Houshang Pourbabayi, a lawyer, stated that according to the law, the only hostile state against Iran is Israel.
The Faraz Daily website wrote:
The sentences for Niloufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, two journalists detained in the first weeks following the death of Mahsa Amini, were issued in Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court. These two journalists, facing three charges of collaborating with the hostile state of the USA, gathering and colluding to commit crimes against national security, and engaging in propaganda activities against the Islamic Republic of Iran, have been sentenced to a total of 25 years in prison.
Houshang Pourbabayi, while stating that none of these charges apply to the actions of these two journalists, said:
According to what we have defined in the Islamic Penal Code regarding collaboration with hostile states, the decision on which states we are in a state of hostility with is up to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Security Council. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs explicitly declared in a letter in 2016 that the only country we are in a state of hostility with is Israel.
This lawyer, in conclusion, referring to the illegality of broadcasting a documentary titled ‘Informer’ by the Judiciary News Agency, said:
According to the law, they do not have the right to publish the defendant’s case documents with names in society while the accused is still presumed innocent. Secondly, based on Article 23 of the Press Law, all defendants and their lawyers must be given the opportunity to respond to the broadcasted documents.