Accusations Ranging from Assassination to Espionage

The second ‘trial’ session of journalists and political activists arrested in the aftermath of the contested June 12 presidential election in Iran was held two days ago in Tehran.

Two local employees of the French and British embassies and a French citizen were also ‘tried’ in yesterday’s court session, which was presided over by Judge Salavati, head of branch 15 of a revolutionary court.  French citizen Clotilde Reiss, a secretary in the cultural section of the French embassy in Tehran Nazak Afshar, and chief political analyst at the British embassy in Tehran Hossein Rassam, were arrested during the post-election unrest in Iran.

Ahmad Zeidabadi, Ali Tajernia, Hedayat Aghaie, Shaabeddin Tabatabaie and Mohammad Java Emam were among the journalists and political activists that were tried in Saturday’s session.  They were accused of organizing and coordinating a “velvet revolution” in Iran. 

French Citizen Accused of Acting against National Security

French citizen Clotilde Reiss was accused at the court session of acting against Iran’s national security, participating in June 16 and 17 protests, collecting news, information and images from the protests, and distributing them among French embassy staff.  According to the indictment, Clotilde Reiss’s father is a member of the French Commission for Atomic Energy and her mother serves in the French army.  The prosecutor’s indictment against her states, “In light of the report produced by the counter-intelligence division of the ministry of intelligence, which proves the guilt of this French citizen, we ask the court for a fair trial for this individual.”

In her own defense, Clotilde Reiss asked the court and Iranian people for forgiveness.  Having sent emails to the president of the French Institute for Iranian Studies, Reiss said, “No one had asked me for information, images or video clips.  It was out of my own personal interest.  Today I realize this was a mistake and I regret it.”  Clotilde Reiss added, “I shouldn’t have participated in illegal protests, shouldn’t have taken pictures, and shouldn’t have asked my friends questions about this.

According to semi-official Fars news agency’s political reporter, Clotilde Reiss appeared in a press conference following the court session to respond to reporters’ questions.  Fars wrote that she refused to respond to a question about which other French citizens accompanied her in the protests. 

Ministry of Intelligence Brothers Informed Me of My Mistake

Nazak Afshar, a secretary in the cultural section of the French embassy who was also among the defendants in yesterday’s proceedings, said in her remarks, “I participated in the post-election protests several times,” adding, “Brothers at the Ministry of Intelligence informed me of my mistake.”  Nazak Afshar was arrested on Thursday, only two days before yesterday’s trial session.

According to the state-run news agency IRNA, Ms. Afshar, who was speaking with tearful eyes, said that she participated in post-election protests in “coordination with embassy officials.”  She noted that French embassy officials allowed protesters to take refuge inside the “cultural wing” of the French embassy building.

Ms. Afshar was arrested at her house on Thursday, two days before the trial session.  Noting that she had participated in two or three protests, she said, “I forwarded emails that I received to my friends out of ignorance.  Now I am punished and remorseful.”

“The French ambassador held meetings to discuss issues related to the election with the embassy’s cultural attaché, Mr. Zhamel, who was also known to be an intelligence officer,” said Afshar, “admitting injured people and refugees into the French embassy building were among the cultural section’s decisions during the disturbances.” 

Rassam, Accused of Espionage

In another part of the proceedings, the deputy prosecutor accused Hossein Rassam, a senior political analyst at the British embassy in Tehran, of spying for foreigners.

According to Fars news agency, the deputy prosecutor revealed “Rassam’s multiple meetings” with NGO’s, political, social and minority rights activists, adding, “He personally participated in street disturbances on June 12, 15 and 18, gathering news and information to send to the British foreign ministry.”  According to the deputy prosecutor, Rassam attended meetings at Mir Hossein Mousavi’s campaign headquarters along with British deputy ambassador Thomas Bern and Australian deputy ambassador Sean Murphy, also regularly communicating with Mir Hossein Mousavi’s campaign advisor.

He also claimed, “According to the report by the ministry of intelligence’s counter-intelligence division, the guilt of the British embassy’s senior political analyst is clear.”

In his remarks, Rassam described his main duty as collecting information and news about the country through contact networks in Tehran and other cities.

Rassam named Atrianfar, Saeed Laylaz and Shamsolvaezeen as his main contacts, noting, “Through issuing visas, the British embassy attempted to gather information from and build relationships with talented individuals.” 

The British embassy’s senior political analyst claimed that Alex, the number two man at the British embassy, regularly visited campaign offices, adding, “He traveled to the cities of Qom and Rasht as a tourist and without any restrictions, and visited Mr. Mousavi and Mr. Ahmadinejad’s campaign offices under cover.  In Tehran, however, he visited Mr. Mousavi’s office and held a meeting with his advisors and deputies.  We also had meetings with members of the Etemad Melli party, which continued through the post-election disturbances.

Accusations against London and Washington

The deputy prosecutor accused the newly-formed Iranian Affairs Office at the American Consulate in Dubai of attempting to attract Iranian intellectuals and brainwashing them to take part in activities that undermine the Islamic republic’s national interests. 

The indictment stated, “The Iranian Affairs Office in Dubai has held educational workshops and sent groups of people from various background to America in the past two years in order to lay the necessary foundation for communicating with the country’s elite and various social classes.”

The indictment also accused the British embassy of attempting to be in contact with “a prominent figure” since the Fall of 2008.  Although the name of this /\’prominent figure’ was not disclosed in the indictment, it was claimed, “Repeated trips by British diplomats to various cities across Iran, especially Qom, communicating with provincial campaign offices, and the active presence of British diplomats on the election day point to the embassy’s overall strategy with respect to the election.” 

The deputy prosecutor accused “all British diplomats” of participating in “post-election illegal gatherings,” referring to the assistant and deputy assistant to the ambassador and two other British diplomats by name. 

The British Cultural Council is also accused of identifying informed and influential individuals and “preparing them for critical times through granting scholarships and holding language tests such as IELTS.”  

Holding language training seminars for journalists in the Netherlands, Britain, the United States, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are among charges facing Western countries and news organizations such as BBC. 

The deputy prosecutor also named the BBC and Voice of America news networks as the most active in “fueling recent disturbances.”  Presenting “pointed news and interviewing runaway anti-revolutionary figures” are among actions taken by these two networks to “put a popular color on recent disturbances aimed at overthrowing the Islamic republic system,” according to the deputy prosecutor.