LATEST: FM Zarif Meets Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Before Key Nuclear Talks

Months of growing tension over Iran’s detained opposition leaders erupted into fighting on the floor of Parliament on Sunday, after a prominent MP called for the release of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard from almost 4 years of strict house arrests.

The Majlis was briefly suspended when Ali Motahari, the son of a revered Ayatollah and relative of Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, was physically attacked over his claim that the house arrests are illegal and contravene the Iranian Constitution.

Audio of Motahari’s statement

See also Iran Feature: Parliament Suspended After MP Calls for Release of Detained Opposition Leaders

About 10 minutes into his speech, Motahari said, “I blame the Supreme National Security Council, the President, and the judiciary on this issue.” Three legislators of the hardline Endurance Front — Fathullah Hussaini, Azizullah Akbarian, and Javad Karimi Qoddusi, all former Revolutionary Guards commanders — pulled Motahari from the podium.

Far from defending Motahari, the chair of the session, Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Hassan Abutorabi Fard, said, “I don’t think your speech is appropriate; therefore, I will announce a 15-minute break.”

Mousavi and Karroubi — both candidates in the 2009 Presidential election “won” by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad — and Mousavi’s wife Rahnavard were shut away in their homes in February 2011, as the regime feared a revival of mass protests.

In his 2013 campaign, President Rouhani promised to pursue the release of the trio. However, he has been confronted by a hardline campaign against the leaders of “sedition”, the regime’s term for the demonstrations after the 2009 election. The Supreme Leader intervened last autumn by saying that Mousavi, Karrobui, and Rahnavard had been treated leniently with the house arrests — had they been put on trial, they could be put to death.

Motahari maintained the pressure on Sunday by publishing the rest of the speech, repeating his call for Mousavi, Karroubi, and Rahnavard to be formally charged and tried rather than kept in the limbo of the house arrests. He claimed that, in response to his appeal, head of judiciary Sadegh Larijani “did not consider the house arrest as punishment”.

Motahari then challenged the claims that Mousavi and Karroubi were leaders of “sedition”. He said “the solution to these problems is that officials stand up and confess to their mistakes”, such as supporting the “victory” of former President Ahmadinejad and pursuing violent action against protesters.

The MP then implicitly turned on the Supreme Leader: “If one is placed in a status where no criticism can be made about him, he will become corrupt and will lead the society to corruption.”

Reports circulated that hardline supporters were going to demonstrate outside Motahari’s house and Parliament, but the Interior Ministry called on police to prevent any gatherings.


FM Zarif Meets Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Before Key Nuclear Talks

Preparing for another round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program, Foreign Minister Mohammad Reza Zarif met Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in Tehran on Monday.

Zarif is scheduled to see US Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday before Iranian and US teams sit down for three days in Geneva. Iran will then meet the 5+1 Powers (US, Britain, France, Germany, China, and Russia) at the level of political deputies next Monday.

No details were given of today’s discussion, with Zarif giving the pro forma of thanks to Moscow for its contribution to the negotiations.

Iran Unveils Report on US — “The Biggest Violator of Human Rights”

Iran’s Global Center to Support Human Rights has presented a report on human rights violations in the US in 2014, claiming, “Today those who claim to be advocates of human rights are themselves the biggest violators of human rights.”

The head of the Center, Ahmad Esfandiari, told a ceremony that 1,029 “black people” were killed by the US police in 2014; more than 35 people were executed, among them 18 blacks and 5 Hispanics; and 53 people were sentenced to death.

Esfandiari asserted that more than 250,000 children were tried and punished in the US in 2014, with 10,000 children kept in US prisons.

He added, “The US ranks 46th in the world in freedom of media.”

Hossein Sheikholeslam, a senior advisor to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, used the report to challenge Washington in Central Asia and the Middle East: “The US has committed various crimes in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria under the name of combating terrorism, while it does not feel concerned about human rights conditions when the Islamic State and Jabhat Al-Nusra behead Muslims and Christians in Syria and Iraq and play football with their heads.”

Britain is next on the Center’s list, with a report to be published on January 26.