Iran’s ex-security chief asserts paramount role in diplomacy, nuclear file

Valizadeh has also been banned from residing in Tehran and neighboring provinces, prohibited from leaving the country, and barred from political party membership for two years, defense attorney Mohammad Hossein Aghasi tweeted on Friday.

Valizadeh worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Persian Service, known as Radio Farda, for 10 years before leaving the organization in November 2022. In March, after 14 years abroad, he returned to Iran to visit his family, according to a tweet he posted. Despite receiving assurances from security officials over the phone that he would not face any problems, authorities arrested him in September.

His two court sessions, held in November, proceeded without a prosecution representative, with the judge taking on that role, according to Radio Farda.

People close to the journalist say he walked into a "security trap" after receiving informal assurances from Iranian security officials that he would not face legal issues upon returning to Iran.

According to HRANA, Valizadeh remains in Ward 209 of Evin Prison, a section run by the Ministry of Intelligence, where he lacks access to basic amenities and visitation rights.

Valizadeh’s sentence was communicated to him and his lawyer only after a delay. HRANA rights group also reported that he has not been moved to the prison’s public ward, even though investigations have concluded.

International organizations, including Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists, have criticized Valizadeh’s detention. The US State Department called his arrest unjust and described it as a violation of international law.

"Iran routinely imprisons U.S. citizens and other countries' citizens unjustly for political purposes. This practice is cruel and contrary to international law," a State Department spokesperson said last month.

Before his emigration, Valizadeh was briefly detained in 2007 in Iran. His professional history includes working with outlets such as Radio France, Voice of America, Radio Farda, and Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB.

IHR noted that the charge of collaborating with Israel against 26-year-old Shayesteh, who was arrested last year, was based on confessions obtained under torture and used to expedite his death sentence. The human rights group emphasized the lack of evidence in the case, pointing out that "an empty handgun magazine" and "a pepper spray" were presented as proof of "possession of illegal weapons" to support the charge of "collaboration with the enemy."

"The Islamic Republic is experiencing its greatest crises in its history and, to prevent public protests and cover up its regional failures, resorts to intimidation through the execution of defenseless prisoners," Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, Director of IHR, tweeted on Friday.

In recent months, Iranian authorities have escalated their use of the death penalty, with human rights groups reporting that over 42 political prisoners currently face the risk of execution.

According to a November 21 report by HRANA, at least 133 executions were documented in the past month alone, averaging more than four per day. This follows data from the Iran Human Rights Organization, which recorded at least 166 executions in October.

HRANA’s reports reveal an annual average of 811 executions between October 2023 and October 2024, encompassing both political detainees and ordinary prisoners.

This surge in executions coincides with rising tensions between Iran and Israel, with some suggesting that the government is leveraging geopolitical crises to distract from its domestic repression.

Mohammad Eslami attributed the decision to Iran’s growing uranium enrichment activities, describing the enhanced inspections as a natural consequence of the program's expansion.

“As the scale of nuclear activities grows, the level of inspections must also rise,” Eslami said, without elaborating on the specifics of the increased monitoring.

The development follows reports based on a confidential IAEA document, indicating that Iran had agreed to more frequent and rigorous inspections at the Fordow nuclear site.

Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran had significantly accelerated its uranium enrichment at levels of up to 60% purity—nearing the 90% threshold required for weapons-grade material—at the Fordow facility. Western powers have labeled this development a highly serious escalation in their ongoing standoff with Iran over its nuclear program.

Iran’s IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency clarified that the increased monitoring pertains to the number of inspections rather than a larger deployment of inspectors.

In addition, Eslami acknowledged efforts to address two unresolved older cases related to undeclared nuclear materials.

"‌We will engage with the IAEA regarding the two remaining locations to close the cases."

The IAEA Board of Governors, however, remains troubled by the past discovery of undeclared nuclear materials at several sites and Iran’s failure to fully account for them.

Last month, the IAEA Board of Governors adopted a resolution urging Iran to enhance its cooperation with the agency. The resolution, proposed by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States, expressed profound concern over Iran's insufficient cooperation and the unresolved safeguards issues, emphasizing the necessity for Iran to fulfill its legal obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi recently estimated that Iran possesses enough uranium enriched to 60% to potentially produce several nuclear bombs if the material were further enriched to 90%. This alarming threshold has intensified concerns among Western powers.

Eslami, however, pushed back against international criticism, accusing “certain entities, especially Israel, of fearmongering about Iran’s nuclear activities.”

Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, though officials have increasingly alluded to the potential pursuit of nuclear weapons in recent statements.

