Iran: Karroubi Letter to Rafsanjani (27 September)

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The invaluable Iran Wiki has posted a translation of Medhi Karroubi's second letter to Hashemi Rafsanjani, published in Persian on Sunday. Reading this, I have no doubt that Karroubi is expressing genuine frustration and anger at Rafsanjani, asking why the former President has betrayed the legimitate demands of the opposition and the cases of those abused in post-election conflict:

I see that [Assembly of] Experts convened and you not only did not bring yourself to utter a word of criticism of the conditions governing the country or make any criticisms in accordance with your duties, but more curiously yet, you were absent at the closing of the session despite the importance that it had in such perilous times. I asked myself, is this the same Akbar Hashemi with that spirit which we saw in him before and after the revolution?

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Ayatollah Hashemi-Rafsanjani
Honorable President of the Assembly of Experts
Greetings

This is the second letter which I have written to you following the recent pseudo-elections to the presidency.

I wrote the first because I had heard some very unpleasant and disturbing news from among the arrestees and I saw it as my duty to look into these events in accordance with your legal position and not allow transgressions against the life and property and honor of the people to become an ordinary occurrence. Unfortunately, this letter had no effect among the officials and you saw how negligence and contempt for the people’s rights has incinerated the trust we had harvested and ruined our system’s regard. Of course, the officials know the interest of their government. And so, if that letter accomplished nothing, I said to myself that perhaps it was beyond you to look into this letter.

But now I write this second letter to you because I saw that a session of the Assembly of Experts held and what needed to have been raised in it was not and what ought to have been investigated by members of this Assembly was not investigated. In a word, the Assembly of Experts, which much be the most distinguished supervisory institution in the Islamic Republic, has been turned into an ineffective institution. The result of this session was simply a few speeches and a statement which could have been issued without convening the session and gathering the esteemed members of this Assembly and exerting so much effort.

And so I decided to write this letter to you and remind you of the courage of His Eminence Imam Khomeini and the revolutionary forces of that age of monarchist oppression and remind you of the emphasis that the Imam and his disciples, such as you and myself, put on standing up to oppression and tyranny, and remind you that the Assembly of Experts' current philosophy and its members’ responsibilities so that you yourself can judge what your responsibilities were and are in these current dangerous circumstances, and to what degree you have protected the prestige of the seat in which you sit and to what extent you have defended the revolution in the post of presidency of the Assembly of Experts, the most important aim of which is to confront injustice and the violation of the people’s rights.

Honorable Mr. Hashemi,

Imam Khomeini during difficult and dangerous conditions fought hand to hand the system which was the embodiment of foreign support, armed to the teeth, which had spilled the youth’s valuable blood, in the darkness of Pahlavi absolutism, to defend Islam and the people’s freedom from absolutism and imperialism. You, who were one of the Imam’s disciples and went into battle at his side know that if it were not for his divine belief and firm will, confronting the Shah’s absolutist power and royal tyranny and that heroism and self-sacrifice would not have been a simple matter. You surely remember there were very few comrades who were of like mind in the ranks of the clergy about struggling against tyranny and absolutism under those terrifying conditions. It was a dangerous time, a time of prison and torture and arrest and exile and moving from house to house and homelessness. There was neither a great likelihood of victory nor a plan for the division of the spoils. Faith and a heart-felt belief in Islam and justice and the people ruled our hearts, and the urge to march in the desert to the Kaaba. That courage and self-sacrifice led by His Eminence the Imam of the Islamic and anti-absolutist revolution resulted in our now being its inheritors, and its thirst for justice is not limited to the borders of Iran, but has a world goal, including the land of Palestine and Noble Qods [Jerusalem].

Honorable Mr. Hashemi.

I, as one of the disciples of the Imam’s school, consider myself indebted to him and his courageous leadership, and have promised myself to go into battle at the side of his thought and protecting that enormously valuable Islamic and anti-absolutist inheritance until the end of my life. What concern is it that my office and that of Mehdi Karoubi’s party is sealed and his newspaper is closed and even his comrades are in prison for the sake of the Islamic Republican system? What concern is it that vicious newspapers called Iran or Vatan or Zamin or Keyhan attack me and the public treasure is spent on their abuse and they are paid for this and the national media is turned into a partisan and political armory against me and even the sacred Friday prayers are used for their political ends, turned into a center to attack the late Imam’s comrades. But I consider suffering all these catastrophes sweet, recalling what fateful and consuming and terrible storms arose during those hard times before and after the revolution and how the unparalleled will of the Imam and the iron firmness of his comrades turned the cruelty of SAVAK and Pahlavi’s henchmen into the delight of blood triumphing over the sword and the victory of truth over falsehood. My lot is so sweet because of this victory that the bitterness of certain passing disasters has not and will not have an effect on me. I well know that you, too, experienced all those disasters and hardships riding into battle at the side of His Eminence the Imam and, as opposed to certain others, you know that the Islamic Republican system is based on extremely valuable capital and much courage. You served this system for thirty years and know what disasters and stages full of danger this system passed in the struggle with eclecticist and apostate groups and what a price was paid to uphold the Islamic system and establish a republican government. Alas, though, what have we accomplished with all this courage and thirst for justice and confrontation with absolutism? Where have we come?

