Hardliners Call For Prosecuting Iran's Former President Rouhani

Some Iranian activists bombarded Parviz Parastui, the lead actor of the film, with questions about his political stances during the Q and A that followed the screening of One Thousand and One Day at 'Red Carpet with Parviz Parastouei' at Lumiere Cinema in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Activists said Parastui who has appeared in more than fifty Iranian films never speaks about "human rights violations in Iran" and "regime atrocities" such as the killing of hundreds of protesters in nationwide protests in November 2019.

They also criticized him for his praise of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Qods Force Commander Ghasem (Qasem) Soleimani who was killed in a targeted US drone strike as he arrived at Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020.

Parastui who has on some occasions criticized the clerics in power for corruption refrained from directly answering the questions on his relationship with Soleimani but implied that he could not speak freely and said he always feels as if he is walking a tightrope "to keep everyone happy."

Before the event, Sam Rajabi, a former judoka champion who now lives in the US, insisted that Parastouei explain about his relationship with Soleimani, while filming him on his mobile. Parastui refused to respond, and the encounter ended in Parastui knocking the mobile out of Rajabi's hand. The video taken by Rajabi has gone viral on social media with hundreds commenting in support or against Parastouei.

There was also a heated argument between a group of activists and Gohar Kheirandish, an Iranian actress who spoke in Parastui's support outside the venue of the event.

"Mr Rajabi has democratically and in an acceptable tone asked a question … and faced physical violence," one of the actor's critics said in a tweet while accusing the veteran actor of being a "government-sponsored" artist.

It is the duty of an artist who has found fame and money because of people's support to speak up and take people's side when they are oppressed, another critic argued on Twitter.

Some others have defended the actor saying being an outspoken critic is not easy for those living under an oppressive regime. "Sam Rajabi definitely knows that Parviz Parastui and Gohar Kheirandish are neither pro-regime revolutionaries nor super-religious," one of Parastouei's supporters tweetedwhile arguing that activists' demands for candid expression of artists' political views puts them in danger.

Yet others have questioned the US government about granting visa to a "Soleimani supporter".

Hardline Iranian media, such as the IRGC-linked Fars news agency, have alleged that the opposition Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization was behind the confrontations with Parastui and Kheirandish. But regime opponents of different persuasions have criticized the event as a publicity stunt in support of the Islamic Republic

Directed by Habib Ahmadzadeh, One Thousand and One Day -- also known as the Legend of Bonasan: The Genie in the Lamp -- is the story of a genie that must compose a melody with help from four humans to create a human miracle or he would be expelled from the Solar System for eternity and according to its director, is a film in praise of peace.

The Iranian Cinema US Tour organized by Code Pink included screenings and discussions in Washington DC, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles in April.

Code Pink introduces itself as a women-led grassroots organization "working to end US wars and militarism" and supporter of peace and human rights initiatives. Code Pink condemns US sanctions on Iran.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf claimed before the official opening of the parliament's session on Saturday that there is a "story behind the story" over the disclosures about his family's shopping spree in Turkey.

Ghalibaf said that he was against the trip to Turkey, but his family decided to go Istanbul regardless of his opposition. He explained that his wife had to accompany her daughter and son-in-law to take care of his pregnant daughter, the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA) reported.

The scandal broke on April 20, when videos began circulating on social media showing Ghalibaf’s family returning from Turkey with many pieces of luggage, in what appeared to be accessories for his daughter’s baby on the way. Later more reports emerged that the family also bought two apartments in Istanbul worth $1.6 million during the trip.

He claimed that the controversy about the shopping spree was "fiction," adding that the rumors about the excess baggage was all lies and accusations.

"Many told me that that there was nothing special about the trip as it was a private visit. My family did not use diplomatic passport and did not benefit from what they were entitled to based on protocols. They travelled like all other citizens. So, they told me I did not need to take an official position on it," said Ghalibaf.

He added: "But I told them that what they did was not acceptable and that they should apologize to the people. And they did apologize immediately before anyone said anything." Ghalibaf added: "Very few people would ever do that."

However, the parliament speaker did not explain how his family could afford such a trip on his salary, when the fall in the value of the national currency has made monthly wages less than $200 for most Iranians.

Ghalibaf claimed that "some people who had political intentions continued mudslinging. All the evidence point to the fact there was a political project to tarnish my image." He asked: "How did they find out about the most private matters in my family? How confidential information was put at their disposal? And when they realized that the shopping was not anything important, they fabricated the story about buying real estate."

Ghalibaf further claimed that his political opponents were trying to tarnish the image of the parliament because Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had called it "a revolutionary parliament."

The Majles Speaker said that intelligence organizations have started an investigation the matter and I will chase the case until the end because it is the prestige and status of the Majls which is at stake.

The statement by Ghalibaf about the investigation comes while his aides including Mahmoud Razavi had charged earlier that a certain intelligence agency as behind the disclosures.

Following the meeting, some 233 lawmakers wrote a letter to call on the country's main intelligence agencies, the Ministry of Intelligence and the IRGC Intelligence Organization, to confront "those who launched the mudslinging project against Ghalibaf."

Speaking in Ghalibaf's defense, last week Hossein Ali Shahryari the chairman of the Majles Health Committee told reporters that some lawmakers including Ghalibaf are so busy that they are often not aware of what their family members are doing. Shahryari further said that Ghalibaf should not be blamed for what his family members have done.

