July 1st, 2009 by Blake

Iranian opposition leaders, presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi and former President Khatami, issued statements today indicating the opposition’s continued defiance. Mousavi told Iranians that it is their “responsibility” to continue demanding their rights.  He pressed the state to release imprisoned protesters, establish electoral reform and uphold press freedoms.  Referring to the Iranian government, Mousavi stated that “a majority of the people–including me–do not accept its political legitimacy…There’s a danger ahead. A ruling system which relied on people’s trust for 30 years cannot replace this trust with security forces overnight.”  The Guardian suggests that Mousavi’s statement is written to signal that the Iranian government is flouting the very values espoused in the 1979 revolution.

Khatami terms the unstable domestic atmosphere in Iran “a poisonous security situation” wherein a unilateral “velvet coup” has attacked and insulted the political maturity of the people and the tenets of democracy. Nevertheless, he expressed hope and urged supporters to sustain the struggle. (Click here for full text in Persian).  Mehdi Karroubi, also a presidential candidate, has similarly labeled the government illegitimate and called for the release of political prisoners. In light of the opposition’s resilience and leadership, Scott Macleod at TIME argues that a “revitalized reform movement” can only be on the rise.

Posted in Elections, Freedom, Iran, Reform |