Iran’s chief prosecutor says an Iranian official was slapped in the face during a public speech for being critical of Iran’s cultural authorities.
The chief prosecutor’s office announced in a statement Monday that Fatemeh Rahimi was guilty of intimidation and “intentional insult and insult of religious authority.”
Rahimi, of the holy city of Qom, is a member of the United Council for Islamic Culture, an organization working to ban the American portrayal of Islam.
The Washington Free Beacon reported Rahimi was addressing a rally Sunday outside the court of Islamic Prophet Muhammed, the leading reformist candidate in Friday’s Iranian election. When she pointed at other officials and said, “Just like this government [that has] been in power for five years. The message is that you are wearing the shoes,” her words were heard by top religious authorities, according to the Free Beacon.
Following Rahimi’s comments, Justice Minister and the Most Excellent Mahdi Karroubi and Most Excellent Sadeq Mahsouli suspended Rahimi’s membership in the influential Council.
President Hassan Rouhani won reelection to a second term Friday and fellow incumbent Ebrahim Raisi also received a huge boost after Mehr News Network reported that 290 million Iranians took part in voting. Rouhani won more than 63 percent of the vote against Raisi’s 35 percent.
The results did not show who gained the highest number of votes in each of the 34 provinces where voting took place, although the president’s and the conservative cleric’s win reflects that.
Mostafa Mirsalim, a professor of political science at Tehran University, told AFP that Raisi benefited from the anger Iranians have over poor public services and corruption.
“There is widespread public discontent, especially among younger generations. Unemployment, inflation, deteriorating public services and corruption are widespread. People are demanding changes,” Mirsalim said.
The election comes ahead of landmark talks between Tehran and the United States over the fate of the Iran nuclear deal.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Watch the full report above.
