By Borzou Daragahi and Tehran
AFTER days of relative quiet, opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi launched a broadside against the Iranian leadership, suggesting the political rift over the disputed presidential election is far from over.
The former prime minister turned scholar accused Iran's Supreme Leader of failing to act in the interests of the country and said Iran had suffered a dramatic change for the worse.
Martyr for the cause: Placards of Neda Agha-Soltan during a demonstration in support of the Iranian opposition in Berlin.Credit: THOMAS PETER
He strongly criticised state-controlled broadcast outlets, which have intensified a media blitz against him and his supporters with allegations that recent unrest over the disputed June 12 presidential election was instigated by Iran's international rivals. And he vowed to pursue his quest to have President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election nullified.
"I am not only prepared to respond to all these allegations but am ready to show how election fraudsters joined those who are truly behind the recent riots and shed the blood of people," he said in comments that appeared on his website. "I am not prepared to give up under the pressure of threats or personal interest."
Yesterday, Iran's electoral watchdog, the Guardian Council, said there was no fraud in the election. "After 10 days of examination, we did not see any major irregularities," said spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodai. "We have had no fraud in any presidential election and this one was the cleanest election we have had."
Mr Mousavi's forceful remarks appeared to show that he was willing to risk his standing as a pillar of the Islamic republic to take on the powerful leadership, including the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. And they seemed aimed at securing his position at the head of a broad and youthful movement seeking reform.
At least some of his comments were apparently delivered in a meeting on Wednesday with a group of 70 social scientists, who were later arrested and taken to an unknown location.
Although the Supreme Leader is usually considered beyond public reproach, Mr Mousavi seemed more than willing to take on Ayatollah Khamenei, who broke with tradition by openly taking sides in the country's political rows.
"The leadership's support to the Government under normal circumstances is helpful," Mr Mousavi said. "However, if the leadership and the president are the same, it will not be in the interests of the country."
He also challenged Ayatollah Khamenei's insistence that those who question the vote pursue legal means of recourse while he closed off most avenues to do that and silenced news outlets critical of the election.
Mr Mousavi's Kalameh Sabz newspaper was shut down and its staff detained on Monday.
He said: "While officials of the country continuously insist on the implementation of the law and while those who complain against wide-scale vote rigging are accused of breaking the law, such actions against a newspaper that holds legal permits are not understandable unless we accept lawfulness can go only far enough to restrict the complaints of protesters and nothing else."
Hundreds of people have been arrested for allegedly taking part in or inciting protests, including the 70 members of the Islamic Society of University Professors who were arrested after they met Mr Mousavi, according to his website.
US President Barack Obama and many other Western leaders have condemned the crackdown, further straining relations between Iran and the West as the US was seeking talks over its nuclear program.
Mr Ahmadinejad unusually silent since June 14, when his description of his opponents as "dirt" spurred an opposition rally in central Tehran that drew hundreds of thousands of people cautioned Mr Obama on Thursday to avoid the path of his predecessor.
"We do not expect anything from the British and the European countries' governments, which are not honourable and their history is known to the world," Mr Ahmadinejad said on state television. "But why has Mr Obama been caught up in this trap while he has the slogan of change?"
Iran's power brokers have been huddling to defuse the crisis. Mr Mousavi and his backer, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, met MPs on Wednesday in an effort to quell the unrest, according to a Fars news agency interview with Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of parliament's committee on national security and foreign policy.
"The lawmakers asked Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani to help solve the problems and he vowed support, and we hope that we would witness practical measures to be taken to end the current situation soon," Mr Boroujerdi said.
"During the meeting, the governing board of the committee explained their expectations from Mr Mousavi and he voiced his interest to help in solving the issues."
But Mr Mousavi's latest remarks suggest he is far from relenting.
He warned authorities that the crackdown on his supporters put the entire Islamic republic at risk by raising questions about the Government's legitimacy.
"If the recent moves made in the past few days are not well managed, people outside the country and the system will find the opportunity to manage it," he said. "We should be careful. The most important asset we have is our independence, and we should not allow foreigners to interfere."
He added: "Our society at the moment is different from that of six months ago. At the moment, we are facing a new society that we need to get to know before doing anything else. The features, demands, requirements of this society will have to be reviewed and analysed."
LOS ANGELES TIMES, AFP