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Parisa Hatami

Now that the Majlis elections are over and the general composition and direction of the ‎legislature is emerging, there are indications that the new alliances formed by ideologues ‎‎(in Iran known as the Principalists) have already begun efforts to bring the Iranian ‎judiciary inline with the workings of the executive branch and the Majlis, and thus turn it ‎into the third base of operations for Iranian neo-conservatists.‎

According to Tabnak news website, during the proceedings of a seminar comprising of ‎national prosecutors a judiciary official (which Tabnak did not name) attempted to ‎present himself as someone who is in line with the ninth administration (i.e. the current ‎government of president Mahmud Ahmadinejad) and the seventh Majlis as the possible ‎next head of the Judiciary. The very same source also spoke of the departure in “about a ‎year’s time” of the current head of judiciary Hashemi Shahrudi. ‎

‎“Only about a year is left from the leadership of ayatollah Shahrudi at the judiciary and ‎this is his last term,” this unnamed judiciary official is reported to have said. The speaker ‎also specifically said that he enjoyed good relations with Ahmadinejad, and Haddad ‎Adel, the Speaker of the seventh (current) Majlis.‎

The remarks of this judiciary official come at a time when observers have indicated that ‎President Ahmadinejad’s allies have already begun work on completing their efforts to ‎take control of all the sources of power in the country by driving out their opponents or ‎rivals.‎

Ahmadinejad has repeatedly implied that the judiciary is not fully cooperative with his ‎policies in what he calls are directed at “battling economic corruption”. In addition, the ‎open and strong verbal attacks of the Basij (para-military) groups in Iranian universities ‎against the judiciary where recently even the head of the judiciary Hashemi Shahrudi was ‎the specific target, is interpreted by observers to be the work of pro-Ahmadinejad groups ‎to weaken the current head of the judiciary.‎

The Basij has been criticizing the judiciary repeatedly, and particularly more so recently. ‎Its members verbally attacked the judiciary regarding the recent espionage charges that ‎were thrown at Hossein Moussavian (a former member of Iran’s National Security ‎Council), which carried an unusually strong language. They have repeatedly called for ‎harsher judiciary measures against those committing economic corruption and have ‎accused the judiciary of not embarking on a “revolutionary response” to these events.‎

These strong attacks come at a time when the head of the judiciary has openly taken ‎positions that are different from that of the President such as those the latter made ‎regarding “hidden economic hands.” The head of the judiciary has routinely complained ‎about such non-transparent accusations or “revelations” aired by the administration ‎‎(which observers interpret to be aimed at deflecting attention away from the government ‎over the growing economic ills around the country) and has asked for specific documents ‎or details to be presented to courts for appropriate action, which have not been ‎forthcoming.‎