I see that [Assembly of] Experts convened and you not only did not bring yourself to utter a word of criticism of the conditions governing the country or make any criticisms in accordance with your duties, but more curiously yet, you were absent at the closing of the session despite the importance that it had in such perilous times. I asked myself, is this the same Akbar Hashemi with that spirit which we saw in him before and after the revolution? I recall how you … courageously raised issues even in the Imam’s presence whenever you saw it as necessary, even if they went counter to the Imam’s perspective. I recall a meeting in which we were in His Eminence the Imam’s presence and he related his will and testament to us and asked our opinions and all spoke in favor of it, but you had something to say and did not hide it, but spoke out, and the Imam, too, agreed with the grandeur of your speech and acted in accord.

Honorable Mr. Hashemi.

You have been placed by the vote of the people and their representatives in the Assembly of Experts at the head of an institution which is the most sensitive and most important institution in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Constitution. It is an institution which, according to Article 108 of the Constitution, is the architect and supervisor over the heights of power over the Iranian governmental structure and is responsible for the election and appointment of the Supreme Leader and supervising his actions and the organizations under him. No one gave this right and power to this Assembly who wants to take it back from it, nor is it a deposit which can be taken from this Assembly at will. The right of that Assembly to elect and supervise and investigate the Supreme Leadership is derived from the Constitution and embodies the Iranian nation’s will. This Assembly enjoys such prestige that no institution has the right to legislate with respect to it and its members have the right to determine for themselves the conditions under which it will work and supervise. A meeting of the [Assembly of] Experts with such a position monopolized by an individual has been convened under such current circumstances and my question to you as president of this Assembly is, has this Assembly acted in accordance with its duties during this session? Do these introductory speeches and the report and declaration which was issued truly answer to today’s Iran’s questions and doubts? If even the honorable Ayatollah Dastgheib, for all his shining past and profound popular position, had spoken out of concern for the people during that session, they would have treated him in such a fashion and there would have been talk about the need to expel and remove and punish him so that, as it were, he could say nothing in that session but flattery and exaltation, and no expert has the right to criticize the current situation in the country, and the mouth of that expert who has passed the Seven Trials of the Guardian Council and could find his way into the Assembly of Experts had to be filled with dust lest he speak with anything but flattery and praise of the existing conditions! Truly, where are we headed? And if it has been decided that the sacred goal we all treasured in the struggle against absolutism and imperialism was to arrive at such a point, where was there need for the Assembly of Experts? If it were decided that in the Assembly of Experts, no expert was to speak except in support, would it not have been better for its annual session not to be held? Truly, where was the need for spending from the public treasury and having a building and an office and staff and all these expenses? Would it not have been better to such an Assembly to have been convened if, God forbid, something were to happen to the Supreme Leader?

This session of the Assembly of Experts was held and it was hoped that the people’s representatives in that Assembly would closely examine what happened on the day of the June 12 elections and the crises which arose both before and after them. But I never expected that during this session the people’s experts would have called the crisis plaguing the country a fitna and in order to clean the problem’s appearances, hide their head in the snow. Truly Your Eminence, who saw the volcano of the people’s rage ignite before the elections and stated this publicly, went along with calling this volcano waves of fitna and so quietly overlooked the country’s perilous conditions. I am amazed about how the Constitution, that valuable heritage of the Imam, bought by the martyrs’ blood and fruit of the efforts and firmness of the revolution’s allies, and one of its most genuine bases, that very Assembly of Experts, are being treated! The grandeur of this Assembly and its position which it could have had in the protection and well-being of the Islamic Republican system and winning the people’s rights have suffered such a fate as this!

Honorable President of the Assembly of Experts.

