mojahedin Khalq Organization] were being executed according to an order issued by Imam Khomeini. If he has such claims [as he does today], then why did he continue to serve then? He does not have the right to criticize the final verdicts of any court.”

Jafari-Dolatabadi added, “In 1998, he [Moussavi] was very well aware of Imam Khomeini’s orders regarding the hypocrites [MKO] and knew very well that the judiciary acted according to laws and the national interests of Iran.”

Jafari-Dolatabadi said that the Judiciary will eventually deal with the leaders of “sedition” and when “they go on trial, their every single crime will be investigated.”

He asserted, “If we are silent, that does not mean that their positions are not considered to be criminal. Their prosecution as leaders of sedition will take place according to the interests of the Islamic state. We will act according to those interests,” implying the state’s decision whether or not to arrest Moussavi and Karroubi follows a certain pattern of political expediency that is not out of his control.

Tehran’s Chief Prosecutor said his comments about Moussavi had nothing to do with the disputed June 12 presidential election and he was simply reacting to Moussavi’s remarks supporting “illegal” organizations.

Opposition activists are fearful that the government might start a new wave of arrests before the anniversary of the June 12 election in order to take away the opposition’s ability to organize large demonstrations in Iran. This new wave of arrests, however, may include key figures such as Moussavi, Karroubi, and Mohammad Khatami who have been under a barrage of attacks by the hardliners for months now.