The heightened scrutiny of Iran’s nuclear program comes amid reports of attacks on its nuclear facilities, which Tehran has often attributed to Israel. Simultaneously, debates about preemptive military action against Iran have gained traction in the United States. A Wall Street Journal report on Friday said that members of President-elect Donald Trump’s team are considering military options to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, including airstrikes.

In an interview with Time magazine, Trump, recently named Person of the Year, left open the possibility of military action, further stoking tensions. These discussions add to a growing sense of urgency as Iran’s enrichment activities continue and the IAEA demands greater transparency.

Kamran Ghazanfari, speaking at a conference on Thursday, said the Islamic Republic’s account was laughable and hinted at a deliberate assassination plot involving foreign powers.

“Everyone would laugh at the officials’ explanation that Raisi’s helicopter crashed due to weather conditions and dense clouds,” Ghazanfari added.

“What a smart dense cloud it must have been to specifically target the middle helicopter [out of three], which happened to be Raisi’s.”

Ghazanfari provided no evidence to support his accusation, which comes amid a turbulent political climate in Iran following its latest significant regional setbacks. The downfall of Syria's Bashar al-Assad in particular has rattled the Iranian government and its top leadership.

Ahmad Ardestani, a member of Parliament’s National Security Committee, previously speculated that Raisi’s death could be linked to the explosion of a pager he carried, referencing a string of coordinated blasts in September targeting Hezbollah communication devices in Lebanon and Syria.

The explosions, which left over 40 dead and caused numerous civilian casualties, were widely attributed to a sophisticated operation by Israel’s Mossad, though Israel officially denied involvement.

The US State Department also denied any connection to the helicopter crash, with spokesperson Matthew Miller confirming Tehran sought assistance in the crash aftermath but that logistical constraints prevented American involvement.

“We were asked for assistance by the Iranian government. We did make clear to them that we would offer assistance, as we would do in response to any request by a foreign government in this sort of situation,” Miller said in May.

“Ultimately, largely for logistical reasons, we were unable to provide that assistance.”

Leadership rivalries and theories of internal motive

Beyond accusations of foreign sabotage, some Iranians have speculated about internal political motives for Raisi’s death. Mehdi Nasiri, a former editor of the hardline Kayhan newspaper, pointed to potential rivalries surrounding Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s succession.

Nasiri suggested Raisi’s helicopter crash might have been orchestrated by those seeking to bolster Mojtaba Khamenei’s position as his father’s successor.

“In the last session of the previous Assembly of Experts, representatives spoke about Mojtaba Khamenei’s leadership, which was met with reactions from figures like Raisi and others,” Nasiri said.

He highlighted how Raisi’s death coincided with leadership changes within the Assembly, including the exclusion of key figures opposed to Mojtaba’s succession.

The death of Raisi, along with the assassination of figures such as Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, has fueled speculation about heightened foreign and domestic threats to Iranian leadership. Israel, while denying involvement in Raisi’s crash or other killings, has not shied away from targeting figures connected to Iran’s regional allies and nuclear program. An unnamed Israeli official told Reuters in May, “It wasn’t us.”

Despite these denials, figures like Ghazanfari continue to spotlight foreign interference as a likely cause of Raisi’s death, reflecting the tensions that define Iran’s complex relationships with its adversaries.

Mohammad Marandi, speaking about a possible US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, tweeted, “Slight problem. The US Al Udeid air base in is tiny Qatar. In case of aggression, the natural gas facilities and infrastructure in Qatar will be totally destroyed. Hence, there will be no natural gas from Doha. Hence, there will be no Qatar. Things won’t end there either…”

The post on X was apparently later deleted, but some websites in Tehran had republished the text of the tweet.

Marandi's remarks are surprising given Doha's close relations with Tehran and its mediating role between Iran and Western countries.

Although Tehran’s government media did not report about the tweet, some semi-independent websites simply reported it.

Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a prominent foreign policy expert and former senior lawmaker known for his critical stance on foreign policy issues, responded with his own tweet refraining from naming Marandi.

“...and this time, a threat to attack #Qatar.
For years, a dangerous faction has been undermining opportunities for de-escalation and lifting sanctions on Iran, while simultaneously pushing to make the country's foreign policy self-destructive.”

In 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting disruption in Europe’s energy supplies, Marandi opposed reaching a nuclear deal with the West. He argued that as Europe faced a harsh winter, it would ultimately capitulate to Iran’s demands. Eighteen months of multilateral negotiations collapsed in September of that year.

Now, two years later, Iran is facing a severe energy crisis. Decades of underinvestment have significantly reduced natural gas production and electricity supplies, resulting in widespread blackouts across the country. While internal mismanagement has played a role, US sanctions are widely regarded as a key factor behind the deterioration of Iran’s infrastructure.