LATEST: Political Activist Otoofat Sentenced to 10 Years

Iran has restated its support for Syria’s Assad regime, as an American newspaper revealed that President Obama wrote the Supreme Leader about the campaign in Syria and Iraq against the Islamic State last month.

Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said, “Tehran and Moscow, along with some other countries, will continue their support for Syria and reject any military…solution.”

Amir-Abollahian asserted that Syria’s supporters were emphasizing a “political solution”: “Collective regional support for the terrorism-hit states is in the interest of all countries and governments, and the Islamic Republic of Iran acts seriously, wisely and forcefully on this path.”

On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal, fed by unnamed officials, reported that President Obama had sent a letter to Ayatollah Khamenei about regional matters. He reportedly linked cooperation against the Islamic State, which has taken control of parts of Iraq and Syria this year, to progress in nuclear talks between Iran and the 5+1 Powers.

See Iran Feature: Why are Officials Revealing that Obama Wrote Supreme Leader About Islamic State?

The Journal did not reveal if Obama mentioned the position of the Syrian regime in his letter.

The US has in the past called for the removal of President Assad — although it has muted that call in the past year — while the political, economic, and military support of Iran and Russia has been essential for the regime’s survival in the 44-month Syrian conflict.

Amir-Abdollahian insisted on Thursday, “If it were not for the leadership of Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian people’s resistance against the conspirators and takfiri terrorists, the world would witness a terrorist-governed Damascus.”


Political Activist Otoofat Sentenced to 10 Years

An appellate court has confirmed a 10-year prison sentence for Rouin Otoofat, an activist in the Nationalist-Religious Party.

Charges against Otoofat included membership of an illegal organization, propaganda against the regime, and actions against national security.

Otoofat was arrested in February 2013 at a meeting at his home that included 30 members of the Iranian intelligentsia. The participants included former Tehran University Chancellor Mohammad Maleki, who had been given a one-year prison sentence.

Most of the senior leadership of the Nationalist-Religious Party has been imprisoned since the disputed 2009 Presidential election.

The charge was described as “Establishment of the illegal and anti-security group known as the Ranginkaman Council in coordination with the illegal National-Religious group as well as propaganda activities against the Islamic Republic by issuing and signing announcements threatening security.”

The Nationalist-Religious activists are one of the groups especially targeted for a crackdown by Islamic republic authorities since the 2009 election protests.