Massoumeh Ebtekar’s Claims in Response to VOA Tablet Program Spark Controversy on Twitter; Protest Over Hypocrisy and Double Standards of Islamic Republic Officials

After Massoumeh Ebtekar denied the VOA’s Tablet program report about her son, saying he is in the United States for education like other young people, several prominent Iranian women and social media users reacted to her statements.

Massoumeh Ebtekar, who played a prominent role in the seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran and the taking of hostages, claims that her son will return to Iran after completing his studies. However, Masih Alinejad, journalist and host of the Tablet program, says the son of Ms. Ebtekar has finished his studies but is unwilling to return to Iran.

Alan Eyre, former spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, referring to a video of Ebtekar’s statements in which she discussed how much she had to pay, wrote on Twitter: “Massoumeh Ebtekar paid? … That’s really funny.”

The mother of Pooya Bakhtiari also addressed Massoumeh Ebtekar in a video message, asking why someone who climbed the wall of the American Embassy and called it the seizure of a “spy nest” sent her son to America.

She, who lost her son during last November’s protests when security forces opened fire, asked: “You are sending people like my son underground to gain the wealth so that you can send your own children to live in Western countries.”

Following Ebtekar’s statements, several Iranian women and artists living in America reacted to it and considered her remarks as an obvious contradiction in the behavior of Islamic Republic officials regarding their own children and the Iranian people. Among them, Roya Hakakian, writer, poet, and journalist, wrote in a Twitter message that many realities about the hostage-taking at the American Embassy in Iran have not been stated or have been stated in reverse.

She added: “The fact that the son of Massoumeh Ebtekar, someone who played a role in the hostage-taking, is in America, while those who disagree with her views on enmity toward America and do not express them are deprived of presenting their art in Iran, is a profound injustice.”

Nina Ansari, writer and historian, also called Massoumeh Ebtekar’s statements audacious in a Twitter message, referring to the fact that she was the spokesperson for the hostage-takers who seized the American Embassy, and recently called the U.S. government a terrorist government.

Two Iranian female artists living outside Iran also reacted to Massoumeh Ebtekar’s statements. One of them said: Ms. Ebtekar! It is very good that you, who climbed the wall of the American Embassy and took its employees hostage, can yourself and your family easily and without worry travel to America and return to Iran. But I, who have not engaged in political activities and do not, and only speak the truth in the songs I sing, cannot return to Iran and see my family because if I return, I will face imprisonment or even possibly execution.”

She then asked Massoumeh Ebtekar why such a contradiction exists.

Another artist also said in a video message addressing Massoumeh Ebtekar: “You have not paid any price for your actions, I paid a price and was sentenced to prison for singing, forced to leave my country and seek refuge in another country, and I cannot return to Iran to visit my family.”

She added that it is these bereaved mothers, political prisoners, and all Iranian women who have paid the price.

Earlier, Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State, in response to Iranian social media users who had asked about the presence of the children of Islamic Republic officials in America, said: “The very people busy destroying the lives of Iranians send their children abroad; because they are wealthy; because they have stolen your wealth and taken your money through corruption; they have harmed the good and hardworking people of Iran.”

He added: “They took your money and now they are sending their children abroad to study, to shop, and to enjoy the benefits of freedom that we have in the United States. They know their country is no longer good enough for them. The [Iranian] officials say the country is good for you people, but it is not good enough for their families.”

The presence of the children of Islamic Republic officials in America, Canada, and European countries comes as the inefficiency, the Iranian regime’s enmity with those same countries, and the corruption of this regime have confronted the country with severe inflation and economic recession, and have made life extremely difficult for the middle and lower income classes.

Source: Voice of America