Journalist calls on Iran’s Supreme Leader to step down

Mohammad Nourizad

Iranian journalist and filmmaker, Mohammad Nourizad published his sixth letter to Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, urging him to step down from all his key roles in Iranian government and “open the way for the rule of law.”

Nourizad, who was detained and given a heavy prison term in the aftermath of the controversial presidential elections of 2009 for writing critical letters to the Supreme Leader, rebuked Ayatollah Khamenei for lending his support to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Mohammad Nourizad goes on to criticize Ayatollah Khamenei for his divisive policies from the start of his leadership. The persecuted journalist also speaks out against the “debasement” of the law during the leadership of Ayatollah Khamenei and the loss of “Iran’s reputation in the international community.”

Nourizad’s letter also refers to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as an “imbalanced opportunist,” and also denounces Ayatollah Larijani, Iran’s had of judiciary for his “incompetence.”

Nourizad was sentenced to three and half years in prisons and fifty lashes for “propaganda against the regime and insulting Islamic Republic officials.”

His harsh treatment in prison led to his writing of more critical letters addressed to the Supreme Leader from inside the prison.

He was released on bail after six months in prison on 26 of July.