Seven political activists delivered a letter to the Heads of the Judiciary and Judicial Organization of the Armed Forces criticizing a military-intelligence group, as well as others who directed and carried out the fraud during the 2009 Tenth Presidential Elections in Iran. This letter was signed by Mohsen Aminzadeh, Mostafa Tajzadeh, Abdullah Ramezanzadeh, Fayzallah Arab-Sorkhi, Mohsen Safaei-Farahani, Mohsen Mirdamadi, and Behzad Nabavi.
These seven members of the Islamic Revolutionary Mujahidin Organization (IRMO) and the National Front were arrested after the elections and sentenced to long-term imprisonment on the charge of endangering national security. Jaras has obtained a copy of that letter, and here is the full text:
In the Name of God
3/5/1389 (May 26, 2010)
To Respected Heads of the Judiciary and the Judicial Organization of the Armed Forces
Greetings. We signatories of this complaint, victims of the fabrications and wrongdoings of a pro-dictatorship group comprised of military delinquents, were arrested by this very group after the Tenth Presidential Elections and accused of endangering national security. Based upon that allegation and other spiteful charges, we were sentenced to long-term imprisonment and deprived of our civil rights.
The recent speech made by Commander Moshafagh, one of the top intelligence chiefs of the Sar’Allah Quarters who had been criticized months before by a group of clerics in Mashhad, has been published. The content of this speech, which until now has not been denied by governmental organizations, provides invaluable testimony and sheds light on what was going on behind the scenes of the presidential election and the ensuing events. It highlights the actions—which public opinion calls hijacking of the elections—taken by the aforementioned pro-dictator group during and after the election.
In presenting this complaint (as well as the recording and text of Commander Moshafagh’s speech) that describes the dimensions of Moshafagh’s actions as well as those of his ideologues and associates in that period of time, and taking into account their dangerous ideas that correlate with their unlawful and meddlesome actions during the elections, we declare they are guilty. Furthermore, we consider our complaint a confrontation with the unfounded fabrications and accusations against protestors of the election, such as the signatories of this letter.
This complaint outlines the justifications for the illegal actions which the group had planned for two years and exposes this military-intelligence group’s illegal interference in the elections in order to bring about Ahmadinejad’s victory and prevent the other presidential candidates from winning. This complaint also sheds light on the intentions and visions behind unlawful actions, such disrupting the activities of opposition candidates’ representatives in voting stations all over the country. It also reveals this small and absolutely detestable group’s plan to hijack the elections using weapons as well as police, prison and intelligence means. The speaker also describes the coup d’etat planners’ 2-year-long scheme against political critics of the status quo and protesters rejecting the election results, and details how the interpretation from a military-intelligence standpoint of the dangerous consequences of a possible Ahmadinejad defeat made the planners think it was necessary to help him.
Commander Moshafagh questioned almost all the important events in Iran that took place after the Revolution, except Mr. Ahmadinejad’s presidency, Imam Khomeini’s followers and military leadership, at the same time focusing on “immorality,” “spying,” “corrupt behavior,” “seeking power” and “overthrow”.
Commander Moshafagh’s testimony proves that this group considered Ahmadinejad’s victory as a victory for the Supreme Leader and his [possible] defeat as catastrophic. It also illustrates how they connected this outlook [of potential defeat] to [those] opposing Ahmadinejad, considering the actions of his political opponents as plotting against the Supreme Leader and the Regime. With this justification, they thought it was a duty to illegally interfere on a grand scale in order to neutralize the legitimate actions of Ahmadinejad’s opponents and vanquish them.
According to this testimony, this vile group not only deemed Mr. Ahmadinejad as the favored candidate from the beginning, but had been set on eliminating and defeating the opposition candidates long before Mr. Khatami or Mr. Mousavi were confirmed to run in the election. From the beginning, this group viewed the opposition candidates not as formal presidential candidates but as absolute “enemies.” This group exploited all possible secret intelligence and military tools in order to weaken, intimidate and sabotage the opposition candidates’ legitimate activities and means of overseeing the voting.
This testimony indicates that this group, resenting the law, considered the election’s grounds for contest as a battle against the enemy. Based upon such illusion and fancy, this group prepared to conduct fraudulent operations. In describing Mr. Ahmadinejad’s opponents and their methods as “enemy-like,” Commander Moshafagh’s speech is full of military, intelligence and security expressions such as “overthrow,” “human army,” “missing soldiers,” “breaching,” “infiltration,” “operational measures,” “heavy psychological attack,” “the ultimate blow,” “mobilizing weapons,” “embankment,” “identification,” “paralytic” and “war room.”
