Former president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammad Khatami criticized officials who deny the existence of political crime and political prisoners. He also criticized the Rouhani administration and the reformist members of parliament by asking “why don’t they call it out and do something about this,” and “why don’t they issue constitutional breach warnings.”

In a meeting with a group of journalists and members of media on Tuesday, Khatami accused the “dissidents” of “treason” and said: “Those who want to overthrow the regime see the reformists as an obstacle to their treason, and others consider reformists as a thorn in their side instead of decent competition.”

“We see some officials and others claim that we do not have anyone accused of political or journalism crimes, and they count everything as national security crimes and such, meaning they are erasing the questions,” Khatami added.

He continued: “Governments, especially authoritarian and tyrannical regimes put a lot of effort and money into taking control of mass communication tools, and to have more impact and capabilities in the field of communications compared to their competitors.”

After the mass protests against the regime across Iran in January 2018, the reformist front of the Islamic Republic was heavily criticized by the anti-Islamic Republic groups for defending the regime.

While referring to the criticisms against the reformists, Khatami said: “It is noteworthy and interesting that both movements, domestic and abroad, have chosen the reformists as their main target.”