Ardeshir AmirArjmand, a spokesman for the Coordination Council for the Green Path of Hope, says any talk of national reconciliation until the government changes its methods and policies.
In an interview with the Kaleme opposition website, AmirArjmand said: “The leaders of the movement have emphasized that national unity and reconciliation will not be achieved by self-interested negotiators meeting behind closed doors and in dark halls; reconciliation has a specific process.”
The opposition spokesman laid out some of the necessary conditions for “clear and constructive dialogues,” including: the release of prisoners; the acknowledgment of crimes committed; the alleviation of the current atmosphere of oppression and heavy security, and the granting of free rein to media and political parties.
Iranian opposition leaders MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have been under house arrest since last February for drumming up protesters to rally in support of the recent Arab uprisings.
June 12 will mark the second anniversary of the election in 2009, when allegations of vote fraud sent millions of Iranians into the streets to challenge the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. AmirArjmand said the Coordination Council for the Green Path of Hope is issuing a rally call to its supporters to join a silent march on that date.
AmirArjmand said it will test the government’s tolerance of “protesters who are trying to express their demands in the most peaceful possible way.”
In the post-election crackdown of 2009, thousands of people were arrested and dozens were killed. Hundreds of opposition figures remain in jail and many have been sentenced to harsh prison terms.
Recently, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said the post-election protests were the result of a “10-year project by the country’s enemies” and lauded the swift demise of this “scourge.”
MirHosein Mousavi’s aide said the leader’s claim that the protests were “a mere scourge that has died down” can be easily tested by allowing a peaceful demonstration on June 12.
AmirArjmand added that the Coordination Council has urged participants to refrain from chanting any slogans or becoming violent during the proposed demonstrations.
