Iran's Mousavi "Ready for Martyrdom"
Vehicles pass giant billboards showing Egyptian presidential candidates Mohammed Morsi, left, and Ahmed Shafiq, center, on a highway in Cairo, Egypt, Monday, June 11, 2012. Shafiq, the last prime minister of deposed President Hosni Mubarak, will face the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, Mohammed Morsi, in a runoff on June 16-17. Arabic sign, left, partially shown, reads, " our strength is in our unity, Mohammed Morsi, president for Egypt 2012." Arabic sign, center, reads, "Ahmed Shafiq, president for Egypt actions and not words." (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) / Amr Nabil
Iran's opposition leader on Friday pledged to remain defiant in the face of new threats - including calls by hard-liners for his execution - and said he was ready to sacrifice his life in defense of the people's right to hold peaceful protests against the government.
Mir Hossein Mousavi's remarks come after the worst unrest since the immediate aftermath of disputed June presidential election. At least eight people died during anti-government protests Sunday, including Mousavi's nephew.
Iran's state prosecutor on Thursday warned opposition leaders could be put on trial if they don't denounce this week's anti-government protests.
Iranian hard-liners have called for the execution of Mousavi and other opposition figures, while a previously unknown group claimed in an online posting that suicide squads were ready to assassinate opposition leaders should the judiciary fail to punish them within a week.
In one of his strongest statements to date, Mousavi on Friday said he was "ready for martyrdom" - the sacrifice of one's life for a higher cause - and lashed out at the bloody crackdown the authorities are waging against the opposition.
He said the government was making more mistakes by resorting to violence and killings, and that it must accept the people's rights to hold peaceful demonstrations.
"I explicitly and clearly state that an order to execute, murder and imprison (opposition leaders) ... won't resolve the problem," Mousavi said in a statement on his Web site, Kaleme. "I'm not afraid to be one of the martyrs people have offered in the struggle for their just demands."
Iran's internal turmoil has grown increasingly bitter. The confrontation between clerical rulers and their opponents returned to the streets in recent weeks, after a harsh crackdown immediately following the June 12 balloting all but crushed the opposition movement.
One of those killed in clashes between security forces and opposition protesters on Sunday, when Shiite Muslims marked the sacred day of Ashoura, was Mousavi's nephew, Ali Mousavi.
He was buried Wednesday in a hastily organized ceremony that was attended by the opposition leader and other family members. Authorities had taken the body from the hospital earlier in the week in what was seen as an attempt to prevent the funeral from turning into another pro-opposition protest.
Sunday's unrest was followed by two days of pro-government protests Wednesday and Thursday in which crowds chanted calls for the execution of Mousavi, and another opposition figure, Mahdi Karroubi.
Both Mousavi and Karroubi were losing candidates in the June election, in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner. The opposition argues the election was rigged and that Ahmadinejad won by fraud.
Some government supporters at the two days of rallies wore white funeral shrouds to symbolize a willingness to die in defense of Iran's clerical rulers. Several hundred turned out for demonstration Thursday in southern Tehran outside the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, state radio reported.
In his statement Friday, Mousavi also denounced hard-liners who he said preached violence from state-funded podiums in the name of Islam.
"Encouraging the killing of people ... is a tragedy carried out by specific individuals and the state TV," he said, adding that efforts to silence the opposition "through arrests, violence and threats," would not succeed.
AP Mir Hossein Mousavi's remarks come after the worst unrest since the immediate aftermath of disputed June presidential election. At least eight people died during anti-government protests Sunday, including Mousavi's nephew.
Iran's state prosecutor on Thursday warned opposition leaders could be put on trial if they don't denounce this week's anti-government protests.
Iranian hard-liners have called for the execution of Mousavi and other opposition figures, while a previously unknown group claimed in an online posting that suicide squads were ready to assassinate opposition leaders should the judiciary fail to punish them within a week.
In one of his strongest statements to date, Mousavi on Friday said he was "ready for martyrdom" - the sacrifice of one's life for a higher cause - and lashed out at the bloody crackdown the authorities are waging against the opposition.
He said the government was making more mistakes by resorting to violence and killings, and that it must accept the people's rights to hold peaceful demonstrations.
"I explicitly and clearly state that an order to execute, murder and imprison (opposition leaders) ... won't resolve the problem," Mousavi said in a statement on his Web site, Kaleme. "I'm not afraid to be one of the martyrs people have offered in the struggle for their just demands."
