Iran: Karoubi Blasts Ayatollah Yazdi, Guardian Council Member, For Insults Against Opposition Leaders

Mohammad Yazdi in his recent speech in Qom had very harsh words for Mehdi Karroubi, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and especially Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani

In response to the insults made by Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi against the reformist leaders, Mehdi Karoubi in an interview with Tagheer website addressed Yazdi and said: "regarding your remark and your concern about me being a "joke" I should remind you that those who are briefing you, are telling you jokes; that's why you have this illusion that the political turmoil and the critical situation of the society is like a joke [to you]! ... I remind you that what I do and will do is based on my belief and duty in defending the rights of each and every citizen, and this for me is the main goal and responsibility."

He added: "If you use clear and free sources, you will see that wherever Mehdi Karoubi joined the people, they received him with kindness; and not only, unlike some, his popularity did not diminish with time, but with the kindness of the people (despite all the limitations and closing down my newspaper and offices) I am blessed with their support every day."

Karoubi added: "If you don't agree with the views of someone, why don't you act according to the law? Why do you deal with it by hiring a number of thugs and causing trouble in the neighbourhood in the middle of the night? Is this what you are proudly talking about that if Karoubi did not have bodyguards what you could have done to him? Is this what you promised people at the beginning of the revolution? What has happened to your dignity as a member of the Guardian Council?!"

Karoubi said: "In another part of your remarks you talked about the heaven and hell and asked some to leave the alliance of the devil! Are you the representative of God and the scale to determine good and bad deeds? How could you acknowledge this right for yourself to call anyone who does not agree with you an ally of the devil and anti-Islam?! A warning for you: Do you know, with these kinds of double standards and actions, what you are doing to Islam and people's beliefs? When you as a cleric in the society have these wrong views, people will turn their back on religion and clerics in great numbers! How could you respond to these?"

At the end Karoubi added: "Now with your age and illness, which I hope you get better soon, what is the necessity for you to accept a responsibility and when some gives you wrong information, you repeat them for large number of people and clerics?"

In conclusion, Karoubi pointed out the financial interests that Ayatollah Yazdi and his son have in the country and the incidents that he has shown incompetence as a former head of the judiciary; he then asked him to resign from his public posts as a member of the Guardian Council and a member of the Assembly of Experts so that he won't make more mistakes either for his own gain or due to wrong information.