If the Imam had thought that this Assembly would have been a means to strengthen the Supreme Leader’s position, he did not think it was only expressions of appreciation and support for the good which had been done, but criticisms and objections about acts through acting on and performing its duty to supervise. Unfortunately, though, the position of this Assembly has reached such state during these last years that its representatives in past times such as the Grand Ayatollahs (God’s mercy be upon them!) [Ayatollah Hajj Sadeq] Ehsanbakhsh,¹ [Ayatollah Gholam-Hosein] Jami,² Abayi-Khorasani,³ [Hojjat ol-Eslam Sadeq] Khalkhali, and Ayatollah Abbasifar,⁴ have been trampled and the blade of supervision has been put to their necks and no one utters a word about what sort of disaster this is which has befallen the nation’s experts of this system or what crime they have committed to deserve being ignored. It is a result of this silence that today, some dare to raise an outcry about expelling and removing any representative from whom a word which displeases them is spoken. They do not realize that such repression and harshness, and this concerning a representative of the Assembly of Experts, is inexcusable for any sensible person. How can one excuse before the people the stifling of a member of the Assembly of Experts, upon whom a serious duty has been placed, simply because he had said something which displeased some? This rooster’s tail⁵ is not something which one can easily hide. The Supreme Leader must also go into action and stand up against this disrespect shown to a representative of the Assembly of Experts and prevent it. Truly, how can an Assembly, a member of which can be so commonly and easily humiliated, make the appropriate and necessary decisions for this country and nation in such difficult times and days which may we never see?

Honorable Mr. Hashemi.

What is your answer to people who are asking about the duties of the Assembly presided over by you under such circumstances? If the Assembly of Experts had given so much as a passing glance during its meeting to what has befallen this country these past four years, could it not have found much better grounds for the origins of the crisis which afflicts the country—what you have called a fitna. You in your speeches both before and after the elections have repeatedly referred to the economic crises and the collapse of the plan in the country and the deviation from it. But should not the discussion of these crises have been raised somewhere in the Assembly of Experts? Is it not your duty in the Assembly of Experts to examine what is called privatization and the execution of Article 44 of the Constitution and the institutions under the Supreme Leader’s supervision such as the Revolutionary Guards and the Staff for the Implementation of the Imam’s Command (which was given, according to the Imam’s command, to Your Servant and Ayatollah Hasan Sane’i, and in which it was decided that in at most two years, all properties’ seizure or release or, upon careful consideration, in the event that it was illegitimate, expropriation be determined and that this Staff should complete its task; a Staff of which even the dear grandson of the Imam repeatedly complained and requested that if it not be closed down, or at least that the word “Imam” should be removed from its title) would do in a half hour in its own name the work of a ministry and create yet another epic in the name of privatization to continue and complete the epic of the recent presidential elections? Truly, how much has the unplanned foreign policy, which has led to our systems enfeeblement in the international community, been discussed in this session? Are the social problems which plague the country and the securitizing of society’s political atmosphere in society, the universities, and different centers of the country of absolutely no importance, since the members of this Assembly paid no attention to them? Truly, how much have you investigated the activity of some of the organizations under the Supreme Leader’s purview, whose higher supervision over them is your responsibility, in the Assembly of Experts? Are you unaware of what is happening in our so-called national media and the catastrophe which this media’s pundits have wrought? Was there any discussion about why three of the candidates who allegedly lost in the recent pseudo-elections were put on the shelf and their supporters were thrown into solitary confinement and that they could only contact this national media from their solitary confinement cells, and even this to broadcast confessions, and that the gates to the media are only open, therefore, for the allegedly victorious candidate and the honorable Prosecutor General for them to come and make their biased speeches against the other candidates and go? Were you not aware of this issue? You were, and if there was nothing said about it in this session, does this not mean that the spirit of the thirst for justice and revolutionary courage has vanished from our midst and evaporated? And now, truly, what is your answer to those who claim that this Assembly has forgotten its supervisory mission and has been turned into an ineffectual and propagandistic institution? Would it not have been fitting for the members of this Assembly to have invited the three candidates who protested against the results of the elections, all of whom were of the wealth and service to this system, and heard them out and after this hasten to issue their statement?

Honorable Mr. Hashemi.

I consider it my duty to recall to you and others some of His Eminence the Imam’s explanations about the Assembly of Experts’ position, when he declared, “Now you, oh religious jurists [‘’faqih’’s] of the Assembly of Experts, the elect of that nation oppressed throughout the history of the monarchy and its tyranny, kindly accept your responsibility, which is above all other responsibilities, and set to work, for the fate of Islam and the toiling and martyr-providing and suffering nation is at stake. Let history and future generations judge you and the nation and God’s great Household of the Prophet observe your votes and deeds. “May God be at your back and your aid.” [In Arabic] The slightest carelessness or lapse or the slightest selfish act or, God forbid, pursuit of ones lusts which could pervert a noble deed, will cause a catastrophe of historical proportions.” And truly, what relation is there between the current work of this Assembly and what the Imam said about its position and the control which the Constitution and its authors bestowed upon it and its representatives in accordance with the people’s will? How can it be denied that such an important Assembly has been turned into an ineffectual institution in such a perilous time. I, Mehdi Karoubi, have written this letter to you and have raised these issues with you as a reminder, acting in accordance with my conscience before the late Imam, the revolution, and the noble people of Iran and so that I might show that what has befallen this Assembly is neither in the interests of the system nor in the interests of the people, neither does it secure the republicanism and Islam for which 98% of the people voted in Farvardin 1358.

