Feb 27, 2018

As Iranian security agencies have been arresting a number of environmentalists, officials from President Hassan Rouhani's administration are pushing back against the agencies’ ability to charge that those arrested are spies.

In an interview with Iran Newspaper, which is published by the administration, presidential adviser Ali Younessi said that only the Intelligence Ministry has the expertise to determine who is a spy. “Only the counter-espionage department of the Intelligence Ministry can express an expert opinion on who is a spy and who is not,” Younessi said. “Just as we don’t expect the Labor Ministry to perform the duties of the Industry Ministry, we have to accept that the Intelligence Ministry has proficiency in its work, and no other organization can enter that field and perform professional work.”

On the recent wave of arrests of environmentalists in Iran and claims by the judiciary that they were spying for foreign governments, Younessi said, “Unfortunately, the Intelligence Ministry did not have any responsibility in these cases.” He added that the cases should have been handed over to the Intelligence Ministry for further investigation. Since this did not happen, however, he said, “Even if those arrested are convicted of spying, it will be hard to persuade public opinion [that they are actually spies].”

Given that Younessi has experience in the judiciary as a prosecutor and also served as intelligence minister under President Mohammad Khatami’s Reformist administration, he was asked how the Islamic Republic could avoid a “new crisis” of agencies interfering in others' jurisdictions. “It’s simple,” Younessi replied. “Everyone must follow the law.” He then offered the example of the case of Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian Iranian photographer killed in prison in 2003.

“The prosecutor at the time insisted that she was a spy,” Younessi said of prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi, who later went on to hold a number of important positions, including running the notorious Kahrizak prison, where people jailed for protesting the 2009 elections were killed. Younessi said that two counter-espionage agents had interviewed Kazemi and had determined that she was not a spy, but that Mortazavi was so adamant in his position that he transferred her case from the Intelligence Ministry to the intelligence department of the Law Enforcement Force. There, Younessi said, Kazemi was beaten, during which her head hit the ground, causing internal bleeding. Judicial officials delayed in providing her assistance, leading to her death.