Exclusive: Khamenei’s Niece Says Government Fears Her Mother Will Reveal Secrets About ‘The Regime’

The niece of Iran’s Supreme Leader says officials have warned his family not to “make a fuss” because they fear his sister’s mother will “disclose what she knows.”

Mahmoud Moadkhani, brother of Farida Moadkhani, a civil activist who was arrested near her home in Tehran on January 13, said on Wednesday, February 3, in an interview with the Persian service of Voice of America: “The Sepah Intelligence Organization contacted us and specifically told us not to make a big fuss.”

Mahmoud Moadkhani emphasized: “They are afraid that my mother will speak and reveal things that she knows, which would be very difficult for the regime and for Ali Khamenei personally.”

Stressing that his mother “cut off all contact with her brother [Ali Khamenei] since 2009 and became a serious opponent of this regime,” he added that she “has always been against the Islamic Republic alongside my father.”

Ali Moadkhani, known as “Sheikh Ali Tehrani,” is the husband of Badri Hosseini (Khamenei) – the Supreme Leader’s sister. He is 95 years old and is a cleric opposed to the Islamic Republic who lived in Baghdad during the Iran-Iraq War and openly opposed the Islamic Republic. Sheikh Ali Tehrani returned to Tehran in 1995 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, but was released from prison in 2005 and has since made no public statements or political activities.

Farida Moadkhani, a civil activist, was suddenly arrested about 20 days ago without any prior notice or notification while returning from her father’s house to her own home. According to her brother, the arresting officers forced her to go inside the house and take “mobile phones and some items” that “they recorded.”

Farida Moadkhani’s charges have not been specifically announced, but according to her brother, the Sepah Intelligence Organization told the family in contact that “she had committed many crimes.”

Mr. Moadkhani says: “My sister only did human rights work and helped families of political prisoners and the needy inside Iran. She did charitable work. Most likely, some of her imprisonment was because of her participation in commemorating Empress Farah’s birthday, and the message she recited for Empress Farah certainly did not please them and angered them so much that they arrested my sister.”

Farida Moadkhani, a human rights activist residing in Iran and niece of Iran’s Supreme Leader, participated online on October 13 in a ceremony commemorating the 83rd birthday of Empress Farah Pahlavi, held by the Constitutional Monarchy Party, and recited a poem about her and Iran that moved the Empress and those present in the session.

According to Mr. Moadkhani, this human rights activist “has been interrogated in Ward 209 of Evin for 20 days” and his family has little news of her.

He explained: “During this time, she has spoken to my mother two or three times very briefly and for less than ten or twenty seconds to say that she is relatively well, but her voice was tired and they did not allow her to speak much more than that. She was under surveillance and could not say what she wanted to say.”

Farida Moadkhani’s brother, stating that “most likely” she is now in the custody of “the Intelligence Organization,” said that until the interrogations are completed, “she cannot have a lawyer. I think this is a method that the regime applies to all political prisoners and we all know that the number of political prisoners in Iran is very, very high and many people are suffering and imprisoned by this regime.”

Farida Moadkhani suffers from “allergies and asthma,” and according to her brother, “the family is concerned about her health.”

Source: Voice of America