In response to the claims of torture made by Esmail Bakhshi, one of the arrested Haft-Tappeh workers, Mahmoud Vaezi, the chief of staff to President Rouhani said that “the ministry of intelligence and the regime have the right to sue Esmail Bakhshi.”

According to Tasnim, Vaezi added: “In our investigation, we even talked to Esmail Bakhshi himself.”

During the Wednesday cabinet meeting, Vaezi emphasized that “what Bakhshi claims is not true at all, and there was propaganda in this issue.”

Vaezi continued that this matter is very important to the president. At one point he claimed that Bakhshi’s claims “ question the entirety of the regime.”

At the same time, Laya Jonaidi, the president’s legal deputy said that “an investigation committee has been formed by the president which will announce its findings soon.”

According to Jonaidi: “Esmail Bakhshi has been invited to the parliament to state his claims.”

Jonaidi also criticized the social media by saying: “The social media has a lot of benefits, but it also has a problem, which is a quick rush to judgment. Each side must have the opportunity to express their side of the story.”

Esmail Bakhshi recently published a letter on his Instagram page, in which he talked about being severely tortured in prison. He challenged the minister of intelligence to a live TV debate.