Peace be upon you and God’s mercy and blessings

Mehdi Karoubi

6 Mehr 1388 (September 28, 2009)

Notes:
¹ A student of two of the most prominent religious families, Alam ol-Hoda and Bahr ol-Olum, he also studied psychology and secular jurisprudence. During the revolution, he was arrested and sent to Tehran for his agitation. After the revolution, he became the head of the Imam’s Committee (a vigilante force which attacked the leftist and rightist opponents of the Islamic regime), but was forced to leave Gilan in early 1980 for Tehran after his home was subject to frequent attacks by the left. He was dispatched to South Asia to purge the Iranian embassies and consulates there. He then became the Imam’s representative and Friday Imam in Rasht. In the spring of 1983, he was subject to an assassination attempt, after which he needed to undergo surgery fourteen times. He was elected to the Assembly of Experts in 1989. He passed away in June 2001. http://r-dehgani.blogfa.com/post-8.aspx
² Best known for his courage in staying in Abadan as Friday Imam when it was cut off and under intense bombardment by the Iraqis, where he kept up the people’s morale by continuing to carry on his functions as Friday Imam. In the eulogy for his recent death (January 2009), he was said to have been active in the Islamic opposition to the Shah since the 1963 revolt in Qom. http://www.magiran.com/npview.asp?ID=1777514
³ A student of Ayatollah Khomeini, a representative on the Assembly of Experts during its first period from Khorasan, a representative of the Imam in the Qom Missionary Office, temporary Friday Imam of Mashhad, elected to the Majlis during its sixth session, arrested and exiled repeatedly under the Shah. http://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF_%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%A7%DB%8C%DB%8C_%D8%AE%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%86%DB%8C and http://www.tebyan.net/social/sevencontinents/touringiran/undergroundwatertanks_bathes/2007/3/4/37699.html
⁴ Participated in the elections to the Assembly of Experts elections in 2008 with the encouragement of Rafsanjani, Khatami, and Karoubi. http://mosharekateilam.blogfa.com/post-102.aspx
⁵ From a Persian folk-saying about a chicken thief who steals a rooster and is discovered when its tail protrudes from under his coat.

The Latest from Iran (29 September): The Forthcoming Test?

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2100 GMT: We have posted an emergency update of our story on the National Unity Plan. To be blunt, this has turned into a giant mystery which we can lay out but not solve this evening, and there are likely to be further developments (even though it is early morning in Tehran) for our first update on Wednesday.

1700 GMT: We've split off our snap analysis updates on the National Unity Plan into a separate entry.

1545 GMT: A steady stream of reports indicate there are smaller but still significant gatherings of demonstrators in Tehran today. This is in addition to the sizable protest at Sharif University.

1455 GMT: Fars News have just published a copy of the National Unity Plan. We'll be back within the hour with an analysis.

1430 GMT: Back from a teaching break to find tension growing over the privatisation of Iran's state telecommunications company, with 51 percent going to a consortium linked to the Revolutionary Guard. It is reported that the Telecommunications Trade Council will review the deal, with the possibility of cancelling it because of concerns over a "monopoly".

1100 GMT: I sense a debate emerging, given our readers' comments, over the latest move of Mehdi Karroubi with his letter to Hashemi Rafsanjani. Tehran Bureau takes the line that this is a Karroubi criticism, rather than a plan worked out with the former President:

1) Karroubi criticises Rafsanjani for his failure to launch an investigation into the election during his chairmanship of the Assembly of Experts session;

2) Karroubi criticises Rafsanjani for being absent during the final meeting, with its declaration praising the Supreme Leader and framing the events after the election as riots and a conspiracy;

3) Karroubi criticizes Rafsanjani for not asking the Assembly to investigate how the military is taking control of the economy, as in the recent purchase of a 51% share in Iran's state telecommunications firm;

4) Karroubi criticizes Rafsanjani for not calling on the Assembly to review Iran's foreign policy.

0930 GMT: We've just posted video from today's demonstration at Sharif University. It is reported that Minister of Science Kamran Daneshjoo was prevented from reaching the Central Library.

0905 GMT: Tabnak reports that Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has distanced himself from his brother Mohammad Javad Larijani, a high-level official in the Judiciary, after the latter's criticism of Ayatollah Khomeini's grandson Hassan, Mir Hossein Mousavi, and Mohammad Khatami.

0900 GMT: It Wasn't Just Tehran. An account has been posted of University demonstrations on Monday in Shiraz.

0835 GMT: President candidate Mohsen Rezaei has made a significant intervention with a call for a "national election commission independent of the three branches of Government".

Rezaei's proposal, building upon earlier criticism of the Guardian Council for its handling of the Presidential vote, presents a political challenge to President Ahmadinejad moving beyond a simple "reform" of the system. His interview with Ayande News is the closest he has come to alleging electoral fraud, and he is critical of a number of individuals.

