Iranian Cleric MelxIi I carroubi Predicts Opposifion Will Topple Alm iadimJad lttp://www.washingtozçost.com'wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/18/AR...
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Iranian Cleric Predicts Opposition Aclwertisen'ent YourM Flere
Will Topple Ahmadinejad
By Thomas Erdbrink
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
TEHRAN, Aug. 18 -- His newspaper was shut down
Monday, and generals and hard-line clerics have called for
him to be put on trial. Yet defeated Iranian presidential
candidate Mehdi Karroubi says opposition to the
government is growing by the day.
The white-turbaned Shiite cleric, who has held several
senior government positions since the 1979 Islamic
revolution, said in an interview Tuesday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, along with the clerics and
Revolutionary Guard commanders who support him, will be defeated by what he describes as a burgeoning
movement of ordinary people, ayatollahs and lawmakers.
“In the streets, in the bazaars, at weddings and in mosques, everywhere you can hear people complaining
about what has happened” since Ahmadinejad's disputed reelection June 12, Karroubi said. “This belief is
growing at an extraordinary pace. Yes, people might be more cautious, since the situation in our country is
dangerous, but their thoughts, their ideas have not changed.”
The mass trial underway in Tehran, in which some of Karroubi's close advisers have linked him to a Western-
backed plot to overthrow the country's leadership, is unprecedented, he said.
“The court has a special purpose. It is organized by the winners of the vote, and only their opponents have
been put on trial,” the 72-year-old cleric said. “But people will never believe these wide-ranging accusations
of murders, bombings and espionage against more than 100 suspects.”
While his fellow opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, has issued a broad call for the full
implementation of Iran's constitution, Karroubi has been pursuing violations of specific laws, urging an
investigation into allegations of torture, deaths in custody and the rape of young detainees.
“Some of the detainees have reported that certain individuals have so severely raped some of the girls in
custody that the attacks have caused excruciating damage and injury to their reproductive organs,” he wrote
in a public letter to a top cleric. “They also report that others have raped the young boys so violently that
upon their release they have endured great mental and physical pain.”
Parliament speaker Mi Larijani called last Wednesday for an investigation but a day later said Karroubi's
allegations were unfounded and could be used by Iran's enemies. On Friday, prayer leaders nationwide -- all
appointed by Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei -- denounced Karroubi, saying his accusations
had undermined respect for the country's leaders.
“This was a letter with which America celebrated. It was a letter that was Israel's celebration,” said Ahmadi
Khatami, a leader of Friday prayers in Tehran. “The honorable judiciary said unequivocally that sexual
assault, which this gentleman has alleged, is a lie.”
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Iranian Cleric MelxIi I carroubi Predicts Opposifion Will Topple Abmadirejad lttp://www.washingtoiçost.com'wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/18/AR...
But Karroubi refuses to back down. “I'm still pursuing the issue, and the propaganda has failed to change my
mind,” he said. Mousavi, who had been silent on the issue, released a public letter of support Tuesday, also
accusing “establishment agents” of rape.
“I praise your courage and hope the other clerics join and strengthen your efforts,” Mousavi's letter said,
addressing Karroubi.
But Karroubi contradicted an announcement by Mousavi's aides Tuesday that he has joined Mousavi's new
movement, the Green Path of Hope. “The results of our efforts are the same. We have no differences. But we
follow our separate ways,” Karroubi said, emphasizing that he wants to strengthen his own party, Etemad-e
Melli, or National Trnst, whose newspaper of the same name was shut down indefinitely by Tehran's
prosecutor this week.
Born in the backwater province of Lorestan, Karroubi studied in the Qum Shiite seminary and was an early
supporter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic republic. He was imprisoned several
times during the reign of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Western-backed former shah. After the revolution, he
headed several religious foundations and was accused by some of embezzling funds, an assertion he denies.
He was a two-term speaker of parliament and in 2005 ran unsuccessftilly against Ahmadinejad.
In June, when he ran again, on an agenda of expanded women's and civic rights, he received so few votes,
according to the official tally, that he came in last even in his home province.
For the government, he said, a downward spiral looms.
“This group succeeded in grabbing power, but can they solve the problems? Satisfy the people? Have good
relations with the world? Solve unemployment?” he said. “Problems will not be solved, and people will be
more unhappy. This is one of the consequences of the election.”
Special correspondent Kay Armin Serf oie contributed to this report.
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