Report Similar to Kayhan’s Lead Story

Bahram Rafiei
Bahram Rafiei

» Majlis’s View on February 14th Protests

Following the creation of a special parliamentary committed to investigate the events of February 14, 2011 on the orders of the speaker of Iran’s parliament, the Majlis, a report that had been prepared in collaboration with the remarks of the security-military authorities was read out on the floor two days ago which basically condemned the leaders of the Green Movement who had invited the public to demonstrate their solidarity with the protests in the Middle East.

This report was prepared and read out hastily and in contrast to other long pending investigations such as the attack on Tehran University dormitory now over 20 months overdue or the legislative probe into the atrocities committed in Kahrizak prison that lead to its closure.

The authors of the report  label the Green Movement demonstrations in Iran that were held in support of the ongoing protests in the Arab world as, “an Israeli, American and British event.” The writers said that they prepared their findings by holding sessions with officials from the security, military, law enforcement, judiciary and foreign policy departments.  Parts of the report said that, “The Mojahedin Khalq Organization actively participated in the event and used declarations, statements, interviews and personnel to incite the public through psychological warfare, the spread rumors, and the presentation of lies on their domestic websites, the use of lethal weapons, confiscating public property, and creating terror.”

The report also named Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, the leaders of the Green Movement, to be responsible for the “disturbances” and said they were “traitors to the nation and counter-revolutionaries worthy of being prosecuted and confronted harshly.”  Another part of the report said that the Majlis saw no reason for any delay in confronting the perpetrators of the demonstrations.

It should be noted that the demonstrations on February 14 that began as solidarity marches turned into anti-government protests as the police clashed with demonstrators in various Iranian cities.

Regarding foreign involvement, the report said that, “intelligence documents showed that the US, Britain and the Zionist regime (a name the Islamic republic uses for Israel) brought counter revolutionary groups into the streets to support the declarations issued by Mousavi and Karoubi.” The report asserts that millions of text messages were sent into the country and claims that this proved its assertions of foreign interference.

The reports that pro-government Kayhan newspaper published on the February 14th events used the same examples and cases. They both referred to the man who had climbed a high crane on the day to chant slogans, calling him insane. Both sources, Kayhan and Majlis’ report, assign responsibility for the protests to the Mojahedin Khalq organization claiming that it had sent assassination squads into the country.

The report ends by issuing a warning over future demonstrations.  A similar warning was issued by the head of intelligence agency of the Revolutionary Guards, general Hossein Taeb.

It should be noted that not long ago, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had publicly said that the Majlis was “no longer at the head of all affairs,” a statement made by ayatollah Khomeini that is revered among the Majlis representatives.

Larijani called the report a “guide” for the executive branch and warned the US that the Iranian nation would not allow such games.