Mousavi and Karoubi: From Imam Hussein to Azadi Squares

In a face to face meeting, Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi drafted a letter to Tehran’s governor, Morteza Tamadon, requesting a permit for a peaceful rally on June 12 from Imam Hussein Square to Azadi Square in accordance with Article 27 of the Islamic Republic Constitution. The event is to commemorate the day of last year’s disputed presidential election’s that reinstated Ahmadinejad, bringing about national protests that have left tens of dead people and have launched Iran’s green movement for political change. Mousavi and Karoubi, a former prime minister and a former Majlis speaker respectively, were both presidential candidates in that race.

Mousavi and Karoubi requested a permit for the June 12 rally while, according to Article 27 of the Islamic Republic Constitution, “Public gatherings and marches may be freely held, provided arms are not carried and that they are not detrimental to the fundamental principles of Islam.” In recent years, however, the interior ministry has interpreted the provision as requiring a permit from the ministry for any form of public rallies or gatherings. So far, the ministry has dismissed every request for a permit by protesters since the last presidential election. The interior ministry refused to even permit issues for political parties and trade unions on days such as the Student Day on Azar 16.

During an earlier meeting this month, Mousavi and Karoubi had announced that “If a permit is issued, people will be invited to take part in rallies across the nation. Otherwise, they must engage in disseminating information through diverse channels of social networks.”

During their pervious yesterday, the former prime minister and former Majlis Speaker had also called for clear investigations into the past year’s events, noting that “It is extremely important for the green movement’s progress and for the advancement of the nation’s movement for rights and justice to discover what has happened from June 12 until now.”

Mousavi and Karoubi submitted their request to the interior ministry while, in the past year, the two leaders as well as many other officials and political parties have called on the government to allow such peaceful rallies as a way to diffuse tension. The Islamic Republic rulers have not heeded the calls yet.

In his only Friday prayer speech since the presidential election, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, chairman of the Assembly of Experts and the Expediency Council had called for “eliminating doubts about the election,” “release of prisoners” and “gaining people’s satisfaction and appeasing the injured.”

Afterwards, emphasizing his demands, Hashemi Rafsanjani said, “If people are with us, we have everything; but if people are not satisfied, it is impossible to govern.”

Commenting on the suppression of protesters in various gatherings by the armed forces, the Expediency Council chairman declared later that “the regime has money and there can bring people into the streets, but the other group is composed of professors, students, workers, managers and businessmen, and it is not correct to put the Basij and the [Islamic Passdaran Revolutionary] Guards against the people. He added, “People should be treated in a way that they feel the regime is seeking to protect their rights and dignity. The Constitution has been drafted very well with respect to people’s rights, and officials must try to strengthen society’s confidence by fully implementing it.”