Senior Iranian reformist figure Mohammad Mousavi Khoweini has declared that the establishment has missed the opportunity to get reformists join in the coming parliamentary elections.
On Saturday, Mousavi Khoweini, secretary general of the Association of Combatant Clerics, said on the Ahang-e Rah website: “It is clear that the reformists will not take part in the elections on the reformist platform and this is clear to all.”
The Islamic Republic Elections Headquarters has already announced that the two top reformists parties, the Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, will not be allowed to put forward candidates in the elections.
The Guardian Council has also said that individuals who are connected with the election protests of 2009 will not be eligible to run.
Millions of Iranians challenged Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election in 2009, and reformists say their candidate, MirHosein Mousavi, who is currently under house arrest, was the true winner of the presidential elections.
Mohammad Khatami, the former Iranian president and another top reformist figure, previously had said that reformists could only participate in the elections if all political prisoners were freed, the political atmosphere was opened up and elections were held with utmost transparency.
Mousavi Khoweini commented on the issue of election participation, saying: “The people have shown that they are more alert and aware than us and they know full well how to deal with such an election.”
Iran’s parliamentary elections will be held in March.