For the speaker, Mr. Ahmadinejad’s victory is not an election victory, but a touchstone victory in the fight against the “enemy.” The speaker elucidates that this group, as well as its ideologues and associates who only consider the well-being of the regime and somewhat control the regime, thus considered Ahmadinejad’s victory as a victory for the regime. In this context, the opponents’ election headquarters had been called the “enemy’s war room.” The speaker is proud of this and interprets the group’s illegal measures to demolish the opponents’ election headquarters and means of supervising [the voting] as destroying the “enemy’s war room.” Every opponent’s political move is construed as “the enemy’s plotting.” The group’s illegal efforts and transgressions to eliminate opponents and destroy their election headquarters are deemed as [part of their] obligation to confront the enemy.
This testimony clearly illustrates that for months before the election, the planners of this military-intelligence operation employed their intelligence activities and resources to control the movement of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s opponents. Commander Moshafagh explicitly talks about the conditions for dissuading his opponents from becoming candidates in the election and using intelligence measures to present “proof” for [such discouragement] in the effort to sow conflict between Mr. Ahmadinejad’s opponents and their supporters.
This testimony shows that a group of high-level military and intelligence leaders, breaking legal prohibitions, entered the operation as part of a political faction in the election. Today they are not only candid in talking about it, but they are proud. Commander Moshafagh and his associates formally introduced themselves as members of a political wing. He counsels his fellow ideologues on political affairs.
This military-intelligence leader plainly admits that his group was aware of the official commission to protect Mr. Mirhossein Mousavi votes and harbored no misunderstandings about the task of this commission to organize the candidates’ official representatives at voting stations. Aside from the speaker’s efforts to create a scene, his account clearly shows that this group knew very well that Mr. Mousavi’s staff intended to be up-to-date on the election via text-messages to find out how fair it was. This group blocked the aforementioned committee’s legal activities and thwarted the access of the candidates’ representatives to information about the election at the voting stations.
The group exploited government resources the night before the election to disrupt the messaging network and the hubs where the committee would receive the necessary text messages, preparing the grounds for transgression and fraud. This testimony shows that, in essence, this military-intelligence group’s motives and intentions to take action against political parties like the Combatant Cleric’s Association, Islamic Participation Front and Islamic Revolutionary Mujahidin Organization as well as prominent Muslim and political personalities like Mr. Sanei, Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mr. Khatami, Mr. Mousavi, Mr. Karroubi, Mr. Mousavi Khoneei and Seyed Hassan Khomeini had nothing to do with the presidential election and the subsequent events. Based upon the explicit claims made by this military-intelligence leader, critics of the status quo as well as so-called “overthrowers of the regime” were always under control and surveillance. Intelligence and security agencies associated with this military group had always sought to create false accusations against them. This testimony shows that this radical mindset overall interprets the “republican” part of the regime’s structure as just a show and generally has no regard for the people’s vote. In violating the explicit wording of the Constitution which regards the rights to be a candidate, to campaign in an election, and to vote as given to all people harboring the necessary legal qualifications, this group, considers itself to be on the same level as the regime by allowing for engineered election. The group is also well aware of the secret deals behind the scenes of the parliamentary elections and doesn’t view an election as a free contest between candidates who present their different beliefs and agendas to the people and then have the obligation to pursue them.
The speaker clearly describes the group as a constant in the regime’s behind-the-scenes power games and a key player that harbors the responsibility to engineer the election. This group naturally considers the opponents of this system as “enemies” and “overthrowers” of the regime. According to this testimony, Commander Moshafagh, in distorting the facts, presents a new narrative about the Islamic Revolution, the first decade of the Revolution, as well as Imam Khomeini and his companions. In this narrative all the Imam’s companions, except the regime’s current Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, have deviated and are associated with each other [against the Revolution]. The Imam is portrayed as someone who wasn’t aware of his surroundings. Important events such as the takeover of the American Embassy (the “den of spies”), the acceptance of UN Security Council Resolution 598, and the end of the war were caused by “others.” The speaker presents the occupation of the American Embassy, which the Imam called a Second Revolution, as an example of a plot designed by American intelligence officers, helped by Mr. Mousavi Khoeeni, and managed after the Imam was informed. He says, “We know what’s going on behind the scenes, and we know that this occupation of the American Embassy is one of the enemy’s ploys. I don’t have time today to tell you with what motive this was done…” Within this context, the speaker describes the Iranian nation and the Imam as defeated in the Imposed Iran-Iraq War in order to destroy critical voices and to lay the blame of this defeat on the people who were in charge of the country and the war at that time (Hashemi, Mousavi and Rezaee).
