Mohammad Reza Bahonar, an Iranian politician, believes that Mohammad Khatami and Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsnjani are not the leaders of sedition. In 2009, Iranian oppositions held massive demonstrations against local government. In that time Khatami and Rafsanjani led oppositions partially. Conservatives named the protests as sedition.
“I believe Khatami and Rafsanjani didn’t perform very well in 2009, and they didn’t declare their stances clearly in that time. But we should not count them as the leaders of sedition. In fact, only Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi were two leaders of that plot against Islamic Republic. I ask other politicians to not expand the ring of sedition’s leaders at this time.” Bahonar addressed a group of students in Tehran University.
In 2009, hard-liner politicians were trying to persuade Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to execute Karoubi and Mousavi. “All activists and people must respect Iran’s constitution. It is not a good idea to execute people out of legal procedure. However, Iran’s judiciary service is allowed to take action against who damage Islamic Republic’s reputations.” Mohammad Reza Bahonar added.
Mohammad Reza Bahonar also highlighted the important role of Supreme Leader. “According to Iran’s constitution, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei can express his comments on almost all subjects. But base on my experience, he had not intervened in details. So, the next government of Iran must take advantage of this fact.”
Bahonar is expected to announce his nomination for Iran’s top-job. On June, Iran will hold the next version of presidential election. Bahonar is the current Deputy Speaker of Parliament of Iran.