Opposition rally aims to divide Iran: prosecutor

AFP,

A rally sought by opposition leaders in support of Arab revolts is a political move aimed at dividing Iranians, prosecutor general Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie said in comments reported Wednesday.

“This is a political act. These people have separated their path from that of the people and they want to divide the people of Iran,” Mohseni Ejeie was quoted as saying by ILNA news agency.

He was referring to Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, Iran’s two main opposition leaders, who have asked the authorities for permission to hold a rally on February 14 to show solidarity with Egyptian and Tunisian protesters.

Mohseni Ejeie said if the two leaders want to support the Arab uprisings they should join the government endorsed annual rally on February 11, which marks the anniversary of Iran’s Islamic revolution of 1979.

“If anybody wants to side with the wishes of people of Egypt and Tunisia, they should come along with the establishment and people on 22 Bahman (February 11) and take part in the rally,” Mohseni Ejeie said.

Iranian officials have expressed their support for Egyptian protesters, with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei going so far as to call for the establishment of an Islamic regime in the world’s most populous Arab nation.

Some observers see the pro-Arab rally sought by Mousavi and Karroubi as a ploy to garner their own supporters and stage fresh protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whom they claim was fraudulently re-elected in 2009.

Former premier Mousavi and two-time parliament speaker Karroubi triggered one of the worst crises in the Islamic republic’s history when they called mass demonstrations against Ahmadinejad’s re-election, which turned deadly when the authorities launched a crackdown.

Since last year’s anniversary of the Islamic revolution, however no fresh protests have been called and opposition demonstrators have stayed off the streets.

On Tuesday, the two leaders, once seen as pillars of the Islamic regime, issued a scathing attack against the establishment on the eve of the 32nd anniversary of the revolution.

In a joint statement posted on their respective websites the two said the country’s religious atmosphere has been “most hurt” by the “anti-religion and oppressive behaviour of the regime itself.”

Calling their movement as a “new discourse”, they said it seeks to “put an end to the rule of hooligans and instill meritocracy” in Iran.