This military-intelligence figure, in expressing regret that there is currently no war, considers war as a blessing and another form called “soft war” as a completely military mission for this group to do more interferences. According to this testimony, the speaker clearly states that this group had done illegal actions in the name of the Supreme Leader and against the Imam’s wish that military have zero-involvement in political activities. The speaker repeatedly emphasizes his statements as in step with the Supreme Leader and refers to his own claims as being backed with documentation.
In this testimony, the military-intelligence leader explicitly connects the crimes committed by intelligence and military agents with targeting critics of the status quo and protestors against the results of the Tenth Presidential Election. He also describes the manner in which the intelligence and military agents handled the case of the serial murders, Saeed Emam’s crimes, the terror attack against Saeed Hajjarian on the 18 Tir (July 9), the murder of Zahra Kazemi and martyrs of the post-election events such as Neda Agha-Soltan, Seyed Ali Mousavi, and Sohrab Arabi. This testimony clearly shows that the reformists being slandered are not [the individuals] actually responsible for the government’s common pollutions in the current situation. Notwithstanding the incorrectness of this group’s actions in interfering with the election, and despite the slanders and nonsense which are directed in this speech against the Imam’s companions, people serving this country and reformists, no proof against the people named in his report exists. In addition to placing political figures and parties under unlawful investigation, surveillance and bugging for many years; arresting and torturing innocent people such as political and media figures; and [enacting] security and military actions for more than one year, bearing a heavy toll on the people, the country and the regime, the commitment of this criminal group and all its accompanying issues to the anti-election operation in 1388 (2009) was, in the end, the product of a hated complex and explains the lies and slander against innocent people.
Considering the above explanations and that the agents linked to this despicable small group are unidentified and not introduced, and relying on the enclosed testimony of Commander Moshafagh’s admissions about his illegal actions as well as those of the leaders and commanders from the Sarallah Quarters and other related organizations, we complain and declare them guilty by focusing on the following cases:
Disrupting Mr. Ahmadinejad’s Opponents’ Official Representatives’ Activities at the Voting Stations During the Presidential Elections
Commander Moshafagh describes in detail how he and his associates conducted an extensive operation to disrupt the opposing candidates’ representatives at the voting stations. In part of his speech, he plainly admits that, “With Imam Zaman’s grace…The night before the election we disrupted all three places (SMS hubs for receiving news about the soundness of the election from Mr. Mousavi’s representatives)” and reiterated that, “With Imam Zaman’s grace, about 8-12 nights before the election took place, we identified three places and disrupted them. We didn’t let them continue functioning…”
It is obvious that they knew that the simple tool of SMS was going to be used to gather information about the correct implementation of the election from the candidates’ representatives at the voting stations. The dimensions of the completely transparent and legal measures had been clear for more than 40,000 Mousavi representatives at the voting stations. He says, “For every supervisor at a station a cell phone and one Irancell number had been put at his disposal. Hour after hour at the voting boxes, they would send information via SMS to the Hub…I, as a candidate’s representative, would dial the SMS number of this Hub. Pressing #1 would show the number of people at the voting station. Pressing #2 would tell me if the conservatives or reformists predominated this station. With these numbers connected to the Hub, they could observe the election via SMS, hour by hour, all over the country.”
In reality, the night before the elections took place this group exploited governmental resources to cut off all SMS networks and disrupt the communications of the candidates’ representatives at the voting stations. The group disrupted the supervisory commission’s 400 telephone lines and the delivery of news from candidates’ representatives at the voting stations, even maxing out the SIM cards of many Mousavi representatives’ cell phones. These actions practically destroyed the ability [of the opponents’ camp] to exercise their own right to have representatives at the voting stations and find out whether the election was fair. Consequently, worries about fraud in the election intensified.
