LATEST: Larijani Tells Judiciary: Back Off Prosecution of MP Motahari Over Political Prisoners

WEDNESDAY FEATURE

Are Conservatives Taking Over Rouhani’s Nuclear Negotiations?

High-level Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, hosted a delegation from Syria in Tehran on Tuesday.

The meeting with the Syrians, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Feisal Mikdad, comes amid political maneuvres for the proposed international “peace” conference in Switzerland on January 22.

It is unlikely that any conference will be significant, given the unwillingness of Syria’s main opposition and insurgency are unlikely to attend without a promise that President Assad will step down from power. However, both Damascus and Tehran are eager to grab diplomatic advantage by showing their willingness for a resolution.

In addition, Iran is trying to work around the US veto on its presence at the conference.

Syrian State news agency SANA said the discussion in Tehran agreed “the priority of the upcoming international Geneva 2 conference on Syria should be combating terrorism and halting financial support and arms supplies to the takfiri terrorist groups through pressuring the countries backing these groups”.

It said Mikdad and Zarif “warned of the danger posed by the terrorist acts committed by the terrorist groups in Syria to the region’s security and stability”.

“The solution to the situation in Syria is a political solution through dialogue among the Syrians themselves without any interference in Syrian affairs,” said Zarif, according to SANA.

Iranian media featured Zarif’s declaration, “[This is] a great test that will decide the fate of the whole region’s stability and security. The confrontation with the wave of terrorism and extremism requires the cooperation of all countries.”

Meanwhile, the US State Department harshly criticized Iran over Syria on Tuesday, after its offer for Tehran to contribute “from the sidelines”to a conference was rebuffed by the Islamic Republic.

Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said:

At this point, Iran has done nothing but helped the regime, help bring foreign fighters in, help the regime’s efforts to brutalize the Syrian people….

If they wanted to send a message to the world about their seriousness of having a positive outcome, there are steps they could take. There’s no indication that they have any desire or interest in taking any of these steps.


Larijani Tells Judiciary: Back Off Prosecution of MP Motahari Over Political Prisoners

In a notable intervention, Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has told Iran’s judiciary — headed his brother Sadegh — to back off the prosecution of MP Ali Motahari over comments about political prisoners.

The judiciary has charged Motahari with “insulting” it after the MP criticized the failure to review the sentences of political prisoners detained after the disputed 2009 Presidential election. Motahari responded that he has Parliamentary immunity for comments made in the Majlis.

Ali Larijani said that certain claims were “false and degrading” to Motahari, indicating that the MP should be free to offer critical remarks.

Residents Of Khash In Sistan va Baluchesan Claim Government Demolished Their Homes

Residents of the village of Khash in the predominantly Sunni province of Sistan va Baluchestan claimed Tuesday that Iranian forces demolished a number of homes in the village.

Sources said the demolitions occurred in the Shoga and Dawlatabad areas of Khash. Local activists posted this claimed image of the demolitions on Facebook. The demolitions also destroyed some agricultural lands and a Sunni mosque, according to activists.

Map of Khash, near the Pakistan border:


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Sources said that no reason was given for the demolitions.

Sistan va Baluchestan has seen violence from several Sunni Baloch insurgent groups who have complained about religious and ethnic oppression by the Shia Iranian regime.

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Journalist Qaravi Freed After More Than 2 Months in Prison

Journalist Ali Asghar Qaravi of the reformist Bahar daily has been released on bail after more than two months in prison.

Qaravi, a leading member of the Freedom Movement, was imprisoned in October after he wrote about Shia’s first Imam, Ali. His “crime” was to emphasize Ali as a religious rather than political figure — authorities found that this was a challenge to the authority of the Supreme Leader.

Bahar was banned and its editor briefly detained after the incident.

Khamenei’s Military Advisor: Region “Absolutely Under the Influence of Islamic Revolution & Supreme Leader”

The Supreme Leader’s military advisor, Yahya Rahim Safavi, has returned to Ayatollah Khamenei’s declaration in 2011 of an “Islamic Awakening” following the model of Iran.

Rahim Safavi said “the region is absolutely under the influence of the Iranian Islamic Revolution, Imam Khomeini, and the Supreme Leader”.