0740 GMT: We've posted the English translation of Mir Hossein Mousavi's Monday statement to his followers: "Qods Day showed that [our] network is like a toddler who is growing incredibly quickly."

0725 GMT: Parleman News has now posted a summary report of yesterday's student demonstrations.

0715 GMT: Fars News tries to pour cold water on the Rafsanjani plan for a political settlement, featuring the comments of a "hard-line" member of Parliament, Ranjbarzadeh, that the plan is unacceptable because it gives concessions to the losers of the election.

0625 GMT: Iran's Nuclear Offer. The head of Iran's nuclear programme, Ali Akhbar Salehi, has laid out Tehran's line in an interview with Press TV. Iran "will soon inform the International Atomic Energy Agency of a timetable for inspection". The plant will produce enriched uranium of up to 5 percent, consistent with a civilian nuclear energy programme, and it is being constructed within the framework of the IAEA regulations. Salehi emphasised, "It is against our tenets, it is against our religion to produce, use, hold or have nuclear weapons or arsenal. How can we more clearly state our position? Since 1974 we have been saying this."

It is 48 hours until Iran's meeting with the "5+1" powers in Geneva.

0555 GMT: Karroubi's second letter to Rafsanjani (0535 GMT) takes on a added sense of urgency because of the Government's decimation of  websites connected with Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi. The Etemade Melli/Saham News site, the Kalemeh site (which had replaced Mousavi's hacked Ghalam News site), and Tagheer are all down. Mowj-e-Sabz, however, is still up, featuring Mousavi's latest statement cautioning the movement against violence.

0535 GMT: A couple of interesting shifts within the Establishment. The long-anticipated change at the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting has been made, with Ezatullah Zarghami replaced by Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli. What is more interesting is the framing of the move, with Zarghami blamed for "the poor performance of the IRIB" during and after the election. Meanwhile, Fazli is portrayed as an ally of the Larijani brothers and a critic of President Ahmadinejad.

Contrary to our update yesterday, university classes have not been suspended for seven days because of "swine flu" (or Monday's demonstrations). The headline in Mehr exaggerated the story, which was simply that provisions were in place to order a suspension if fears of flu arose. Still, the

But the most important development by far came from the opposition. While Mir Hossein Mousavi, considering his next move, tried to reassure his followers that Qods Days was a success, Mehdi Karroubi may have taken the bull by the horns (or, in this case, the shark by the gills). His second letter to Hashemi Rafsanjani was not quite, "Are you with us or against us?", but it has asked the former President to come forth on the plan circulated at the Assembly of Experts. Put bluntly, Karroubi wants to know if the rumoured "political resolution" will take heed of opposition demands or sell out the protestors.

Text: Mousavi Statement to His Followers (28 September)

The Latest from Iran (29 September): The Forthcoming Test?

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Translation from Khordaad 88:

Without a doubt, the Qods Day demonstrations remain a highlight of the events of the past few months. Promising results are expected out of what occurred during this event, which cannot be attributed to one faction or one view. Rather, [these] achievements belong to all of those who have roots in this land, even if some are not able to feel this blessing and this gift due to their own incorrect judgments.

This gift is the gift of the Imam’s [Khomeini's] foresight. He repeatedly told us to establish the right foundations such that when we are gone, they will not be able to destroy them, even if they so desire. Maybe we have not been able to truly act on this advice, but that is the path he always took. He based the pillars of the Islamic Republic on the trust of the people and created opportunities for them to come out [in public] so that no one would be able to destroy them.

Qods Day is one such day. With such traditions, people cannot be deterred and forced out of the scene. Without addressing and providing justice inside, [the authorities] cannot invite people to such rallies to protest tyranny in faraway lands. To leave behind no doubts, He [the Imam] declared that this day is not only specific to Palestine, but the day of the oppressed and the day of Islam. We now realize the efforts of that caring father who made sure that people always remain present on the scenes in the millions.

Thirty years ago, our Imam asked Muslims across the world to set aside their differences and come together to rise against a common agony that pains them all. This message is so close to our circumstances today. Islam did not say that we must think alike to be united. The unity to which we are invited is the same as accepting differences, and Qods is a day when Muslims should come together while tolerating the vast differences that exist among them. That is why if this event is attached to one particular political faction, it will lose its glory year after year. It will not achieve its promised vision, and it can no longer be the day of Islam and the day of the oppressed.

The vision of this day is to bring together different colors in one scene. This year, our Qods day did not achieve this [ideal], but it strived for it. In fact, this year on Qods day I was among people who greeted me with tight fists (Mousavi was among the state-supporters in the rally) and who wished my death. On the chaotic road we were marching together, I took a good look at them and realized that I love their faces and I realized that our victory is nothing that will bring about defeat for anyone. We must all achieve prosperity, even though some will realize this prosperity later than others.

