I’ve received what purports to be a statement from Mousavi’s Office in Tehran. Like everyone else covering the revolution, I get a lot of material that can’t be authenticated, and one must always take such material with a healthy dose of skepticism. That said, the person who sent this to me is undoubtedly in touch with the Mousavi people on the ground, that much is certain. His information has been proven reliable throughout this period. So while the following open letter carefully puts distance between the author(s) and Mousavi himself, I am quite sure that at a minimum it accurately reflects the state of mind of the Mousavi people.
So here you go:
From the Office of Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi
To the President of the USA, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama:
Dear Mr. President,
In the name of the Iranian people, we want you to know that when you recently made the statement “Achmadinejad or Mousavi? Two of a kind,” we consider this as a grave and deep insult, not just to Mr. Mousavi but especially against the judgment of the Iranian people, against our moral conviction and intelligence, especially those of the young generation that comprises a population of 31 million.
It is a specially grave insult for those who are now fighting for democracy and freedom, and an unwarranted gift and even praise for Mr. Khamenei, whose security forces are now killing peaceful Iranians in the streets of every major city in the country.
Your statement misled the people of the world. It was no doubt inspired by your hope for dialogue with this regime, but you cannot possibly believe in promises from a regime that lies to its own people and then kills them when they demand the promises be kept.
By such statements, your administration and you discourage the Iranian people, who believe and trust in the values of democracy and freedom. We are pleased to see that you have condemned the regime’s murderous violence, and we look forward to stronger support for the rightful struggle of the Iranian people against the actions of a regime that is your enemy as well as ours.
UPDATE: From Mousavi’s speech on Sunday:
The great participation in this election was, in the first degree, indebted to the efforts for creating hope and trust among the people, to obtain a befitting response to the existing administrative crises and the widespread social dissatisfaction, whose accumulation can target the bedrock of the Revolution and the Regime. If this good faith and trust coming from the people is not answered by protecting their votes, or the people can not react in a civil and peaceful way to defend their rights, there will be dangerous pathways ahead, responsibility for which lies with those who can’t stand peaceful behaviors.
If the high volume of cheating and vote manipulation, that has put a fire to the foundations of people’s trust, is itself introduced as the proof and evidence of the lack of fraud, the republicanism of the regime will be slaughtered and the idea of incompatibility of Islam and republicanism would be practically proven.
UPDATE II: Mousavi has called for a general strike on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the regime is now rounding up Rafsanjani family members. As Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi tells us:
Tabnak Website from Iran reports: Five members of the Rafsanjani family arrested. It is said that his daughter Faezeh who is very outspoken and has been very active in politics for more than two decades has also been arrested. Reportedy Faezeh, her daughter,Hossein Marashi (cousin of Mrs. Rafsanjani nee Effat Marashi), Marashi’s daughter and Marashi’s sister-in-law have been taken into custody as well
Update III: From Judith Klinghoffer, the unions are joining the revolution.
I can tell you who are two of a kind: O Duce and the Mullahs. And throw in his craven bow to the Saudi King for good measure.
And what's even more lunatic is that I find myself in the position of supporting protesters who have socialistic planks in their platform while O Duce won't:
But, of course compared to the Fascist Mullahs the protesters are almost laissez-faire. What they're complaining about is that the Mullahs are in fact a Fascist, corporatist state that keeps all the oil revenue cream for itself. No wonder O Duce loves the Mullahs, that's exactly what he's so busily creating in America.
of O Duce's support for misogynistic, pimple-faced violent thugs. But you can go look if you have a strong stomach. Her name was Neda.
Oh, and in case you think O Duce is alone in this position among his coalition, you might want to check out the home page of
. If you've been following developments and watching video (such as the one above for instance) you can't help but notice that Iranian women have been key victims of the Mullahs as well as leaders among the protesters. But not a peep of support by NOW anywhere to be found. What a sad disgrace.
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Neda
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