Meanwhile, Seyyed Jafar Tashakkori Hashemi, a former aide of Ghalibaf at the Tehran City Council said Ghalibaf's family members are financially independent of the Speaker and they go abroad for shopping like some nine million other Iranians who do so every year.

Ghalibaf’s defenders also resorted to another excuse, which sounded flimsy to many Iranians. They argued that the family’s trip was a “private matter.”

The support by 233 of the parliament's 290 lawmakers, possibly indicates Khamenei’s support for Ghalibaf’s re-election as Majles Speaker for next week. 

The Coordination Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations said that security officers raided the homes of the several activists in Tehran on Saturday, arrested four and confiscated their electronic devices.

The spokesman of the association, Eskandar Lotfi, said in a tweet that three of the detainees were taken to the notorious Evin prison, adding that tens of their other colleagues from different parts of the country have been summoned to court.

According to reports, the officers used violence against some of the activists who resisted arrest, including Rasoul Badaghi, and broke glasses and furniture with a hammer.

During the latest round of nationwide rallies, demonstrators gathered in front of the Education Ministry building in Tehran on Thursday and its offices in various other cities to protest discriminatory regulations on a teacher ranking plan as well as the "continuous and systematic" suppression of union activists.

Teachers across Iran have staged several nationwide protests and strikes in the past six months and have vowed to continue protests until authorities meet their demands including, the implementation of decade-old legislation that would bring the salaries and pensions of 750,000 teachers in line with other civil servants.

Middle East Eye, based in London, reported that according to a complaint launched in a Florida court Virgin Island officials had been connected to an undercover US Drug Enforcement Agency informant by operatives of Iran-backed Hezbollah, the Lebanese party allied to Iran.

The operative allegedly offered the informant the use of a storage port on the island of Tortola, the most populous of the Virgin Islands, to hold Colombian cocaine en route to Miami.

Fahie was arrested by the DEA along with Oleanvine Maynard, manager of the territory's ports authority. Fahie, Maynard, and Maynard’s son Kadeem had allegedly forged their plan with the informant, who had posed as a member of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel and who had met "a group of self-proclaimed Lebanese Hezbollah operatives."

Fahie, who has since last year has been the subject of an enquiry into alleged corruption, was allegedly due to make $7.8 million from the scheme. Located in the Caribbean east of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, the group of islands is a British Overseas Territory with its own elected government.

Mohajeri said in an interview with Nameh News website in Tehran that Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is more likely to prompt his supporters to harshly criticize President Ebrahim Raisi’s administration, and question and impeach his cabinet ministers.

Differences between the two politicians were fist revealed during the 2020- parliamentary elections, Mohajeri said, but finally they decided to present a shared list of candidates for the Iranian parliament (Majles). Although the measure temporarily put an end to increasing disputes between the two, rivalries and hard feelings appear to be still motivating the two politicians.

Mohajeri recounted that Ghaliobaf was initially planning to run for president in the June 2021 election but changed his mind as soon as he found out that Raisi was a candidate. So, he announced: "I will not nominate myself as a candidate if Mr. Raisi wishes to run."

Nonetheless, when Raisi won the presidential election, the share of cabinet seats he gave Ghalibaf was far less than what he offered the ultraconservative Paydari Party.

Although the Majles gave a good vote of confidence to the Raisi administration, gradually, disputes between Raisi and Ghalibaf escalated. The lawmakers are now adamant to impeach Labor Minister Hojjat Abdolmaleki and Industry Minister Reza Fatemi Amin, but it is evident that more cabinet ministers will be on the parliament's impeachment list, Mohajeri added.

Mohajeri explained that the differences between Ghalibaf and Raisi are rooted in the dispute between Paydari and Ghalibaf and the lawmakers' intervention in the government's executive affairs. There are a lot of disputes in the Majles with the government over the appointment of local and provincial governors, he said, adding that the situation is likely to escalate.

Stressing that a fight between Ghaliobaf and Raisi is inevitable, he pointed out: "Have no doubt about this. "

Recently, lawmaker Hossein Jalali revealed that the members of the parliament have discussed calling for the disqualification of Raisi on the grounds of his "incompetence" for the job. Jalali believes that impeaching the ministers is useless.

Meanwhile, in an extensive article about the differences between Ghalibaf and the Paydari Party, Rouydad24 website wrote that disputes might flare up between Ghalibaf and Raisi. Rouydad24 also wrote that in the controversy surrounding Ghalibaf's family shopping spree in Turkey, his supporters believed that an intelligence agency linked to the government had appointed "minders" to keep an eye on the Speaker's family's every move in Turkey. Some of Ghalibaf's supporters have also said that Paydari was behind the leaking of a damning tape which implicated Ghalibaf's involvement in a major financial corruption case, the report said.

The rivalry between Ghalibaf and Paydari members goes back to the 2013 presidential elections during which Ghalibaf represented his own "neo-con" group and former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili was Paydari's candidate. At the time Paydari damaged Ghalibaf's reputation by saying that his positions on foreign policy were the same as Iran's reformists. Later, Paydari charged that Ghalibaf supported the nuclear deal with the United States while Supreme Leader Khamenei described the deal as an "absolute loss."

After that election, Paydari strongly opposed Ghalibaf's appointment as Tehran mayor. And in the current Majles, Paydari let him win the position of Speaker only after getting many concessions. Paydari's mouthpiece, the Raja News website continues its verbal attacks on Ghalibaf.