TEHRAN, Iran — Ali Motahari is the only Principlist member of parliament (MP) who repeatedly for the past four years has demanded that the establishment end the illegal house arrests of Green Movement leaders Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karroubi. He believes that even if the government wants to convict them, they should first be put on trial in an open and just court so that the charges against them can be specified. Most controversially, he said that former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should also be put on trial. “Everyone, including Mr. Ahmadinejad and those organizations that blindly supported him — the Ministry of Interior and the way it announced the results of the election, certain military personnel, the Ministry of Intelligence and so on. … It should be clarified what role they each played if the nation is to regain a clear conscience,” Motahari said.

The fact that Motahari has expressed these views using the platform of a dominantly Principlist parliament on the anniversary of the pro-government demonstrations of 9 Dey has angered many conservatives who continue to call the 2009 protests a “US-Israeli sedition” with the help of a “fifth column” inside Iran. The comments resulted in the prosecutor-general, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Eje'i, announcing that he is opening a court case against Motahari.

Nonetheless, it appears that Motahari’s particular style of conservatism has made him a popular figure among Reformists and Green Movement supporters on social media. So much so that as soon as tension escalated between Eje'i and Motahari and it was announced a judiciary case was being put together against him, a Facebook page with the title "Campaign of Support for Dr. Ali Motahari" was created. In less than a week, the page had more than 10,000 followers.

A journalist working for the reformist Shargh newspaper who wishes to remain anonymous told Al-Monitor that Motahari’s popularity is due to the fact that he has “been even more straightforward than [former President Mohammad] Khatami when it comes to the issue of political prisoners and the house arrests” stemming from the 2009 elections. “In the absence of a brave Reformist,” the journalist said, “what Motahari says is really noteworthy, especially given the fact that he is a Principlist.”