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| Sina Mirzaei |
In an interview with Voice of America, political scientist and human rights defender Sina Mirzaei discusses the release of many political prisoners in Iran under a pardon decree and explains the Iranian government's domestic and foreign policy objectives regarding the pardon.
Mirzaei emphasizes that the Iranian government has turned the pardon decree into a mechanism of repression.
He added, "The spokesperson of Iran's judiciary, Masoud Sitaishi, in his statements, threatened that those who benefit from the pardon and continue their activities will be pursued and monitored. This shows that the judiciary and security forces work closely together. In the government's propaganda on social media, we also see how they portray the leader as a kind and compassionate father when it comes to the pardon. Some reformists even call it national reconciliation."
Some activists argue that the pardon decree was issued because there are too many political prisoners in Iran. However, Sina Mirzaei does not consider this to be a major factor.
"While this is a factor, I do not think it is the most important one. For the Islamic Republic of Iran, economic costs or prison expenses are secondary. I believe the political costs of these arrests are more important for Iran. I am convinced that if the government wanted, it could pile prisoners on top of each other in those detention centers and prisons, and no one would be held accountable. We have witnessed this. We have seen torture and extrajudicial executions. Iran's prisons are not even up to standard," he said.
The political scientist believes that the Iranian government is trying to restore its legitimacy internally by issuing the pardon decree.
"After the protests, we saw cracks within the state institutions. I believe the goal here is to remove these cracks, reduce political costs, and slightly increase its legitimacy," Sina Mirzaei said.
He also stated that he does not believe the pardon decree will have a significant impact on improving the Islamic Republic's image in the eyes of the international community.
"After the recent protests, we see a significant change in the international mindset regarding Iran... We can see this in the voting at the UN Human Rights Council regarding Iran. Iran has become isolated in the international community. This has been the case before, but now it is clearly visible. Also, there is the issue of the UN’s fact-finding mission related to the recent protests in Iran. This pardon might strengthen Iran's narrative. It might be used as a card. But that's about it. I do not think it will change the position of states in the international community regarding Iran, nor do I believe that Iran will be praised or thanked for this pardon," Sina Mirzaei concluded.
Link to the original interview in Turkish on the Azerbaijani section of Voice of America:
Sina Mirzayi: İran hakimiyyəti məhbusların əfvindən repressiya mexanizmi kimi istifadə edir