The Tehran Prosecutor’s office has announced that former prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi, who was appointed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to head the Social Security Fund, has been arrested.
The Fars News Agency reported that Saeed Mortazavi was arrested as he was leaving his office and was transferred to Evin Prison. The reason for his arrest has not been announced.
His arrest comes one day after the Iranian legislative assembly went head to head with the Ahmadinejad administration over Motazavi’s appointment to the Social Security Fund. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad led his delegation, which included the vice president and the Labour Minister, who was being impeached, into Parliament. Rather than addressing the issue of Mortazavi’s appointment, the President used the occasion as an opportunity to attack Parliament and especially its chief, Ali Larijani.
Ahmadinejad played a film recorded by hidden camera showing a conversation between Fazel Larijani, the brother of the parliamentary speaker, and Saeed Mortazavi. The conversation appears to show Fazel Larijani asking for certain financial incentives in exchange for mediating a resolution to Mortazavi’s problems with his two brothers, the heads of the legislative and judicial branches of the government.
The head of Parliament responded by accusing Ahmadinejad of a lack of etiquette and comporting himself like a mobster. He added that Ahmadinejad had sent his vice president to him at 7 AM to say that if impeachment proceedings weren’t halted, Ahmadinejad would show a film in Parliament.
Meanwhile, Fazel Larijani has made other explanations for the film and has filed suit against Mortazavi and Ahmadinejad.
Mortazavi is the prime suspect in the death of three detainees under torture in Kahrizak prison in 2009, and Parliament has voted to impeach the Labour Minister for appointing Mortazavi to the Social Security Fund despite the charges against him.