In fact, those who felt defeated by this year’s Qods, gained the most. They saw in the clearest sense that three months of unprecedented violence did not have the smallest effect on the presence of the people, and in fact, made it stronger. If not for the opportunity on Qods day, it would have been months from now when they would have been met with their own blunders in the celebrations of Bahman (the demonstrations held in celebration of the revolution in February) and they would have come face to face with the high cost of their own mistakes at a time when it would have been much too late.

Violence is not the solution. Meet all with empathy (as opposed to enmity). Violence is like a horse that throws the rider to the ground. People have every right to feel angry about hostile security measures and unrelenting provocative propaganda, even if justifiably their righteousness does not change the consequences of their anger. The amount of fruit we harvest from our endurance depends on the amount of patience thoughtfulness that we are willing to maintain. If we move towards unreasonable extremes, it is possible to, in one day, lose the fruit of a week’s or a month’s hard work. Our people deserve better treatment from the authorities because they are alert and thoughtful. And a thoughtful person is he who can not only distinguish between good and bad, but also between good and better, or between bad and worse.

There are still better conclusions that we can arrive at, than those we arrived at on Quds day. At the same time, worse conditions are possible than the ones we are currently suffering from and are subjected to. On the road ahead of us, and in our historical context, there is no clear image of the consequences of acting against the current structure of government. As mentioned in the letters sent to the Marjas, Afghanistan and Iraq act as two big lessons on each side of our land. We should never ignore them. Of course, these lessons do not stop us from demanding our rights, because we have the patience and wisdom to change our destinies for the better without having to pay so high a price.

What can achieve the goal [of peaceful reform] is a commitment to the golden messages that we have chosen. A message that interferes with the friendship and brotherhood of our people will not help us restructure our national unity or our identity. We see the compassionate Islam as a cure for our pain. We see that what the authorities introduce as the banner of religion is a dress worn inside-out.

We demand the unconditional enactment of the constitution and the return of the Islamic Republic to its original ethical foundations. We demand the Islamic Republic, not a word more, and not a word less. To us, anarchists and people who act against the structure are those who avoid the Islamic laws, either with or without an excuse. They are also those who pull the plug on the constitution for their own personal gain.

Today’s political environment is not what Iranians wished for 30 years ago. Now, people are asking themselves: What has stopped us from achieving our ideals and has instead got us here? This is a fundamental question that we should ask of our struggle today and in future. What should we do so as not to face the same question thirty years from now?

We can only be certain [of the right answer] when we base our sociopolitical achievements on our everyday life. In the past century our people have had more than a few of such achievements. However, their achievements have been a result of a [direct] struggle. As long as the environment of struggle and endeavor lasted, these achievements were sustainable. But as soon as people were exhausted or thought they had to return to their homes the fruit of their struggle was lost. To fight [for a cause] is holy, but it is not long-lasting. What lasts is life.

This is a lesson we have learned from those of us who fought in eight years holy defense [against Saddam Hussein]. During those years two groups of people would leave for the war fronts. The first group fought during the war and then thought to themselves the time has come to live a life, to pile money and accumulate wealth or to build high-rise buildings one after another. The second group left [to war] for the more exuberant spirituality. They did not go just to make a sacrifice; they went to take part in that spiritual atmosphere.

Digesting these words may not be easy for people who have not experienced that atmosphere, but it is real. Not that they did not make sacrifices, in fact they were our most renowned heroes. But in the light of gems they gained they did not believe they were making any sacrifices. They lived the years of the war and then [after the war] started their own struggle, a peaceful struggle to protect that living experience or at least the memory of it. Without them, we could not have lasted [the war] empty-handed for eight years.

During the election campaign I was proud when a group of them honored me and formed the Isargaran [those who sacrifice for others] committee as one of the most active committees of my campaign. They said we have gathered together hoping to revive the spirituality of our days with Imam [Khomeini] and thus we believe our responsibilities are more burdensome. I doubt there is anyone in our nation who would not be proud of them. They are exactly on the common green intersection that connects us all to one another.

In following them, we should also live The Green Path of Hope, it is only in that case that the miracle they created will also awaits us. The importance of this year’s Qods day was that it revealed that the new life people have chosen is not something temporary and ephemeral. If we had all remained home [during the rally] but this message was [somehow] communicated with this clarity, we would have achieved nothing less.

Living the green path means that every day, while we are busy with our chores at home, at the workplace, in every street or alley, we repeat this message with an authoritative voice (in the same way that we continue to be Muslim, to be Iranian, to be of this age).

Soon after we spoke about strengthening social networks or living the green path, people asked: ‘How?’ The answer is: ‘Merely by being’. We don’t talk about creating a social network that doesn’t exist and strengthening it; we say that the people’s power is embedded in those social networks which exist naturally, based on innate guidance. We should recognize their importance.

