In November 2009, Nourizad wrote an open letter to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, urging him to apologize to the opposition for the bloody crackdown of the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests. The letter read in part,”As commander in chief of the armed forces, you didn’t treat people well after the election. Your agents opened fire, killed the people, beat them and destroyed and burnt their property. Your role in this can’t be ignored, … Your apology can cool down the wrath of the people.”