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Sunday, September 20, 2026
Prominent Iran reform advocate Tajzadeh granted temporary leave from prison
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Jailed reformist Iranian politician Mostafa Tajzadeh has been granted temporary leave after more than four years in prison, his wife is quoted by local media as saying.
Tajzadeh “has been granted a few days’ leave from today,” Fakhrossadat Mohtashamipour tells the ISNA news agency, without specifying the duration of his temporary leave.
Tajzadeh, 69, is a prominent member of Iran’s reformist camp and has campaigned for several years to establish a democratic government in Iran.
He was deputy interior minister from 1997 to 2005, under reformist former president Mohammad Khatami.
In 2009, following the contested reelection of hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Tajzadeh was one of several reformist leaders who were sent to jail after he was convicted of harming state security and propaganda against the state. He was released in 2016.
Tajzadeh has been serving another five-year sentence at Tehran’s notorious Evin prison since July 2022, following a new conviction of undermining state security. He was also charged with propaganda against the state in 2024 in a new case brought against him.
While imprisoned at Evin, Tajzadeh has regularly published open letters criticizing the government’s policies. He has called for democracy and for authorities to enact “structural changes” in the Iranian political system.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.