Iranian Nobel Laureate’s Chat With Angelina Jolie Prompts Controversy
Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Narges Mohammadi’s prison call with Hollywood star-turned-activist Angelina Jolie has elicited criticism from some Iranian activists.
Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Narges Mohammadi’s prison call with Hollywood star-turned-activist Angelina Jolie has elicited criticism from some Iranian activists.
In spite of the horrific conditions of Iran's prisons, Fars news agency, a mouthpiece of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and hardliners, ran a report saying that Mohammadi’s interview with Jolie has “busted the lies about the poor conditions of political prisoners."
The mere fact that the phone conversation took place has raised questions as to how Mohammadi is allowed what alleged special privileges when so many suffer abhorrent conditions including torture such as amputation and stoning, as documented by Amnesty International, and denial of legal counsel inside Iran's jails. Human Rights Watch has also documented the widespread abuses and primitive conditions endured in Iran's jails.
One of the notable people who raised the issue was Yasmine Pahlavi, the wife of the exiled prince of Iran who has become a leading opposition figure during the Women, Life, Freedom protests – ignited by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September 2022. In an online post, she said, "How can a political prisoner obtain permission to speak with Angelina Jolie but is unable to get permission to talk to their own son? This is a challenging puzzle for many of us."
She referred to an interview with Mohammadi’s son Ali and husband Taghi Rahmani, in which they say Mohammadi has not spoken to her son for nearly two years. Following the rebuke, Rahmani – himself a frequently jailed activist who fled Iran in 2012 – explained that his wife is only allowed to call a limited number of people from the prison and their children are not on the list. He claimed that they sought to arrange for his son to talk to Mohammadi via a third party, but the intermediary was threatened by the authorities to be removed from the list of permitted individuals.
According to the accounts of former prisoners, Mohammadi – and other prisoners – can make a phone call from the prison’s landline to one of the people allowed by prison authorities. Their confidants then can make a phone call to whomever they want by another device. With both phones on speakers, they can then talk to each other. It was apparently the case with the interview with Angelina Jolie, who according to her article published by Time last week talked to Mohammadi for a brief time before the call was disconnected, forcing her to finish the interview with written questions.
However, critics argue that if such a method is possible, how come Mohammadi did not apply it to talk to her children. Another point raised by the critics is how Mohammadi’s actions do not lead to any consequences similar to other prisoners. Earlier in the month, Mahvash Sabet, a former member of the Baha’i community’s leadership group wrote a letter from Tehran’s Evin Prison, bemoaning the persecution of the minority groups by the Islamic Republic. Iran International learned earlier this week that Sabet has since been banned from contacting her family because of her letter under the orders of the Intelligence Ministry.
Criticizing the jailed activist, Mojtaba Vahedi, a former reformist politician who has become a dissident foreign-based journalist, said, "Here in America, when an American sees Narges Mohammadi's interview with Angelina Jolie, they conclude that we are lying about problems of Iran’s prisons.”
On the other hand, supporters of Mohammadi are of the opinion that activists in Iran, especially the jailed ones, should take every opportunity to make the voices of dissent heard to the international community.
Mohammadi was arrested on November 16, 2021, and one year after being released, was detained again. Currently, she is serving a total sentence of 9 years and 8 months, along with 154 lashes and additional penalties in Evin Prison. Charges include spreading propaganda against the state. Mohammadi has been imprisoned several times over the past two decades for her work fighting for human rights. She is the deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, a non-governmental organization led by Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Immediately after she won the Nobel Prize, she became the target of a barrage of criticism by ultra-hardline media in Iran.
The controversy is proof that the Islamic Republic effectively employs tactics to create discord among its opposition. Iran arrests activists vocally critical of its conduct and sentences them on trumped up charges. Subsequently, it selectively eases restrictions on some, allowing them to communicate with the world or granting them furloughs. Observing this discriminatory behavior, Iranians become suspicious about why they were singled out as the pawns of the Islamic Republic’s propaganda. In the end, the imprisoned activists either become less outspoken, serving the Islamic Republic’s agenda, or more publicly visible, only helping the regime further promote its propaganda campaign.
In an open letter addressed to Chief Justice Gholamreza Mohseni-Ejei Thursday, Ahmadreza Haeri has offered more details about the mock execution of a former fellow inmate Yasin, at Ward 240 of Tehran’s Evin Prison.
Yasin whose death sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court in December, in audio files smuggled from prison, has described severe torture including a mock execution during which he was forced to stand on a chair with a noose around his neck after being told to write his last will and testament.
“He is young. One must show mercy. Try to place the noose sideways so that his neck breaks right away when he drops so he doesn’t suffer too much,” Yasin says one of his supposed executioners said to the other.
Then, he says, there was a call after which he was told the execution had been delayed giving him “another chance to cooperate”. Two days later, a real death sentence was handed to him. His wife miscarried her eight-month baby after finding out about the death sentence.
Yasin (27) belongs to the persecuted Kurdish Yarsan religious community and was a vocal critic of the regime before his arrest for supporting the anti-government protests known as the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. He has only attended the court once during his fourteen months of imprisonment and does not have access to his lawyer.
