Iranian opposition leader posts message of support for protesters

Iranian opposition leader, MirHosein Mousavi posted a video message on Kalameh website on the occasion of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, announcing that the opposition does not have the right to “pull back or retreat” with regard to people’s demand for that would be a “betrayal” of the people, Islam and the spilled blood of “martyrs.”

He emphasized that people’s demands will continue in the New Year which will be a year of perseverance in struggling people’s “rightful and legitimate” demands.

MirHosein Mousavi, the chief opponent of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June presidential elections of last year, has repeatedly disputed Ahmadinejad’s victory in the elections on the grounds that the ballot was rigged.

In his message, Mousavi condemns the government crackdown on election protests adding: “The crimes of Kahrizak, the issue of university dorms, the massacre of June 20 and even June 15 and the proceeding events including Ashura Day were not what our people expected.”

He recalled June 15 demonstrations as one of the “most memorable” events of recent times. On June 15, 2009, hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Tehran to silently protest the alleged fraud in the elections.

The opposition leader maintained the country’s economic prospects are bleak and the executive branch of the government has failed to act effectively with regards to it.

He also criticized the foreign policies of the current government which he claimed are possibly leading to further sanctions that can cause further economic difficulties.