This year, Qods day showed that this network is like a toddler who is growing incredibly quickly. This toddler is going to start talking in no time; it will be mature soon, and will compel everybody to admire and respect it. Our task is to nurse this blessed phenomenon by repeatedly expressing the thoughts which come to existence around it and to repeatedly reiterate their importance.

Likewise, when we are talking about living the green path, we don’t mean something complicated, innovative, or new. Rather, it is pointing to something that is currently being experienced. It is also pointing to the fact that our people’s movement nowadays, unlike in the past, is the beginning of a certain type of life. There is great pleasure in being smart and lively; in homophony and communication; in closing an eye to others’ faults, which makes life bountiful.

In addition, there is a power in the awareness of our nation that saves our nation from bearing many miseries. Our people are not afraid to pay the cost to revive their rights because ‘a place in heaven is earned with a price, not based on a desire.’ At the same time, if we want the results of our social movement to last, we better use a mixture of bravery and wisdom.

Now because of the wrong and adventurous foreign policy of a government that people have to bear, the country is on the verge of crises that will hurt the poor the most. If we had a confrontational approach, maybe in our simple minds we would have thought that this is a point for our green movement, but when we want to live through our green path, this [approach] cannot be our approach.

This is our country and these are our lives. It is we who should be concerned about and sensitive to these problems. Based on official reports of this very same government reports, economists announced that tens of billions of dollars of this country’s foreign income has disappeared. Meanwhile, [Judicial] institutions that ought to respond to these absent figures – which can even equip several armies – are ignorant and trapped in political games.

Which of these [institutions] can we expect to attend to the grief they have inflicted on the people? If we do not react to the things that disrupt life in our beloved country, nobody will. Our economists are alone in their objections because they fear the same fate as those who protested the shameful conduct that took place during confinements in detention centers. There was a time when missing twenty thousand dollars in the treasury was enough for a government [of this country] to fall. Now, warning cries for the loss of such a high figure are not even grounds for the slightest reaction.

Recently, a group of Iranian professors abroad provided their analysis and interpretation of the Green Path of Hope. They confirmed that the goals of this movement will indeed protect the interests of the nation. As a result, they have suggested that while sending our gratitude to other nations for their support in the last few months, we should ask them not to impose any sanctions against Iran. I liked their idea and I support it. Sanctions would not actually act against the government – rather, they would only inflict grave distress against a people who have experienced enough disaster in their own melancholic statesmen. We are opposed to any types of sanctions against our nation. This is what living the Green Path means.

However, this is just an example. No one has informed those who have offered this suggestion about the necessity of living the Green Path. Whether the rest of us are aware of this necessity or not, we are all naturally guided towards it. As a result, it is not necessary to indoctrinate each other with these values. It is enough just to be aware of them and to attend them.

Life goes on, and individuals are [living] in the interim. Any crowd or community that bases its very existence on one individual will be disappointed – at least when that individual is lost. Whenever people have afforded unnecessary advantages to their ordinary companions, they melancholic inevitably relinquish their intellectual opinions for the desire of a few and give a chance to the opportunists who have coveted them.

People who want to be independent and experience a congenial life should prevent the very first steps that lead them to failure. My birthday is not the 7th of Mehr (September 28th), it is the day that I got to know you. Even if I was born the 7th of Mehr, it would not have been appropriate for your movement to deteriorate with personalities. I hope you see that these words stem from my sincere concern and not from false modesty.

Your Brother,
Mir Hossein Mousavi

Iran: English Text of Dastgheib Letter to Assembly of Experts (22 September)

The Latest from Iran (27 September): Is There a Compromise Brewing?

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It is slowly becoming clear that last week's Assembly of Experts meeting was the setting for an unprecedented level of dispute and politics. By the end of the deliberations, Ayatollah Ka'abi was circulating a petition for the expulsion of Ayatollah Dastgheib, as Hashemi Rafsanjani tactfully absented himself.

This is the Dastgheib letter (translation by Khordaad 88) demanding the Assembly take over the administration of the Constitution, criticising the suppression of dissent by the regime, and calling for an invitation to Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Mohammad Khatami to address the clerics:

In the name of the Great God,

To Honorable members of the Assembly of Experts of Supreme Leadership

May I recall several points; I hope that they would be beneficial.

1) Notes on the constitution: We are all aware that our constitution has no contradiction with Quran and the [Islamic] tradition. It is devised by the prominent clerics and the right intellectuals who have had the constitution considered by the Imam of nation (may love and mercy of God be upon him.)

