Ahmad Montazeri, the son of the late dissident Iranian cleric Ayatollah Hosseinali Montazeri, is urging the Iranian Surpeme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to begin a dialogue with the opposition leaders.
Kaleme website reports that in an open letter, Ahmad Montazeri has asked Ayatollah Khamenei to make “a historic decision” in solving the current problems.
The son of the dissident cleric, who passed away last December amidst the mass protests against the controversial re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, writes that “releasing political prisoners and having sympathy for their families and all the families who have lost a loved one in recent events will earn support from every part of the nation.”
Over the past year, the Iranian government has arrested scores of political and student activists as well as journalists and citizen protesters.
“Mr. Mousavi, Mr. Karroubi, Mr. Khatami, Mr. Hashemi Rafsanjani and yourself have been prime minister, speaker of the parliament and president during the past 30 years. Holding direct and friendly talks among the five of you could solve most of the problems and put a light of hope in the hearts of the people”, Montazeri writes. “Such actions would strengthen your power and position and give others a greater appreciation for an Islamic leader.”
Ayatollah Khamenei was the first Iranian political figure to refer to Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi as “leaders of a sedition” after the two men challenged the legitimacy of the 2009 elections, which in turn led to mass demonstrations in Tehran and other major cities. He has however refrained from calling for the two opposition leaders to be prosecuted, and the head of Iran’s judiciary has repeatedly cited the leader's belief that imprisoning Mousavi and Karroubi is not in the regime's best interest.
However, following the renewal of protests on February 14, the two opposition leaders have been put under house arrest and completely cut off from the outside world.
The Supreme Leader has remained silent regarding these developments and, by some accounts, he was surprised by the opposition's ability to rally such a crowd after a year without protests.
source: Radio Zamaneh
The Iranian opposition has announced new plans for street protests, which are now set for March 1 at 5PM, from Emam Hossein to Azadi Square in Tehran.
In a statement, the Coordination Council of the Green Path of Hope has announced that if the government does not end the house arrest of Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, "Green supporters will once more be invited to decentralized protest gatherings."
The statement also adds that the March 1st rally will coincide with Mir-Hosein Mousavi's birthday and the main slogan will be "Ya Hossein! Mir-Hossein!" and "Ya Mehdi! Sheik Mehdi!"
The Coordination Council has also called on protesters in other cities of the country to stage demonstrations in their main squares and streets.
Ardeshir Amirarjmand, an aide to Mousavi, said the aim of the March 1st rally is "to express people's solidarity with the two leaders and their families and to insist on the lifting of their house arrest."
Amirarjmand told the BBC that the idea for the rally arose from the imperative expressed by political groups within the movement, "especially among the active reformist youth" in social networks, to end the "illegal house arrest" of the two leaders. The house arrest imposed on Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi was a result of their call for people to demonstrate on February 14 as a show of solidarity with the recent Arab uprisings. The opposition maintains that this action was no crime, because Article 27 of the Islamic Republic constitution gives Iranian citizens the right to stage peaceful demonstrations.
source: Radio Zamaneh
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