Why did this military-intelligence group deny Mr. Ahmadinejad’s opponents the possibility to legally observe the voting stations? What was the problem Commander Moshafagh had with people sending out information during the election? We believe that hindering the opposition candidates’ legal actions at voting stations was the first operational step of this meddlesome military-intelligence group in realizing its bad intentions for the election and in preventing Mr. Ahmadinejad’s opponents from winning.
This Group’s Illegal Entry into the Domain of Electoral Competition and Use of Military-Intelligence Resources To Destroy the Image of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s Opponent: Mr. Mirhossein Mousavi
In his speech, Commander Moshafagh describes how this group used military-intelligence resources to constantly monitor Mr. Mousavi’s normal and legal activities throughout the election, such as his conversations with his supporters, and the group would pick the best opportunity to execute a psychological operation against him. Commander Moshafagh said his group published news about Mr. Mousavi’s visit with a national religious group in order to smear him. He admits that, “With Imam Zaman’s grace and with the blessings of the missing soldiers, news of this meeting was published. In 24 hours, we got this news out to the people to say that Mr. Mousavi is lying and is associated with anti-revolutionary radical elements behind the scenes.”
Military-Intelligence Group’s Illegal Entry into the Domain of Electoral Contest at the Level of Opposition Groups’ Election Activities and Setting the Agenda for Mr. Ahmadinejad’s Opponents
Commander Moshafagh plainly admits that his organization construed any legal political action against Mr. Ahmadinejad’s victory as a plot and exerted efforts to neutralize them. As an example, he admitted to mentioning Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani’s recommendation to different individuals about becoming a candidate as a plot. He admits that one of the military-intelligence group’s tasks was to prevent the opponents of conservatives, especially [opponents of] Ahmadinejad, from becoming candidates. He says, “We told Mr. Larijani that you are the crown of the conservatives and head of parliament. The conservatives want to count on you in the future. If you become a candidate, Mr. Hashemi would hit two birds with one stone. He would crush Mr. Ahmadinejad’s vote and [prematurely] burn you out as the crown of the conservatives.”
Mr. Moshafagh admits that because the candidates, Mr. Ahmadinejad’s more so, resisted, [the group] was forced to use intelligence resources to change their minds. He says, “Mr. Ali Larijani thought that were provoking him, so we explained the grounds for our line of reasoning…[and] Mr. Ali Larijani consented and stepped aside.”
On what grounds is such action compatible with the duties of a military-intelligence body? Even if these actions were not described within the framework of an organization’s interference in the presidential elections, with what law can one justify these direct interferences in the legitimate activities of political groups in presidential elections?
Illegal Interference into the Election Contests, Attempt to Sow Conflict among Opposition Candidates and their Supporters Using Intelligence Sites and Tools to Conduct Psychological Operations
Commander Moshafagh claims that his military-intelligence group took action in order to gather intelligence about the reformists’ meetings and acquired a case against Mr. Mousavi and Mr. Karroubi by Behzad Nabavi. “Mr. Behzad Nabavi says that if Mr. Karroubi had not stepped aside, we would have investigated his stint as manager of the Martyr’s Foundation, looked for some financial corruption he did at the time and made a big deal and debate about it until he himself stepped aside. If we didn’t find a trace of corruption against him, we would make one up.”
Regarding Mr. Mousavi, Commander Moshafagh said that should Mr. Mousavi not step aside, “We would send a message to him that we plan to publish a pre-1979 photo of his wife without hijab. Later this was discussed under the name of the conservatives, but we have proof that he (Behzad Nabavi) was the first person to discuss it….”
Although these allegations are downright lies and his statements blatantly deceptive, the most important point is that the speaker admits this story deemed as documentation of intelligence activity has been used for sowing conflict among the Reformists. He said, “It is interesting that before the elections we also went to see both Mousavi and Karroubi and informed them of these plans. Mousavi also did an interview that was critical of Behzad Nabavi, and there was no sign of dispute, but later the problem was solved between them.”
If these actions were narrated within the framework of a plot designed by this military-intelligence group to defeat Mr. Ahmadinejad’s opponents, how can one justify them? What right does a military-intelligence group have to use its own resources to get involved with these illegal political games of bad character, based upon fabrications against a presidential candidate’s opponents?
