By Sabina Castelfranco, VOA,
Rome

Mohsen Makhmalbaf |
Iranian film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf describes the declared victory of
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Iran's recent presidential elections as a "coup
d'etat."
Makhmalbaf says the present situation in Iran is not the result of voting
irregularities, but a true and proper "coup d'etat."
Addressing the foreign media in Rome, the man who has become the official
spokesman abroad for Mir Hossein Mousavi, spoke out strongly about the situation
in Iran following the presidential election.
No peace
Makhmalbaf says opposition candidate Mousavi was preparing his victory speech
when military commanders came to tell him he could not be the winner. He adds
that the people of Iran do not want to be ruled by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the
next four years and there will be no peace in Iran if he is the leader.
Makhmalbaf spoke of the slogans called out by the people in Iran, saying they do
not want the atomic bomb, but democracy. The people, he says, feel they have
been robbed of their vote and that Mr. Ahmadinejad is not their president. He
says they shout out that they do not want a dictatorship, but a free society.
Loss of freedom
Makhmalbaf says the Iranian people do not want Mr. Ahmadinejad because he has
used oil revenues to finance Hezbollah and its war in Lebanon, and nuclear
weapons. He says Iranians feel they have lost their freedom and Iran's image has
been ruined in the world.

A ballot box: "It's people's vote that counts"
Protestors in
Tehran demand annulment of the election results
 |
Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini says he considers Iran's
invitation to the Group of Eight foreign ministers meeting later this week in
Trieste to have been declined because no answer was received by Monday.
Italy's top diplomat also strongly condemned the violence and aggression against
peaceful demonstrators and called for a serious review of the presidential vote.
The Italian government has instructed its embassy in Iran to provide
humanitarian assistance to protesters wounded during the clashes, pending an EU
vote on a proposal to coordinate assistance.