Cleric Close to Mashaei Arrested

Abbas Amirifar, a figure famous for his support of Mashaei, was arrested. According to sources close to Amirifar, he had been orally summoned to the Evin prison, but refused to go because the summon was not in writing. Yesterday, however, Amirifar was arrested by an Islamic Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) security team at his residence, on the day of Ahmadineajd’s return to office after a ten-day absence, where he thanked the supreme leader for supporting his administration and affirmed the tenth administration’s adherence to Velayat-e Faghih [rule of clerics].

Amirifar was the subject of several news stories on the web last week, both for his interviews in support of Mashaei, and for attending his father-in-law’s funeral, which was attended by prominent reformist figures, such as Behzad Nabavi and members of the reformist Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution organization.

Amirifar, who leads prayers at the president’s office, had told the daily Shargh in support of Mashaei, “I see Mr. Mashaei as someone who will have a lot to say in the future; of course, if they allow him to. You must take a look at how these public servants are treated. The state-run media is opposed to him, and a large number of Principalist newspapers attack him with all they have.”

He added, “Once I was running a meeting when Mr. Mashaei came to resolve some of the controversies. About 250 seminary students were there. He answered questions for three hours on his feet and with admirable patience, which impressed everyone. See, Mr. Mashaei wouldn’t agree to sit. He said it would be rude to sit among scholars. They asked him the harshest questions and he would answer with patience. Our religious leaders teach us that patience is an admirable quality, and he showed that he has that quality. In face, he was so patient that sometimes I would get mad by some of the pointed questions. The attacks on Mr. Mashaei are so harsh that the supreme leader says in his recent visit to Qom, I don’t believe that he [Mashaei] pits Iran against Islam, but they don’t publish that remark because it’s not in their interest.”

In the same interview, Amirifar said, “We believe that the Principalist movement has become like the traditional conservative movement; that it has lost its flavor. The traditional conservative movement has its allure for the people. Mr. Ahmadinejad announced that he is not concerned with these groups. All of the Principalist factions were opposed to Mr. Ahmadinejad’s candidacy. They all supported either Larijanir or Ghalibaf in 2005. Even if they supported Ahmadinejad in the second round, the only reason was that they were opposed to Hashemi Rafsanjani.”