“Form a fact-finding committee consisting of independent lawyers and judges to investigate this matter and allow independent journalists and reports to monitor the committee’s performance,” Haeri wrote.
Haeri alleges that Yasin was taken from his cell in the middle of night and subjected to a mock execution to force him to accept fabricated charges including the use of a combat weapon during last year’s anti-government protests, which would justify a death sentence sought by the prosecutor against him.
According to Haeri, tens of other prisoners heard Yasin’s account of the torture and mock execution he had undergone when he was taken back to the general ward, mentally and physically shattered.
Haeri, a lawyer and human rights activist, is serving a sentence at Ghezel Hesar Prison for exposing the beating of other prisoners at Tehran’s infamous Fashafouyeh Prison in 2014, which led to the death of two inmates, during an incident which came to be known as “Black Thursday”.
State-affiliated media such as the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) linked Tasnim news agency claimed Wednesday that a new case has been opened against Haeri for not being able to provide proof for the claim in his letter earlier this week that Yasin was subjected to mock execution.
Many other political prisoners and prisoners of conscience have claimed that they were subjected to mock executions to extract confessions that would justify harsh sentences including Sahand Noor-Mohammad-Zadeh, 26, an anti-government protester.
He was accused of setting a trash bin on fire and blocking traffic, both of which he denied. But he had several times been blindfolded and told to climb a chair to be hanged before his trial. He was sentenced to death for moharebeh (enmity against God) and was executed on November 2 last year.
Another protester, Majid Kazemi, said he had undergone mock executions at least fifteen times, in addition to other tortures including upside down suspension and showing him a video of his brother being tortured to “confess” to whatever was dictated to him. Kazemi was also executed on May 19 for “enmity against God”.
In a statement on November 23, the US State Department condemned mock executions and torture of prisoners in Iran with the hashtag #SamanYasin and called on the Iranian authorities to immediately stop “these inhumane practices and conduct fair and transparent trials for their citizens.”
He told a group of Iranian moderates including his aides in the previous government on November 20, "This round of the Assembly of Experts election, which is to be held on March 1…, is more important than the previous elections." The Assembly has the constitutional task to select the next Supreme Leader.
Using the mildest language to evade Khamenei’s and his hardliner supporters' anger, Rouhani said, "May the Supreme Leader live long, but as the time passes, the day we would never want to come is more likely to arrive and the Assembly of Experts has to decide on the naming of the next Supreme Leader."
Rouhani added that he had his doubts about whether to register his candidacy for the Assembly of Experts election and that he finally decided to run hoping that he can make an impact on the Assembly's choice in the event of Khamenei's death.
Over the past weeks, when Rouhani revealed that he was a candidate and particularly after the official announcement about the endorsement of his credentials, many conservative media and politicians expressed their opposition to his candidacy although he already is an incumbent member of the assembly. Earlier, a state TV presenter asked the Guardian Council on live television to disqualify him.
Rouhani said at the meeting with his aides that the state TV is at its lowest point in terms of popularity and people's trust.
He said he is well familiar with the hardliners who are currently in control of the government and parliament, adding they would do anything to make sure that he cannot run. However, he insisted that he would encourage everyone to take part in the elections.
Many in the reformist and moderate camp consider Rouhani as one of the three potential candidates for the Supreme Leader, along with President Ebrahim Raisi and Khamenei's son Mojtaba.
Although Iran's reformist and moderates may not like it, but under the current circumstances Rouhani is the least likely winner in this imaginary contest. He is the least popular member of the hardliner dominated Assembly of Experts. From this perspective, Raisi has a better chance to be the Islamic Republic's next leader. In fact, thanks to his naivety, he could be the ideal supreme leader for a country to be run by a powerful and ambitious entity such as the IRGC.
In an alternative scenario, suggested by some Iranian analysts, Raisi is considered the most suitable candidate to succeed former Guardian Council Secretary Ahmad Jannati at this point. This move could strategically position Raisi to carry out Khamenei's directives effectively and potentially pave the way for the ascension of Khamenei's son, Mojtaba, to power.
In recent years, Khamenei has been grooming Mojtaba for the post. Mojtaba has been teaching a much-advertised high profile advanced course at the seminary in Qom and the state TV frequently referred to his seminary credentials. The Supreme Leader should be a learned Imam according to the regime’s ideology.
Some say even Rouhani could be a player in helping Mojtaba. He said recently that the next Supreme Leader need not need be a Mojtahid (a cleric high ranking enough to confer his own religious decrees). Of course, he could expect a reward for playing the part. A reward such as a guaranteed high-ranking position to keep for life. A position in which he could distribute power and money and exercise his influence on the political apparatus without causing any nuisance for the next leader.
Unlike countries such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan, Iran lacks an official position like that of a crown prince designated as the official heir to the current Supreme Leader. This raises concerns about the country's stability, particularly in the immediate aftermath of what Rouhani referred to as "The day we would never want to come."