COUNTRIES: IRAN: Standoff in Iran Deepens With New Show of Force
David P. Dillard
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COUNTRIES: IRAN:
Standoff in Iran Deepens With New Show of Force
Standoff in Iran Deepens With New Show of Force
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
Published: January 1, 2010
<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/02/world/middleeast/02iran.html>
CAIRO Iranian authorities sent police officers into the streets to deter
protests on Friday as Mir Hussein Moussavi, the principal opposition
leader, said in a statement that he did not fear giving his life as a
martyr.
The continuing show of force in the capital and Mr. Moussavis declaration,
in which he said that even killing him would not end the unrest, were part
of a day of charges, countercharges and warnings from both sides,
illustrating the deep divisions that have emerged since Irans political
crisis began six months ago.
The government and its hard-line supporters continued to rely on force,
and the threat of force, to quell protests and demand loyalty, while the
opposition refused to back down. There was no indication that compromise
was on the agenda.
<snip>
Mr. Moussavi issued a statement on his Web site, kaleme.org, that took a
broad swipe at the government for its use of force against civilian
protesters. It also criticized the governments handling of the economy and
foreign policy and its failure to address institutional corruption.
Mr. Moussavi offered a prescription for the government to restore its lost
legitimacy, calling for the release of political prisoners and the repair
of electoral laws, as well as freedom of expression, assembly and the
press.
Posted on Sat, Jan. 2, 2010
Mousavi: Not afraid to be a martyr
The Iran opposition leader defied demands for his execution, assailing the
protest crackdown.
By Borzou Daragahi
Los Angeles Times
Philadelphia Inquirer
World and Nation
<http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/80492802.html>
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Defying demands for his execution, Iran's leading
opposition figure, Mir Hossein Mousavi, issued a scathing denunciation
yesterday of the government's violent crackdown against his supporters,
calling for a restoration of civil liberties as a way of ending what he
described as a "serious crisis" that has destabilized the nation.
Mousavi's statement, posted on reformist Web sites, were his first public
comments since a violent weekend of protests coinciding with an important
religious holiday. His nephew, Ali Habibi-Mousavi, 43, was shot to death
Sunday.
Mousavi said threats on his life would not deter him.
"I'm not afraid of being one of the postelection martyrs who lost their
lives in their struggle for their rightful demands," he wrote in his first
major public statement in weeks. "My blood is not redder than that of
other martyrs."
Mousavi ran for president in disputed elections last June that saw
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared the victor, triggering months of
on-and-off protests.
Authorities describe the unrest as a foreign-backed plot meant to weaken
the Islamic Republic, which is under international pressure for its drive
to master nuclear technology.
Opposition news Web sites report that security forces have arrested at
least 1,300 people in Tehran and other cities since the Dec. 19 death of
dissident cleric Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri began a fresh wave of
demonstrations.
Plainclothes security officials and Basiji militiamen have stormed the
homes and offices of dissident clerics and activists. Hard-line clerics
loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have labeled the protesters
and opposition leaders mohareb, or enemies of God, an Islamic offense
punishable by death.
Mousavi urges end to Iran crackdown
UPDATED ON:
Saturday, January 02, 2010
02:12 Mecca time, 23:12 GMT
Aljazeera
<http://english.aljazeera.net/news/
middleeast/2010/01/201011133930845897.html>
A shorter URL for the above link:
Baqer Moin, a specialist on Iran based in London, told Al Jazeera that
Mousavi was being both defiant and conciliatory in his statement.
"He's saying: 'if you want war then I am man of war, if you want peace
then I am man of peace ... I'm ready to negotiate'," Moin said.
"Having said that he comes with five suggestions saying that if you really
want peace in the country you can't go overnight towards the maximum
demand of everybody - we have to move gradually towards a destination."
"So in a sense he is coming with some realistic proposals within the
constitution to deal with the current crisis," he said.
Iran has been in political turmoil since the June poll, with Mousavi and
the rest of the opposition alleging election fraud.
Despite government measures to curb protests, opposition workers have
intermittently taken to the streets of the capital Tehran and elsewhere to
vent their anger at Ahmadinejad's re-election, often triggering violent
clashes between protesters and security forces.
In the latest round of violence during Ashoura commemorations, eight
Iranians - including a nephew of Mousavi - were killed. The opposition
said they died in police shooting, a charge denied by the authorities.
=====================================
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