Tension in Iranian Parliament over Omid Faction members' meeting with Khatami

Today, the Iranian parliament was thrown into turmoil by the cries of some hard-line representatives. They were shouting, “Sedition is the red line of the regime” and “Khatami has shed so much blood and caused sedition.” They were protesting the meeting of members of the Omid faction with Mohammad Khatami.

The attack by so-called hardline members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly on a recent meeting between members of the Hope faction and Mohammad Khatami, the head of the reformist government, led to tension. Ali Motahari, the second vice-speaker of the Assembly, chaired today's session.

The recent meeting of members of the Omid faction of the Iranian parliament with Mohammad Khatami, the president of the so-called reform era, was met with protests on Monday, March 11, by Mohammad Mehdi Zahedi, a member of the Velai faction.

According to ISNA, Zahedi said in his interpellation speech at today's open session of the parliament, among other things: "A meeting of a group of members of the parliament with a person who, in some sense, remained behind the revolution during the sedition of 2009 is support for the rebellion; I hope that these representatives will prioritize national interests over factional interests and will have the necessary support for the ideals of the Imam and the leadership of the revolution. The supervisory bodies are expected to take appropriate measures."

Then, Mohammad Ali Vakili, a member of the presidium of the parliament, in a verbal reminder, citing Article 75 of the Iranian Constitution and in response to Zahedi's speech, who called the meeting of members of the Omid faction with Khatami "against national interests," said: "The national interests were violated when an 8-year-old president continues to move around the country; he has free speech; he has free travel and questions all the official borders of the country, but no one protests him. These things are against the national interests, not the president who has been sitting in a corner for years and does nothing but call for unity, mercy, and obedience."

According to ISNA: "During Vakili's statements, a number of representatives entered the presidium and showed very harsh critical reactions towards Ali Motahari and Mohammad Ali Vakili. Mojtaba Zolnouri, a representative of the people of Qom, shouted into the loudspeaker of the presidium: Khatami has shed blood! Khatami is a seditionist! Mr. Motahari, be impartial!"

At this point, the lawyer continued: “It is against the national interest when we threaten the people’s representatives.” Some representatives who were present at the presiding board’s seat said to Ali Motahari: “Why don’t you give us time when we are tearing throats?”

According to Etemad Online: “The number of representatives in the presidium was increasing moment by moment. At this time, Karimi Ghodousi went to the lawyer’s microphone and said: Khatami has shed so much blood and caused sedition…” According to IRNA, Karimi Ghodousi was shouting “with clenched fists.”

The Fars News Agency reported that conservative representatives got into a verbal altercation with a lawyer and said to the reformists, "You are causing trouble."

According to Etemad Online, Javad Karimi Ghoddousi and Mojtaba Zolnouri, two representatives affiliated with the Paydari Front, “continued to shout at Ali Motahari,” and Zolnouri said to him, “You have sworn to be impartial.” At this time, Zahedi and Mohammad Javad Abtahi were also standing in front of Ali Motahari and protesting.

Reformist representatives also came to the presidium, and Abdolkarim Hosseinzadeh, a member of the Omid faction, debated with Karimi Ghodousi for a few minutes. Abbas Goodarzi, a conservative representative from Boroujerd, also turned on Motahari's microphone and said, "Sedition is the red line of the system."

Also, according to ISNA, "Sentences such as "their tails are tied to the tails of the seditionists," "Sedition is the red line of the revolution," and so on were heard from the representatives present at the presiding board's seat."

Then, in response to the controversy, Ali Motahari said: "Mr. Vakili's remark was valid, and Mr. Khatami is not banned from meeting. He is banned from being photographed, which also has no legal basis. Please take your place. You made a statement that was implicitly an insult to a large number of representatives, and Mr. Vakili responded."

Etemad Online wrote that during today's public session of the Iranian Parliament, "tension arose for a few minutes between Vakili and Zahedi, but the deputies separated them, and after that, members of the Omid faction came to the presiding board and thanked Mohammad Ali Vakili."

But Fars News Agency claimed that Motahari had increased tension in the parliament by “biasing one faction.” According to the news agency, “After a while, Zahedi protested against the lawyer’s statements by standing in front of the presidium’s stand and saying, ‘Liar, it’s a lie.’” The presidium member responded to Zahedi’s protest by using the phrase, “Shut up, shut up.”

Members of the reformist Omid faction had met with former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami a few days ago, who is currently banned from being photographed. In his speech, the text of which was published on March 5, Khatami called the state of Iranian society “desperate” and emphasized that the Islamic Republic’s system “must become reformable and flexible.” He also warned about the failure of reforms in the Islamic Republic, saying: “It is very difficult to tell people to come and vote. Do you think that in the next round of elections, the people will listen to you and me at the polls? I think it is unlikely unless there is a change in the next year.”

For years, Iran's official media has been prohibited from covering Mohammad Khatami's positions and publishing his image. The restrictions imposed on Khatami went so far that in October of last year (2017), security agents prevented him from leaving his home "for the umpteenth time."

Source: DW