NGOs barred from political activity in Iran

Alireza Afshar, deputy of Iran's ministry of interior

Iranian authorities announced that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) should not get involved in political activities.

Mehr news agency reports that Alireza Afshar, deputy of social and cultural section of the Ministry of Interior said: “NGOs should not engage in any political activity.”

He stated: “They can by all means criticize government bodies in private meetings but it is not acceptable that they engage in discrediting the government in the media.”

He warned NGOs to take care not to fall in “enemy traps.”

He stressed that the ministry of interior intends to establish closer relations between the government and the NGOs.

In the post-election events, the judiciary has often referred to the role of NGOs in fomenting the post-election turmoil. The statement by the prosecutor’s office described the role of NGOs saying: “The enemies create and support NGOs both financially and intrinsically to create different social layers and to take advantage of their potentialities in appropriate times.”

Last month, the Minister of Intelligence contended that the leaders of the opposition whom he referred to as “leaders of sedition” had received financial assistance from foreign countries and maintained that the assistance had been made through NGOs and organizations that collaborated with these individuals.

He added: “These kinds of financial aid did not happen only during the elections but had happened through time and they wanted to reap the results during the elections.”