By Andrea Hargraves 
Mostafa Tajzadeh was previously Iran’s deputy interior ministerInternet / playback
Posted 08/20/2022 14:21 | Updated 08/20/2022 14:24
Iran’s main reformist coalition on Saturday called for the release of politician Mostafa Tajzadeh, one of its most prominent figures, who has been detained since July on charges of “offending state security”.
“On behalf of the Reform Front, I urge you to release (Tajzadeh) as soon as possible,” coalition leader Behzad Nabawi wrote in an open letter sent to the judiciary and published by local media.
Media critic Tajzadeh, 65, was arrested on July 8 at his home in Tehran, and on August 13 his trial in a revolutionary court began.
Nabawi noted that Tajzadeh’s case should “be heard in an open court session” and “by an impartial prosecutor.” Similarly, he insisted that Tajzadeh “only expresses his opinions and analyzes” and lamented that he had been “placed in solitary confinement.”
Deputy Interior Minister during the presidency of reformist Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005), Tajzadeh was imprisoned between 2009 and 2016 after the official announcement of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election, which was challenged by the united opposition around reformists Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi. Both have been under house arrest for more than a decade.
In 2021, he presented himself as a candidate in the presidential elections that gave victory to the ultra-conservative religious Ibrahim Raisi, but his candidacy was rejected.