Formal, Public and Prompt Announcement of the Military Forces’ Connection to a Political Faction, Especially During the Election
Commander Moshafagh in his speech admitted (with much emphasis and much pride) to his and his group’s connection to a political faction, in addition to the aforementioned cases which are all clear indications of this group’s illegal political activities. This is all against the laws of the country such as the IRGC Charter and Imam Khomeini’s explicit wording in his will against direct military involvement in politics. He talks about the “conservatives.” He justified their own internal issues in the group (as if he is a member) and says, “I work in the conservatives’ domain as much as I do in the reformists’ domain, and I say to you that many of these sort of people are the result of our lack of effort and shortcomings as conservatives. Where did we get caught in such doubt and ambiguity? Some conservative leaders’ lack of insight caused some ‘enemies’ to think that we’ve become weak. Where did the mark of strife land on our faces? We should have shielded the Supreme Leader and wilayat where it was necessary…We stepped aside, and the stone hit the Leader. The conservatives deserted, and the Leader still provided support. Where did we step aside so the Leader had to get attacked? Our shortcomings were getting little done and lacking insight and awareness, which unfortunately gripped so many conservatives….We had done little. We had stepped aside to [deal with] some people when [consequently] the Leader became a target. We must remember that we have something to say about our relationship with the conservatives among ourselves….We conservatives must also criticize ourselves. And the criticism must reach an end.”
Discovering the connection of a military-intelligence group to a specific political faction during a presidential election in any country, with whatever excuse or justification it happens, unfortunately results in a coup d’état, or interventions similar to a coup d’état, shown in election results. For this reason, this viewpoint and position clearly show the roots of the illegal actions of this military-intelligence group in the presidential election.
Imam Khomeini said in his last will:
“My emphatic counsel to the armed forces is to observe abide by the military rule of non-involvement in politics. Do not join any political party, group or faction. No military man, security policeman, no Revolutionary Guard or Basij may enter into politics. Stay away from politics and you’ll be able to preserve and maintain your military prowess and be immune to internal division and dispute. Military commanders must forbid entrance into political ties by the men under their command. And, as the Revolution belongs to the nation, its preservation is also the duty of all. Therefore, the government, the nation, the Defense Council… the Islamic Consultative Assembly are all charged with the religious and national responsibility to oppose, from the very beginning, any interference in politics or any action against the interests of Islam and the country by the armed forces, regardless of category, class, branch and rank. Such involvement will surely corrupt and pervert them. It is incumbent on the leader and the Leadership Council to prevent such involvement of the armed forces by decisive action so that no harm may beset the country.”
Articles 47 and 48 of the IRGC Charter approved in 1361 (1982) also state regarding this matter:
Article 47: “IRGC politically and ideologically is dependent on the rule of the jurist and must be independent from all political groups and parties and must never employ a political character in the society as a political group or organization”.
Article 48: “Members of the IRGC have no right to membership in any political party, group or organization. Continuation of such membership will bring about their expulsion from the IRGC”.
The IRGC Law of Recruitment Procedures approved October 1991 is also explicit on this issue. Article 16 is about “the public conditions for recruitment of Basiji staff and personnel, especially high level IRGC figures, as well as non-membership and no support for political parties, groups and organizations.”
Actions to Design a Case Before Even the Crime Occurs and Requesting an Arrest Warrant for a Number of Political, Cultural and Media Activists
The intelligence unit of the Sar’Allah Quarters on June 8, 2009—4 days before the Election took place—had filed for an arrest warrant of dozens of political, cultural and media activists (such as the signatories of this letter) to Mr. Saeed Mortazavi, the Tehran Public Prosecutor at the time, without presenting evidence. On the same day, it received an illegal warrant (ruling) without reason for arrest. These people who had been under surveillance were arrested immediately after the election took place. The text of this warrant can be found in the files of the signatories of this letter.
Although this request and issue of the arrest warrant materialized before the supposed crime even happened, it was construed as part of a planned operation by the Sar’Allah Quarters. However, within the context Mr. Moshafagh describes the dimensions of this group’s operation, more attention to this matter shows clearly that decisions were made even before the planners of this group.
With what basis did this group plan to arrest a group of political, cultural and media figures under false allegations of crime which were supposed to happen four days later? Should these actions be justified within the context of an organization created to interfere in presidential elections?
