An Iranian lawmaker accused senior officials on Sunday of selectively enforcing the law, questioning why it was applied strictly to a former foreign minister but not to the current vice president.
“People are asking what problem Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei had with former foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif that they firmly enforced the sensitive jobs law against him, but are now ignoring the same law in the case of Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref,” Tehran MP Hamidreza Rasaei said in an open session of parliament.
Rasaei said key provisions of Iran’s transparency law – requiring disclosure of officials’ income, judicial rulings, commission proceedings, major contracts and recruitment – had not been implemented by the government or the judiciary, adding that non-compliance is defined as a criminal offense.
He accused both branches of violating the law and said public frustration was growing as legal requirements were enforced rigidly in some political cases but ignored in others.
Referring to the law governing sensitive positions, which bars officials if close family members hold foreign citizenship, Rasaei said Aref’s appointment was unlawful because his child holds German nationality, contrasting it with the earlier removal of Zarif.
“When laws are applied selectively,” Rasaei said, “this is the result.”