Iran's internal turmoil has grown increasingly bitter. The confrontation between clerical rulers and their opponents returned to the streets in recent weeks, after a harsh crackdown immediately following the June 12 balloting all but crushed the opposition movement.
One of those killed in clashes between security forces and opposition protesters on Sunday, when Shiite Muslims marked the sacred day of Ashoura, was Mousavi's nephew, Ali Mousavi.
He was buried Wednesday in a hastily organized ceremony that was attended by the opposition leader and other family members. Authorities had taken the body from the hospital earlier in the week in what was seen as an attempt to prevent the funeral from turning into another pro-opposition protest.
Sunday's unrest was followed by two days of pro-government protests Wednesday and Thursday in which crowds chanted calls for the execution of Mousavi, and another opposition figure, Mahdi Karroubi.
Both Mousavi and Karroubi were losing candidates in the June election, in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner. The opposition argues the election was rigged and that Ahmadinejad won by fraud.
Some government supporters at the two days of rallies wore white funeral shrouds to symbolize a willingness to die in defense of Iran's clerical rulers. Several hundred turned out for demonstration Thursday in southern Tehran outside the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, state radio reported.
In his statement Friday, Mousavi also denounced hard-liners who he said preached violence from state-funded podiums in the name of Islam.
"Encouraging the killing of people ... is a tragedy carried out by specific individuals and the state TV," he said, adding that efforts to silence the opposition "through arrests, violence and threats," would not succeed.
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At least we have the CIA to continue verifying that Iran is not developing Nuclear weapons, only the low-grade 3.5-5% enriched fuel for Reactor Power Plants in which Non Proliferation member nations today have a total of 436 established around the world.
I wonder how many US-citizens are aware it was Pres-Eisenhower and Henry Kissinger that began plans for these facitilies in Iran way back in 1950's?
Mousavi was and still is the hard-core hater of America that he was as Iran Foreign Minister, when associated with terrorists funded to bomb and kill American soldiers. This being his greatest atribute, is exactly what the Fascist's in Washington need to continue their dream of a Military Industrial perpetual war economy.
Iran being an Islamic Republic in which 92% of the population are (surprise) Islamic-Shia, is where in 2005 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won election as President by over 62% of the nations voters. In year 2009 Ahmadinejad was expected to win election again by this same majority, which he did, not one voter station-rep of the 47,000 voter stations reported a single voter irregualrity (including Mousavi's rep's). When asked to bring charges and written-proof before the Election Commission investigating Mousavis charges, he refused to attend and instead continued inciting riot and making charges to media news.
For a complete story of how the US-Corp-Gov and Media have been lying to American citizens about Iran and their leaders, read my webpage:
http://rtpricetag.home.comcast.net/Iran0.html
Great post! If you see Velma789 post again. She loves muslims and sharia law. Keep posting!
It often surprises me concerning most Middle East countries being 90%+ Muslim, how Americans fearing Muslim's might "take over" their own governments in elections.
The "moderates" being referred to are a Westernized (minority) that in year-2009 elections began tearing up the city of Tehran because a candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi did not win (and the US-Media quickly began false rumors about 'fixed elections'). Actually three weeks before elections and Pres-Debates in Iran, three reputable agencies made a phone-poll in Iran, the result was agreement and reported that Ahmadinejad would win by a large margin... the moderates apparently very much like year-1953 used by the CIA to overthrow the Iran-government.
Iran Hardliners Call For Killing Rivals At Rallies
Throngs Of Hard-liners Take To Streets Across Iran, Call For Execution Of Opposition Leaders
ABSOLUTELY NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR THEM!
These merrymakers who invoke
'in the name of God',
to justify oppression, thievery, torture, violence and murder employed against opposition or dissidents, all have a special, permanent place reserved for them (that is IF such place exists).
You guessed incorrectly if heaven was your answer.
Those who answered "the other place", as described in Dante's Inferno, get the point and recognize that the religious, holy, self-righteous mentality, must be defeated forever.
The current Islamofascist Iranian leaders are NOT working in the interest of the world's people and nations.
In toto, it's a better idea to prevent the current Islamofascist Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear weapons capability...
...than NOT taking PREVENTATIVE ACTION, even if that includes MILITARY ACTION TO THOROUGHLY DESTROY ALL IRANIAN NUCLEAR SITES.
Here's a suggestion, try to think before you type and turn off the frikken CAPSLOCK key!!!