Interference in Judicial Affairs Such as Preparing Desired Punishment for Individuals during the Post-Election Events
During the arrests, interrogations and sentencing, officers of this military-intelligence group asserted that the judiciary did not have a plan for investigating the allegations and determining the proper conditions for the accused. Therefore, these officers determined these cases and virtually issued the sentences. Narrators and witnesses of such action also indicated that unfortunately their claims were correct and many of the levels of judicial affairs were at the disposal of this military-intelligence group. Narrators and witnesses indicated that many of the bills for indictments, court rulings, and even the degree and type of punishments were prepared by this military-intelligence group instead of by judicial bodies. Commander Moshafagh in this speech plainly admitted that bills of indictment against the accused were prepared by this group: “For the instigators of strife, we prepared the bill of indictment.” Unfortunately the results of these actions not only imposed a heavy toll on the country and caused heavy injury to the masses and those arrested during the post-election event, but also damaged the country’s image in general and especially that of the judiciary. These actions affirmed for the first time the belief that the judiciary was practically under the control and at the disposal of military-intelligence forces.
Lying and Propagation of Lies Against Political Figures, Parties and Activists in Order to Justify Illegal Intrusions in the Presidential Election
The speech is full of false statements, claims and accusations against political figures, parties and activists in the presidential election, such as signatories of this letter. Each signatory’s case can be presented as an independent complaint. Our brief examination of the speech found more than 25 instances of explicit and unwarranted insults as well as more than 40 instances of lies and falsifications. The examples are:
Attributing to Mr. Khatami a grand assortment of lies and slanders of corruption, spying, impiety, plotting and yielding to foreign influences; insulting Mr. Hashemi for alleged spying and plotting; insulting Mr. Mousavi Khoeeni of spying, involvement with anti-revolutionists and plotting; accusing Mr. Mirhossein Mousavi of spying, impiety, [sympathizing with] Marxist ideology and plotting; insulting Ayatollah Sanei for his founding of the Zarar Mosque; and as for Mr. Mehdi Karroubi, we’ll leave further explanations about the insults against him for later; insulting Mr. Mohtashamipour of lying and plotting in the debate about fraud in the election and sowing conflict after the election; accusing Mr. Seyed Hassan Khomeini of being an opportunist and harboring bad intentions; accusing Mr. Younesi and his contacts of planning the street killings; slandering the reformists (especially the Combatant Clerics Association, the Islamic Participation Front, and IRMO) for their alleged plotting and intention to overthrow the regime; linking former intelligence and military officers to the serial murders and the Reformists to the peaceful protests; and accusing legitimate protestors against the election results of plotting against the Revolution and associating with the “enemy.”
Alongside these cases, the repeated and miscellaneous insults, lies and slander (such as [accusations of ] plotting to overthrow the regime) against the signatories of this letter, it must be realized that we openly announce that not even one case of the elaborate accusations discussed against the signatories of this letter is true, and all the so-called evidence is libel. At any rate, to shed light on the baseless aspects of the cases this intelligence figure has discussed, we will present one of the cases whose analysis and conclusion is full of slander:
An elaborate part of Commander Moshafagh’s speech contains so-called intelligence reports about espionage which reformist political activists (such as signatories of this letter) took part in. Despite the achievement of Mr. Khatami in seeking advice from experts and advisers (this noteworthy characteristic developed after his presidency became the foundation for permanent advisory meetings on different topics in his office), despite the constant conversations and debates as well as the exchange of views about various issues within political parties and groups in order to identify and understanding and create new avenues, and despite assessing the important and best achievements of political groups and parties in Iran and around the world, whenever Commander Moshafagh explained more about these realities, it was void of truth. Not only are the contents of his claims about the meetings lies, but also the claims about the time, place and participants of these meetings are not true. For example, one of the meetings which, according to the speaker, was very important and he talked about the content, goals and decisions made at that meeting, is the “breakfast meeting.” He claims that 7 well-known people (Mehdi Hashemi, Behzad Nabavi, Aminzadeh, Tajzadeh, Mousavi Lari, Atrianfar and Mar’ashi) would meet every Thursday morning for two years at each other’s houses for breakfast, talk until noon about issues noteworthy [for the speaker], and make decisions.
In describing these meetings the speaker says, “Let me just say to you that Mr. Mehdi Hashemi’s meetings (‘breakfast meetings’) were the most influential meetings pertaining to the election. That ‘thing’ (meaning the street protester) which entangled the country into a complicated security problem and intensified it, was guided by these groups under Mr. Mehdi Hashemi….”
