Iranian Opposition Leader Condemns Military Intervention In Elections
Source: Radio Zamaneh
The disputing candidate of Iran's June elections, Mehdi Karoubi says the
late Ayatollah Khomeini was "adamantly" against the presence of the military in
political partisanships and elections.
In a video on Saham News marking the anniversary of the passing of the founder
of the Islamic Republic, Karoubi said: "The armed forces are carrying arms and
the fate of the elections is determined by the Revolutionary Guards and the
Basij militia."
Mehdi Karoubi suggests that the place of the Revolutionary Guards and Basij should be determined through a free national poll.
Mehdi Karoubi added that military forces have even taken over the
commemoration ceremony of Ayatollah Khomeini by pressuring the grandson of the
founder of the Islamic Republic who is the usual organizer of these events to
follow their program.
Mehdi Karoubi also declares that the Islamic Republic was "derailed" a year
after the death of Ayatollah Khomeini when "under the pre-text of monitoring the
elections, deviations occurred in the third parliamentary elections."
Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei with IRGC and army chiefs
The opposition leader also condemned the attacks of the armed forces and the
Ministry of Intelligence against a number of senior members of the clergy and
maintained that such treatment of the senior Shiite leaders is against the
teachings of Ayatollah Khomeini.
Pro-Ahmadinejad forces claim Mehdi Karoubi is one of the leaders of a seditious
movement aimed at toppling the Islamic Republic and they called for his
prosecution along with Mir Hossein Mousavi, the other disputing candidate of the
last June's presidential elections.
Fars State News Agency reported yesterday that Karoubi's visit at the tomb of
Ayatollah Khomeini was met with an angry crowd chanting slogans against him.
Mehdi Karoubi dismissed the event as the "disturbing efforts of a small group
of people."
Mehdi Karoubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi are two presidential candidates that have
challenged the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in last year's elections and
made charges of electoral fraud.
They deny the charges of sedition and maintain that they are supporters of the
Islamic Republic system which according to them is derailed from the original
path set for it by Ayatollah Khomeini.
They also consistently try to evoke the sayings and actions of the late leader
of the Revolution to justify their protests against the actions of the current
government.
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