To the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran,
His Excellency Ayatollah Khamenei, may his shadow be extended,
After greetings and expressing respect,
As you are aware, challenging times lie ahead.
Some people mistakenly perceive and refer to the Islamic Republic government as a clerical regime, thinking that all clerics have a hand in governance. Whenever they see a cleric, they assume he holds a position of authority in this country.
For example, many poor people attribute their misfortune and poverty, and countless young people attribute their unattainable aspirations and desires, their failures and disappointments, and the suffering and separation from their loved ones, who have been imprisoned or executed in recent years, to the clerics, viewing every cleric with eyes of disdain.
Yet, we both know that, at best, only ten percent of the clergy play a role in this government. Many respectable clerics live with purity and genuine faith and are themselves victims of the current situation. Many of them even struggle with poverty and deprivation, and numerous clerics, along with their scholars and religious authorities, are disfavored by the government. Some of those who have voiced dissent have been tried by the Special Court for Clerics and are now behind prison bars.
Despite the repeated warnings from the concerned members of society, unfortunately, the situation has progressed to a point where strange and significant events this year and in the years to come are probable, if not imminent. It is possible, God forbid, that the lives of innocent clerics may be endangered due to the accumulated anger of the people. I kindly request that, with your discernment, you create an opportunity for respectable clerics, particularly their true representatives, to appear on television and declare to the people that the current conditions are not related to the majority of the clergy. Furthermore, the recent rulings regarding the execution of Mrs. Marjan Davari and Mr. Sina Dehghan, as well as the detention of Mrs. Hengameh Shahidi, who spends her final breaths on a hunger strike, have no connection with them. These rulings are issued solely by Judge Salavati and a few specific judges, and even other judges have clear and pure distances from issuing such unjust rulings.
May God have mercy on us and you.
Your humble and genuine admirer,
Mohammad Mahdavifar
Deminer and Diver of the Sacred Defense
Fourteenth of Farvardin year ninety-six [April 3, 2017]