'WikiLeaks documents show Iran's vulnerable position'

The Green Voice of Freedom

In an interview with the underground internet newspaper Ghalame Sabz (meaning Green Quill in Persian) on Saturday, Mir Hossein Mousavi spoke about the pressing issues and developments regarding Iran and the Green Movement, including recent remarks by Guardian Council head Ahmad Jannati and the release of secret US embassy cables by the WikiLeaks website in recent weeks.

Mousavi responded to a question about recent comments made by Ahmad Jannati, the hard-line chairman of the Guardian Council with respect to the Green Movement or the so-called “sedition,” as regime forces like to call it. The former Prime Minister said that Jannati’s remarks were an indicator of his “very strong sense of prediction.” “The Greens should [sit down and] listen to his comments with patience,” Mousavi argued. “He is almost a complete representation of [all] the hardliners and totalitarianists, and has good information which he unintentionally divulges during speeches. He has referred to the Green Movement as ‘the fire beneath the ash’ and I completely agree with him and I would add, that the continuation of the crackdowns and not seeing realities as well as the reign of deceit, unlawfulness, incompetence in domestic and foreign policy will further spread this ‘fire beneath the ash' by the day.”

Jannati said that “they [the seditionists] are [like] fire beneath the ash” and called for “everyone” to adopt a “serious” and “alert” attitude towards the so-called “sedition.”

“[The Green Movement] are not sitting down idly ... through god’s grace they cannot do anything, but we must also be awake ... this must be taken seriously," Jannati warned.

In his interview with Ghalame Sabz Mousavi also spoke about the Green Movement’s network structure and the importance of social networks as the “only way to defend the rights of the people” in the immediate aftermath of the election fraud and the massive crackdowns that followed. Nevertheless, Mousavi did not rule out the possibility for the Green Movement to obtain a more classic organisational form with a distinct leadership. “In contradiction with the constitution and the trend in successful countries, the regime has shown its animosity towards any [form of] organisation, and after sensing the danger of losing its [power] base, it is busy turning the [paramilitary] Basij forces into an all-encompassing party. However, based on the experience of the Basij, even this will act against tyranny in the long-run.”

The 2009 presidential candidate went on to add, “take a look at the prisons, the leaders of the country’s well-known parties [such as] Mosharekat [Islamic Iran Participation Front], the [Organisation of] the Mujahidin of the [Islamic] Revolution, Etemade Melli [National Trust], Kargozaran and the Freedom Movement [of Iran], are all in prison.” In addition, Mousavi said that any new organisation must be in the form of a “front” and must announce its companionship with the Green Movement and other “grassroots movements such as the workers’ movement, women’s movement and the movement of students and teachers.” “It must not seek to dismantle or weaken the currently existing movements and parties.”

When asked about possible negotiations with Iran’s current rulers in order to surpass the current political deadlock in the country, Mousavi said, “it took me two months to come to the belief that [the reason for] the shady [election] debates were not to eliminate me or Mr Karroubi, but to settle the score with all forces of dissent and to homogenise the country [and to stifle dissident voices]. I was only one of these targets and a mere obstacle in their way ... They have spoken of a twenty-year conspiracy, I’d like to point out the lie embedded in this claim and to say that in the lead up to the election, those ruling [the country], had been planning and trying to homogenise the country for the past twenty years, and it seems that the election was only the final stage in these efforts. With such an approach, the debates find a different significance and the vetting [by the Guardian Council] which began during the fourth Majlis [elections] and intensified in the succeeding elections, are better understood. The hardliners seek to eliminate all critics and protesters from the national arena and to create an atmosphere similar to that of North Korea, but with a democratic disguise.”

Responding to a question concerning the impacts of the recently leaked US embassy cables by WikiLeaks, Mousavi referred to the WikiLeaks revelations as “the centry’s great event in the course of advances made in communications and cyberspace technologies” and said that the important question that needed to be addressed was: “what were the documents that could have been published but have not yet been released?”

“Some of these documents show very well our vulnerable position in the region,” Mousavi added. “A situation that we created with adventurist policies. If they invested more on [relations with] neighbouring countries instead paying seven visits to New York, they would have obtained more results. Spreading panick, uncalculated remarks, the lack of a propper plan, extraordinary weakness on the diplomatic front and the exessive show of military might have led them to fantacise about convincing the Vatican and the leaders of the United States and Europe ... while neglecting the creation of constructive ties with the countries of the region.”

Also, Mousavi noted that the WikiLeaks documents indicating Israel’s role in inflaming ethnic tensions in Iran, was “alarming” for “the entire nation including the various ethnic groups.” “I am certain that not only does Israel benefit from this, but across the world and region, there are many countries in line with Israel which share its belief. This document and the recent assassination of nuclear scientists shows very well how our support for Palestine and Lebanon are in line with national interests,” Mousavi continued.

The veteran reformist also discussed the WikiLeaks documents regarding the fraudulent 2009 presidential election, pointing out that the documents were another indication that the votes were not counted. “This means an electoral coup d’état!”