MirHosein Mousavi, Iranian opposition leader expressed defiance in the face of recent threats from Islamic republic government figures and warned the establishment that such propaganda would only backfire.
In a report on Kaleme website, Mousavi, the chief challenger of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s victory in the 2009 elections, condemned the recent government statements and described them as worn out tactics used by totalitarian regimes such as Soviet Union in the Stalin era.
In recent months, Iranian senior officials including top judicial authorities have repeatedly attacked the opposition leaders, MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, insisting that they will soon to be prosecuted for their role in the post-election protests as "leaders of sedition."
Mousavi maintained that the “unfair content” of such attacks makes them “ineffective” and will make them backfire. He went on to add that such attacks merely attest to the “legitimacy and vitality” of the Green Movement.
The protest movement against the alleged vote fraud in the 2009 elections in Iran has been referred to as the “Green Movement.”
Mousavi goes on to tell the authorities: “As I indicated in my 17th announcement you should ignore people like me and without any attention to us, release the prisoners and announce that you are committed to the constitution. Give freedom to the media and set up free and non-selective elections. You will then realize, the horizons have lightened up. Otherwise more oppression will only result in heavier demands.”
Mousavi also added that this kind of publicity along with continued crack down and arrests will eventually make people lose faith in reform in the framework of the current constitution.
The opposition leader maintained that in the current atmosphere, power mongers are creating deep rifts in society but the forces of the Green Movement according to Mousavi, “ are trying to overcome these rifts by keeping alive the space for debate and national dialogue and by practicing tolerance.”
He added: “Being Green does not mean that we want everyone to assume our colour…Being Green is living side by side with understanding for differences and variety in votes, ideas and tastes.”
Mehdi Karroubi also responded to the recent government attacks earlier saying he is more than ready to stand in an open and public trial so that people would get a chance to hear both sides and judge for themselves.
