Iranian opposition leaders to review their strategies

Mehdi Karroubi

Iranian opposition leader, Mehdi Karroubi announced today that he will soon meet with MirHosein Mousavi in order to discuss new strategies for the Green Movement and relay the results to their supporters.

Mehdi Karroubi told Sunday Telegraph daily that if the government continues to impede protesters from peaceful gatherings, the Green Movement will be forced to choose “other paths.”

On February 11, Green Movement supporters were planning a demonstration with their green symbols; however, threats and violent confrontation of security forces stopped protesters from realizing their plan. Opposition leaders, Mehdi Karroubi, Mohammad Khatami and MirHosein Mousavi were also swarmed by security forces and the notorious pro-government attackers in plain clothes, and forced to leave the march.

Since they gathered in millions in June to protest the alleged fraud in the elections that secured Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election, protesters have been denied the right to assembly and with every new attempt, they have attracted harsher confrontations from the government.

Mehdi Karroubi claimed: “We want to pursue our peaceful demands in the framework of the constitution and refuse to let the people suffer heavy losses for it.”

The opposition leader added: “We can never give up on our struggle for people’s rights; however, we need to find an appropriate way to realize their demands and return the Revolution to its original path.”

He went on to say: “the current atmosphere that is dominated by the fear and control of the police must be omitted while establishing a situation where people can gather to express their opinions regarding the future of the government.”

Reformist organizations, Association of Combatant Clerics and Islamic Iran Participation Front also issued separate statements condemning the harsh confrontation of security forces with protesters on February 11, adding that the larger number of demonstrators in this year’s commemoration of the Revolution’s anniversary can only be attributed to the participation of Green supporters although police brutality impeded them from sporting their green symbols.

The opposition has repeatedly urged its supporters not to get involved in any kind of violence in the demonstrations and resist all provocations by pro-government forces.