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RFL/RE – Iran’s Special Clerical Court has tightened restrictions against former President Mohammad Khatami, barring him from all public events for three months.
Khatami, who headed a reformist government between 1997 and 2005, has been banned from appearing in the media since mass antigovernment protests following the disputed 2009 presidential election.
The opposition Kalemeh website said on October 6 that the Special Clerical Court had sent Khatami a letter asking him “not to take part in any political ceremonies and publicity for three months.”
The ban is reported to include attending meetings, theater performances, and concerts. It also bars government officials and student union members from meeting with him.
Ali Motahari, an outspoken lawmaker and a political moderate, criticized the new measures.
“We have a good constitution and the parliament has also devised good laws but some councils and institutions such as the Special Clerical Court bypass the constitution and the parliament and drag the country toward autocracy,” he said in remarks published by the semiofficial ISNA news agency on October 6.
