There may be important, security-related or high-level reasons why a case stays open for years, but one can say with some seriousness that there is no clear answer, acceptable to everyone, to the question “why does the case of Haj Ahmad Motevaselian remain open?”, and no serious effort to clarify and end the present situation.
In my view, one could perhaps create a new chapter and metaphor in the language of diplomacy by borrowing from the state of girlfriend-boyfriend relationships, under the title
“Diplomacy, my love, where are you?”
Every person and every relationship is unique. Still, some possible reasons a boyfriend might now and then text a girlfriend, whom he does not need as much as he would a wife, “my love, where are you?” are:
- Affection and contact: the boyfriend may miss his girlfriend for all kinds of reasons (such as the memories he has with her, the unique options she has, and so on) and want to be in touch. Sending a message like “my love, where are you” can help bring those memories back to life, but only that far and no further: if he gets the reply that I’m at such-and-such a place, then in this type of relationship he will probably be satisfied with “have a good time” and not go there and wait for her.
- Jealousy or possessiveness: for all the reasons why the boyfriend does not choose his girlfriend as his wife, he may still text “my love, where are you?” out of jealousy, from seeing an affectionate or romantic scene around him, or out of a sense of ownership over her. He probably only wants to keep an eye on her location and be sure no one is spending time with her, not for other reasons such as being worried about her or wanting to visit.
- Planning: another reason that comes to mind is that the boyfriend may message his girlfriend to coordinate his plans with the time and place she is at, either to make sure she will be late so he can carry on with his dirty business, or that she will be late so he can surprise her with a party he has thrown for her.
If the relationship between people were honest and clear, different thoughts might not come to mind, but in the complexity of the world of human relations, if there is a situation in which someone keeps sending “my love, where are you?” messages without showing real attention or basic concern for the other person’s wellbeing, one cannot think well of those messages.
As for the situation of the Haj Ahmad Motevaselian case, to which a new page is added every year: at first there was the matter of no serious follow-up, and for years this concern was not formally and seriously announced to the world, because Iran had sent a diplomat who, before being a diplomat, was a military commander influential in one of the most important physical wars (in my view Iran’s most important real war is the war of faith and unbelief, of the oppressed and the arrogant), and from the viewpoint of international law this might have drawn objections. After years, people gave scattered news that he might be in such-and-such prisons, but no further information was found. After a long time some said that in that same year, in the place where hostages were held, Haj Ahmad was martyred, and they even gave his burial place, but again no serious search or public, official announcement took place, and nothing else happened. In later years people brought gifts for Haj Ahmad’s family on various occasions and wrote “dedicated to the family of the martyr Haj Ahmad Motevaselian” on the first page, and after follow-up by news agencies or individuals, apologised. This year too they came and announced that Ahmad Motevaselian was martyred, and perhaps, by their own reckoning, the rift between the people and religion and the state could be repaired with the funeral procession of a commander of the Sacred Defence era; they saw that date as the best time and announced it, but a few days later they realised that their mental calculation might have been wrong and that this trump card could be used in other critical places and situations, and for the nth time, it was denied.
In short, let us watch out for people who have no other particular goal than to relieve one of the things I listed above, who look at matters with a “my love, where are you?” eye, and whose aim is to flirt with processes (marriage, defining and finishing a project, closing a diplomatic file, clarifying an economic file, approving or not approving transparency in decision-making, and so on)!
So reflect!