Notwithstanding the normality of forming these meetings for exchanging views and building cooperation on issues such as those of the election, as well as the openness of these meetings, the claims made about these meetings, the content, essence and even form are overall unsubstantiated. In order to shed light on the baseless nature of this military-intelligence figure’s speech, it must be said that the individuals named as participants of these meetings had never in their lives eaten breakfast together. Never had they held meetings in each other’s houses. For a period of two years, they never consecutively held meetings at any place with each other. During the election campaign, they had never met up with each other, especially Mr. Mehdi Hashemi. Four of the seven people were arrested immediately after the election and obviously could not have had any influence on the post-election events. Unfortunately, the other claims brought up are also baseless, and the most tragic of all is that this military-intelligence group presented these matters as accurate intelligence work to the regime’s leaders and their audience in order to justify their dangerous and illegal actions.
Commander Moshafagh’s exaggerations about this so-called actual breakfast meeting(s) in conversing, for example with members of parliament, clerics and the Guardian Council, clearly show that he propagated violations of the law.
Unlawful Interference in the 8th Parliamentary Elections and Prohibiting Many Constituencies Around the Country From Having Opposition Candidates
Although it has been a long time since those elections took place, the admissions of Commander Moshafagh provide answers to questions regarding the underlying cause of the unfairness of the 8th Parliamentary Elections. Considering the fact that this pro-dictatorship group’s interferences with the election process in the country has a long history stretching back more than two or three years. In reality, such intrusive actions continued into the presidential elections. In this case, we also present our complaint about this matter.
Mr. Moshafagh highlights the role of his military-intelligence organization in the behind-the-scenes running of the parliamentary elections, and he explains the decisions made to determine the limits for reformist opposition candidates in this election. Mr. Moshafagh also traced this interference to the regime, “Well the regime provided 180 opportunities for them. 180 of these people all over the country had passed the supervisory filters and in one reasonable contest they could obtain 180 seats in the Majlis….” Despite what was said, the situation turned out to be much worse. Thousands of applicants, including hundreds of reformists and many people harboring critical views about the status quo, were deemed fit [to stand for] the Eighth Parliamentary Elections. Practically, some of the reformists were permitted to run in less than half of the constituencies, but within these constituencies, individuals verified as fit had little luck in winning votes [thanks to the efforts of this intelligence group].
The important issue here is that even with the possibility of accepting a number of claims made by Commander Moshafagh, he clearly admits that thanks to this group’s and other elements’ efforts in 110 constituencies, the election that took place was completely dictated. Isn’t this direct interference to determine the outcome of the people’s vote? What justification did this military-intelligence group have in 110 constituencies to change this election into just a dictated and ceremonial one? If these actions are not interferences to change the election results, then what should they be called?
In the end, we emphasize that the costs imposed on us, the signatories of this complaint, are the damages caused by this meddlesome force in the election and its influence in national media and judicial and electoral organizations. Therefore, we express our concern for anything relating to national independence, the sovereignty of national territory, freedoms, civil rights, Islamic Revolutionary foundations and the Islamic Republic of Iran. We also want to raise awareness about the dangers of the activities and influence of such a dangerous movement especially on the country’s military and intelligence organizations. Considering the abovementioned cases and the speaker’s admissions to the illicit crimes and interferences of this military-intelligence group as well as its leaders and supervisors, we, the signatories of this letter, respectfully deliver our complaint to you about Commander Moshafagh and those clearly responsible.
This complaint has been presented based on the necessity of legal authorities to pursue complaints about election violations—considering the repeated claims made by the regime’s highest leaders. We hope that reporting the crime committed does not entangle Mr. Khatami, who was president in 1384 (2005) when some military leaders carried out some violations in the Ninth Presidential Election. If initially this complaint was worthy of examination [for legal authorities], then we would not have been witnesses to the repeated illegal intrusions of this group composed of military and intelligence leaders during the Tenth Presidential Election and the incidents in the street that followed. We would not have been witnesses to the enormous and irreparable costs for the Iranian nation. Despite the dearth of attention to these crimes and no investigation into this group’s illegal interferences in the Tenth Presidential Election, and regardless of the fact that this election was not fair in every aspect and that the underlying causes and elements of the post-election crisis are not clarified, we believe that in the future there will be legal, free and competitive elections in our country.
Mohsen Aminzadeh Fayzallah Arab-Sorkhi
Mostafa Tajzadeh Mohsen Safaee-Farahani
Abdullah Ramezanzadeh Mohsen Mirdamadi
Behzad Nabavi
Video Recording, Rajaeeshahr Prison in Karaj, May 2009
