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July 23, 2009

Conservatives Attack Rahnavard’s Brother

Ghalam News and BBC Persian report:

Zahra Rahnavard, wife of Mir Hossein Mousavi, has denied the accusations that have been published against her brother and said that she will take legal steps against those that frame him of crime.

Zahra Rahnavard’s brother, Shahpour Kazemi, who has been imprisoned for one month, is not a political figure, and it appeared that he would be freed soon.

But recently important anti-Reformist figures and newspapers have published stark accusations against Mr. Kazemi.

Elyas Naderan, a Principlist member of Majles, wrote a letter to Ransanjani following his Friday prayer sermon that called for releasing prisoners, and told him: “If the brother of the wife of Mir Hossein is one of the foremost creators of chaos in the country, he is responsible for some of the rioting. And from 10 years ago he has a history of creating discord with his wife, and he has confessed that she engineered part of the current riots, and she has taken many trips every year to America, and she has even acquired a green card to ease her travel between Iran and America. You’re telling me this man deserves to be free?”

The newspaper Javan, which is associated with the IRGC, reprinted Naderan’s letter and referred to Shahpour Kazemi as a “corrupt official of Iran’s banking system.”

Rahnavard announced today: “I am announcing that if they force a confession out of Mr. Kazemi or publish a hundred pages of accusations against him, neither I nor the people of Iran will believe it.”

Zahra Rahnavard’s birth name was Zohreh Kazemi, but she used the nom de guerre “Zahra Rahnavard” to engage in public criticism of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi during the Revolution, and she kept this name following the Revolution and is now known by it.

Zahra Rahnavard said her brother is 62 years old and “One of the best known experts in the field of communications in the nation.” He has a wife and three kids and his wife would travel to America for treatment of her disease and for “the transfer of knowledge and new technologies in the field of communications.”

She added: Having a green card is not a crime, unless those who seek to send him to prison are trying to use it to tarnish his name.

She asked about the validity of a member of Majles speaking about judicial accusations in a public form and, “Considering that judicial information and research is confidential, what gives a member of Majles the right to publish it?”

“I have not spoken about this issue before because, as my brother is a good man deeply concerned with the fate of the country, I expected him to be released soon. But I have witnessed that some trouble makers have turned the keys of projects that are illegal and disrespectful and naturally the authorities will be pursuing them.”

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