1 Boring Old Man

Mousavi seeks end to Iran crackdown
Al Jazeera English
January 1, 2010
15:02 Mecca time

12:02 GMT

Mir Hossein Mousavi, the Iranian opposition leader, has called for an immediate end to the government crackdown on opposition activists, saying he was ready to die in defence of people’s rights. In a statement on his Kaleme website on Friday, Mousavi also said that the Islamic Republic was in "serious crisis" following the disputed presidential election in June. "I am not afraid to die for people’s demands … Iran is in serious crisis … Harsh remarks … will create internal uprising … the election law should be changed … political prisoners should be freed," his statement added.

He accused the government of making more mistakes by resorting to "violence and killings" to quell the protests over the poll outcome, that saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the incumbent president, re-elected for another term. "Arresting or killing Mousavi, [another opposition leader Mehdi] Karoubi … will not calm the situation," Mousavi, who lost the election, said in the statement.

Mousavi also demanded that the government "take responsibility for the problems it has created in the country… and recognise people’s right to lawful assembly". "I say openly that until there is an acknowledgement of the existence of a serious crisis in the country, there will be no possibility of resolving the problems and issues."

Mixed message

Baqer Moin, a specialist on Iran based in London, told Al Jazeera that Mousavi was being both defiant and conciliatory in his statement. "He’s saying: ‘if you want war then I am man of war, if you want peace then I am man of peace … I’m ready to negotiate’.," Moin said. "Having said that he comes with five suggestions saying that if you really want peace in the country you can’t go overnight towards the maximum demand of everybody – we have to move gradually towards a destination." "So in a sense he is coming with some realistic proposals within the constitution to deal with the current crisis," he said.

Also on Friday, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the speaker of Iran’s Guardian Council, accused anti-government protesters of "corrupting God’s earth". The charge is punishable by death under Islamic law…