Reformists Will Not Back Down from Investigating Election Fraud

Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, the candidates protesting the June 12 election results, once again reiterated their previous claims of massive election fraud and condemned the post-election crackdown.

According to the website Taghyee (“Change”), affiliated with the Etemad Melli (“National Trust”) Party, Mir-Hossein Mousavi visited Mehdi Karoubi’s residence yesterday to discuss the events that have transpired since the election.

Qods Day Protestors Worried about Fate of Self and Country

In the meeting, Mehdi Karoubi first noted his disappointment with the “post-election behavior,” describing the mistreatment of students and revolutionary forces as “odd and strange,” and calling on the authorities to be mindful of their behavior and actions.

Karoubi slammed the nation’s attorney general, Mohseni-Ezhei, who had said “we are now at war,” asking, “why should it be pretended that the nation is at war and that everyone should shut up and remain silent?  

Karoubi also condemned military officers, such as the commander of the Islamic Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who accuse the reformists of aiding the agenda of foreign media outlets and websites.  Karoubi said, “I ask him, who aids their agenda?  You or us?  Who makes provocative statements?  You or us?  Who pursues radical policies?  You or us?”

This opposition candidate referred to the Qods Day (last Friday of the month of Ramadan, when large opposition protests were held) rallies, noting, “The majority of the people who came out chanted slogans about Iran and their country, and they were worried about their fate.  We cant tell people not to be worried about the fate of their country.”  

Mehdi Karoubi reiterated his claim of massive election fraud: “Some speak about the election as if nothing has happened.  You mean that people don’t know what has happened?  Then why are all these protests about?”

The secretary-general of the National Trust Party then advised authorities to “make remarks that would not make others laugh at you,” adding, “if you are serious, in exchange for tens of hours of denials on national television and extracting forced confessions from innocent prisoners give us time on national television to present our evidence and arguments.”  

Whoever Speaks Up is Prosecuted

In the meeting, Mir-Hossein Mousavi condemned the trials of election protesters as sham trials, asking, “what benefit did you get out of these sham trials?  Do you want to hold inquisition era trials?  Are you aware of the negative consequences of that on society?”

He added, “inappropriate behavior in the past four years has either pushed all revolutionary forces to the side or made them unwilling to work.  Look and see how many ministers and jurists and revolutionary forces have been eliminated.”  
This opposition candidate referred to his repeated warnings in the past year about the misappropriation of public resources by certain powerful institutions, condemning the IRGC’s latest takeover of the county’s telecommunications company.

The war-time prime minister blasted the spread of lying among authorities and the abuse of the national radio and television outlets to attack opponents, noting, “they keep giving people wrong information thinking that they would believe it.  How come the official number of people who have died since the election has changed so many times?  Then they say election fraud is a lie.  Some have been mobilized to pretend that no fraud took place.  This was especially advertised on national television.”

Mousavi addressed the authorities, “If you are confident about your behavior why are you worried about our presence on national television, or the presence of our experts?  If you are honest, hold a roundtable between our and your experts and let both sides present their case.” 

It seems some people are trying to take us back to the Inquisition era,” Mousavi said in Saturday’s meeting, referring to the holding of mass trials, the closure of pro-reform newspapers and restrictions on political parties, it reported.

“What was proven during these trials? … What are they seeking by using the terms of soft threats and overthrowing and other academic issues which must be discussed in the universities not in a court session?” Mousavi said.
“Mr Karoubi and I were not able to defend ourselves even for three minutes there,” he said.