But who is the guardian of this constitution? Can anybody other than the experts assume this role? Who is responsible for investigating devastations from the constitutions and who should be hold responsible for such deviations? Only the Experts can assume that role. But now why is it that when it becomes necessary to meet so that the experts could investigate deviancies from the constitution, the experts either find themselves incapable to meet or do not meet at all; even the president of the assembly who has been elected with more than 50 votes (out of 80) could not call for a meeting. Is not this just a complete ignorance on part of the Guardian Council towards the basic fundamentals of the constitution? Including the way members of the Guardian council are selected? An issue that I have suggested that the confirmations from two prominent scholars of Qom should be enough [for the selection for the members of the council] but not body paid attention. It would have been great if the honorable Ayatollah Rafsanjani had followed up so that today we wouldn’t have this problem and so many questions and concerns wouldn’t have been left without sufficient answers. People are aware that the fundamentals of Guardianship of the Islamic Juror [velayat-e-faqih] are in the constitution and they agree with it. If the constitution in not acted upon however, the fundamentals, in articles 5 and 110, will not be acted upon either.

2) Issue of desecrating Imam (Khomeini’s) loyal supporters who have put their wealth, dignities and lives for the continuation of the Islamic Republic for years: This desecration started four years ago until recently when IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran broadcast – state TV.) Prominent figures like Ayatollah Rafsanjani , Hojataleslami Karoubi, and the sires Mr. Khatami and Mir Hossein Mousavi have been berated so significantly that cries of friends of the revolution and laughter of its enemies have been heard all over. Is the drama that unfolded legal? Was it based on constitution and derived from it? If no, why did all the Experts [here] kept their silence? Is it enough to sit down and grieve?

3) Why don’t we see the suspicious hands of Hojattieh [a Shia organisation formed in 1953 opposing the Baha'i religion, Sunni Islam, and the system of velayat-e-faqih] that the great Imam saw it as a threat to the revolution – behind the scenes? Who have jumped over the three branches of power, the parliament, the judiciary and the executive?

Why doesn’t any one take responsibility for all those illegalities? Why is it that the call for justice is answered with the military forces? Is this anything other than the existence of foreigners behind the scenes?

We had great religious scholars like Sheikh Morteza Ansari, Mirza Shirazi, Seyedna-Al-Esfahani, Seyedna-Al-Yazdi and the like. None of them ever thought to devastate the society so that they can provide the context for the Coming [of Imam Mahdi].

4) What is this situation that has overcome our society, and even the parliament? Whenever anyone of an opinion, a Marja, or a scholar makes a criticism, there some that, in support of a specific group, prepare themselves to remove that person from the scenes. All just so that some could be relieved and satisfied.

5) The Experts are responsible for protecting the Islamic ordinances and the belief of people in Quran and the tradition of the prophet (May peace be upon him) and his immaculate kin. This important responsibility is not fulfilled in the current events and unfortunately the efforts of the Islamic scholars have decreased.

6) In the end, I would like to say that it is still not late to ask from this assembly and the honorable speaker to invite Mr. Mousavi, Mr. Khatami and Mr. Karoubi to say what they want to say. Do not assume that everything has ended. People have faith in you.

In other words, concealing the distrust of some part of the society and neglecting them is unfair; for instance, the objection of the Islamic scholars and professors of universities and the rest. It is important to lessen this distrust to a minimum. Such that, if it is not possible to invite Mr. Mousavi and Mr. Karoubi to this assembly the State TV invites them so that they would express their objections. If that is not possible either, they can do so through the Assembly of Expert’s website. So that the members of the Assembly can express their opinions on whether there has been a breach of the Constitution or not.

Seyed Ali-Mohamad Dastgheib
September 22, 2009

Iran: The Rafsanjani Statement on Qods Day

The Latest from Iran (14 September): Countdown to Friday

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Posted by MikVerbrugge:

It has been 30 years since Free Thinkers and Enlightened Seekers of Justice followed the call of Imam Khomeini and went on the streets to protest the occupation of Jerusalem, which has become a symbol for the oppression and assault of oppressed people by an absolutely illegitimate, fraudulent, and usurping Government.  They made their displeasure known in the face of the horrendous crimes and injustice of a certain minority wanting an international totality [of power]. We witness how the shouts of protest and this meaningful participation is like an earthquake shaking the web-like foundations of tyranny & oppression, healing the wounded body of noble Islam.

People in Islamic Iran and other Muslim countries of the world will be commemorating this day while the world's oppressive leaders are abusing the dispute among the Mujahidin of Islam, sinking their teeth into the dispute of the fighters of Palestine itself, by spreading religious and social discord.

God forbids us, interpreting this most important day...[and] denouncing oppression, to cause it to be forgotten in midst of these disputes. That would pour water into the mills of those who have always intended to erase this common holy place from Islam.

God willing, Your unprecedented great presence in Islamic and non-Islamic countries, in all cities and villages of our dear Iran will be shedding light on the Overlooked, who think that the passing of time has covered up the Palestine issue. And To You I Say: The Night Is Darkest Before Sunrise.