The Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, October 2016. (AP)

December 26, 2019

Amid ongoing protests, a member of an Iranian city council has been arrested for sharing a video online that authorities have deemed as “insulting” to the country’s highest authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, state media confirmed on Tuesday.

Mohammad Parham, City Council member of the western city of Borujerd, had shared a video on his Instagram page which compared the leaders of Finland and Iran.

The video compared the ages of Finnish and Iranian leaders, pointing out that Finland is a country with an average age of 42, governed by a government with an average age of 35, while Iran is a country with an average age of 31, governed by a government with an average age of 60.

“A 72-year-old President, a 63-year-old Speaker of Parliament, a 93-year-old chairman of the Assembly of Experts, and an 80-year-old Supreme Leader. Welcome to the young country led by a care home,” said the video at the end.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency confirmed Parham’s arrest on Tuesday, saying that the Instagram post “has hurt the spirit of the revolutionary and ever-present people [of Iran] and has stirred everyone’s emotions.”

According to the laws of the Islamic Republic, the punishment for insulting the Supreme Leader is six months to two years in prison.

Al Arabiya

About Track Persia

Track Persia is a Platform run by dedicated analysts who spend much of their time researching the Middle East, in due process we fall upon many indications of growing expansionary ambitions on the part of Iran in the MENA region and the wider Islamic world. These ambitions commonly increase tensions and undermine stability.

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