“You Know You Don’t Have Enough Support”

In his latest remarks, former Parliament speaker and reformist presidential contender Mehdi Karoubi supported the recent complaint filed by seven senior members of the Mosharekat and Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution parties relating to “illegal interference” of security and intelligence agents in the June 2009 presidential election. He also invited the regime to a “debate” and announced the compilation of an “analysis of elections over the past twenty years.”

In his remarks yesterday, the sixth Majlis speaker once again identified the Guardian Council as the main agent of “fraud” in the election, noting, “The main problem has to do with this oversight [agency], which is not impartial. It is clear to everyone that they [Guardian Council members] did not remain impartial, and that their hands are stained with betraying people’s votes.”

Karoubi latest criticism is voiced while, at the time this report was completed, Karoubi’s house was under siege as it was surrounded by over 50 plainclothes agents and members of the Basij. According to Mr. Karoubi’s official website, concerns about his physical safety have reached a new high with the presence of unidentified plainclothes agents and members of the Basij, who are hiding their identifies by covering their faces.

Karoubi, who was speaking to a group of reformist youth activists yesterday, commented on his recent meetings with the families of the post-election victims: “In these meetings, one is moved by the discussions with the families of the post-election prisoners, injured, wounded and martyred victims, especially when the discussion is about unknown individuals who have suffered so much in the turmoil. Not much information is still available about some of them, or if there is, not enough attention has been paid to their cases. They are still dealing with difficulty with the problems that they have faced and the limitations that have been imposed on them.”

Mehdi Karoubi, who has consistently protested the fraud in last year’s election, said again yesterday, “Some argue that there was fraud while others insist that there wasn’t. But we say, not only was there fraud, but it was widespread, much more than one or two million votes and that the result was pre-determined before the election. It was determined that the other side must have 25 million, and this side must have a few million, and one side must have about 300 thousand votes. The point was that some people were planned to be presented as defeated.”

The sixth Majlis speaker then addressed the regime directly: “You know yourselves that you don’t have enough support among the people, or that you have little support. I am willing to start with anyone that you say, from anywhere that you say, from coffee shops to cinemas and shrines, from north to south, east to west, on car or by foot, to visit cities and everything in between, to see and ask people whom they support.”

Mehdi Karoubi is among the opposition leaders who have been beaten and harassed by unknown agents several times over the past year for participating in public rallies and events. Along with Mir-Hossein Mousavi, he has requested but failed to obtain permits for public gatherings from the government repeatedly over the past year.