Iran Analysis: When Allies Co-ordinate (Mousavi & Karroubi)

As non-Iranian media were focusing on the public Tehran-Moscow dispute on Wednesday, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi were ensuring that internal politics were not going away. Mousavi made his latest statement in a meeting with the youth and student branch of Karroubi's Etemade Melli party, and Karroubi was putting forth his views on the opposition website Rah-e-Sabz.

The statements were not the most dramatic of the post-election period. While Mousavi pointed to the "chaos" of the Government's mismanagement of the economy, neither he nor Karroubi focused on strident denunciations.

Iran Document: Karroubi “Aligning the Green Movement Inside and Outside Country”
Iran Document: Mousavi “On the Importance of Political Parties” (26 May)
The Latest from Iran (27 May): Cooperation and Feuds

Instead, these were tactical declarations. Mousavi's appeal was to support and work with reformist political parties and activists groups, and Karroubi's intent was to put a priority on the internal Iranian opposition, ensuring that Iranians abroad supported rather than led the movement.



Not exciting but important, especially in the run-up to 22 Khordad (12 June) and beyond that anniversary of the election. Many in the opposition believe that the "failure" of 22 Bahman (11 February), when the opposition could not mobilise a visible mass movement, was due largely to errors in tactics and organisation rather than lack of numbers.

So the significance is not just that Mousavi and Karroubi met this weekend to make the call for a march on 12 June and, if the Government refuses a permit for the rally, to find other means to express dissent. It is that, in their first statements after that meeting, they are trying to make the links for an effective show of opposition.

That is not an easy task. An EA reader shrewdly noted yesterday that Mousavi and Karroubi have to be careful about their alliance. When the two established a joint committee last autumn to investigate Government abuses, three of the four advisors they appointed were detained.

So the dance of protest has to be co-ordinated without being formally announced. Note the signal in Mousavi's Wednesday statement: it was made to Karroubi's people. And note that Karroubi's call for alignment of Iranian forces inside and outside the country was in an interview on a high-profile signpost for the opposition.

None of this means success, any more than it points to failure. What it does signify is that, 3 1/2 months after --- for some observers --- the opposition crumbled in Iran, the efforts not only to ensure it is present but that it is effective continue.

But it cannot be only Mousavi and Karroubi. So, alongside and beyond the statements, now to the harder task --- given the Government repression --- of watching the reformist parties, the student movement, the labour movement, the women's movement, the human rights organisations, those who fight against abuse and for justice....