Announcement

**Rasputin** · 03-12-2008, 04:34 PM

Iran’s notorious Ministry of Intelligence and Security announced on Wednesday that it would prosecute a member of the Iranian Majlis (Parliament) for doing an interview with the U.S. broadcaster Voice of America.

VOA recently conducted an interview with Iranian lawmaker Noureddin Pir-Moazzen, spokesman for the minority fraction in Majlis.

“This action was frankly disgusting and a betrayal”, Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei told reporters. His comments were carried by the government-run news agency Mehr and the website of the state broadcasting service.

Radical Shiite cleric Mohseni-Ejei said that even ordinary Iranians should not carry out interviews with foreign media.

“Guidelines have been handed down to officials on this matter, making this a legal issue. We will follow up any breaches of these guidelines”, he said.

Asked whether the Intelligence Ministry would take action against Pir-Moazzen, the Iranian intelligence minister said, “In any case, this issue must be followed up. The Intelligence Ministry will definitely take action against such people”.

Pir-Moazzen, who is currently in the U.S., on Wednesday alluded to the fact that discussion of certain subjects in public were considered as “red lines” by the Islamic Republic, and maintained that he did not cross any such threshold in his interview on VOA.

“I did not discuss matters considered as a red line, and I still respect these boundaries”, he told the Fars news agency, run by the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mohseni-Ejei has a chequered background and is one of the most feared men in the Islamic Republic.

In the 1990s, he was directly involved in the serial murder of dissidents and issued religious edicts (fatwa) authorising the murders. A defector from Iran’s intelligence services has described how a writer and translator, Pirouz Davani, was abducted and killed on his orders.

Mohseni Ezhei was appointed as prosecutor in the Special Tribunal for the Clergy in 1998, and since then he had passed prison or death sentences for many dissident clerics.

**Rasputin** · 03-12-2008, 04:35 PM

Iran's Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei has said that his ministry will not overlook an MP's interview with VoA.

Referring to the Voice of America's interview with Iranian lawmaker Noureddin Pir-Moazzen, Mohseni-Ejei noted that even someone who is not currently a lawmaker should avoid giving interviews to foreign media.

He pointed out that the Intelligence Ministry intends to follow up the case.

Majid Ansari, a former lawmaker from the Reformist camp, pointed out that it would appear Pir-Moazzen's interview had been arranged beforehand.

He noted that the Americans are clearly aware who benefits from such moves.

"They wanted to use Pir-Moazzen's interview against Iran's Reformist camp," Ansari commented.

Pir-Moazzen had spoken out against the Iranian government, the Council of Guardians and his political rivals in the Principalist camp.

**Rasputin** · 03-12-2008, 04:35 PM

The Iranian intelligence ministry has accused a leading reformist MP of committing treason by speaking to an American-funded television channel.

The ministry is investigating the interview given by the MP, Noureddine Pir Mouazen, for the Persian-language service of Voice of America.

The MP criticised the disqualification of hundreds of reformists from Friday's parliamentary elections in Iran.

Mr Pir Mouazen is among those who have been barred from standing.

The Intelligence Minister, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie, condemned Mr Pir Mouazen for giving the interview.

"This has definitely been treason and an appalling act," the minister told the state-run news agency IRNA.

"The law bans people in such positions from interviews with foreign radio and television. The intelligence ministry will certainly probe this and will not ignore it."

In the interview, Noureddine Pir Mouazen criticised the disqualification of reformist candidates by the Guardian Council, and cast doubt on the significance of the elections.

Iran's leaders regard Voice of America, and other foreign television stations that broadcast in Persian via satellite, as vehicles for propaganda against the Islamic republic.

A ban on satellite dishes in Iran is widely flouted.

**Rasputin** · 03-12-2008, 04:36 PM

Iran probes reformist over US TV 'treason'

Iran is launching an investigation into the "treason" of a leading reformist MP who gave an interview to a US-funded Persian television channel, the intelligence minister said on Wednesday.

Noureddine Pir Mouazen, the spokesman of reformists in parliament, gave an interview about Friday's legislative elections to the Persian service of the Voice of America (VoA), a channel despised by Iran's clerical leaders.

"This has definitely been treason and an appalling act," Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie told state-run news agency IRNA.

"The law bans people in such positions from interviews with foreign radios and television," he said. "The intelligence ministry will certainly probe this and will not ignore it."

Pir Mouazen reportedly criticised the disqualifications of reformists and cast doubt on the significance of the elections in the interview aired earlier this week.

Iran's hardline vetting body the Guardians Council had previously barred Pir Mouazen, 49, from standing in the polls for the city of Ardebil in northwestern Iran.

Dozens of Persian language radio and television stations like Voice of America broadcast to Iran from the United States and Europe.

The authorities accuse the channels of broadcasting anti-Islamic republic propaganda and have banned satellite dishes to prevent polluting the public mind. But flouting of this rule is widespread.

A meeting between the brother of reformist ex-president Mohammad Khatami and the German ambassador has also caused an outcry from conservatives in a fractious run-up to the parliamentary elections.

"Contacting foreigners has certain codes and not everyone can talk over any issues to foreigners," commented Ejeie. "Such an act should be coordinated with the foreign ministry."

"It will harm the country and will be regarded as betrayal if issues against the system and domestic policies are discussed in these meetings which could be exploited by the enemies."

Iran's hardline Kayhan newspaper accused Mohammad Reza Khatami of voicing "worries about Iran's nuclear victory in a confidential meeting" with the German ambassador, Herbert Honsowitz.

Ruhollah Hosseinian, a leading hardliner who heads the archives centre of the Islamic revolution, entered the fray by accusing Mohammad Reza Khatami of also meeting British diplomats.

"Reza Khatami has in past had such meetings with British diplomats to an extent that the British ambassador expressed satisfaction with this meeting to their Foreign Office.

"I have enough evidence for these meetings," he said, according to the Fars news agency.

Contacts between Iranians and embassies have become an extremely sensitive issue under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, especially after ex-nuclear official Hossein Moussavian was arrested for allegedly handing secrets to the British.

**Rasputin** · 03-13-2008, 01:39 PM

We can have different views on VOA broadcast's into Iran but it is certain that it is widely watched back home despite the Islamic Regime's efforts to stop Iranians to follow it. It has also scored a point recently by interviewing a leading Reformist of Iran's parliament. Noureddine Pir Mouazen, the spokesman of reformists in parliament, gave an interview about Friday's legislative elections to the Persian service of the Voice of America (VoA), a channel despised by Iran's clerical leaders.

Iran is now launching an investigation into the "treason" of a leading reformist MP Noureddine Pir Mouazen who gave an interview to a US-funded Persian television channel, the intelligence minister said on Wednesday.

Watch entire Interview that has triggered Anger in the Ranks of the IRI:

Video

I don't know but it reminds me greatly of the Gorbatchev Years when Boris Yeltsin and others opposed to communism were begining to raise their voice against the Communist System that ultimately brought down the Soviet Union.

Is this the begining of the end ? ...

Announcement

Pir Moazzen Is Another American Spy In Iran ?

Pir Moazzen Is Another American Spy In Iran ?

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