pong
Mousavi : “Assume that, with all the arrests, brutalities, threats, and shutting the mouths of newspapers and media, you can silence people for a few days. How do you solve the change in people’s view of the establishment? How do you rectify the lack of legitimacy? How do you change the stunned and blaming views of all people of the world over all this brutality of a government against its own people? What do you do with the problems of the country’s economy and living conditions that are getting worse because of extreme weakness of the administration? With what backing of expertise, national unity and effective foreign policy, can you alleviate the shadow of more UN resolutions and international attempts to win more points against our country and our nation?”
He also puts the blame of protesters and Friday prayer Imams calling for the killing of Mousavi and Karroubi on the government:
“I clearly and bluntly say that the order of execution, murder, or imprisonment of Karoubi, Mousavi and figures like us will not solve the problem. The announcements made this Wednesday in Enghelab Square (central Tehran) and before that during the last Friday prayer by some figures affiliated with the establishment will make the consequence of any terrorist act the direct liability of the center [of the establishment] and will make the problem of the current crisis unsolvable.”
Thirdly, and perhaps the most important of all the points in his new statement is the fact that he acknowledges protesters taking action against security forces during the protests. He also puts the blame for violence against security forces on the government. However, it is important to note that he neither endorses these actions, nor asks for further actions in future protests. He also notes that people were also compassionate to security forces and tried to save them from other more angry protesters. I believe it is important because Mousavi continues to wish for a peaceful political resolution and does not wish the government to be violently overthrown:
“Watching the shocking footage of Ashura shows that if sometimes slogans and actions moved toward unacceptable radicalism, it is because of throwing innocent people off bridges and heights, shooting them, running them over by cars and assassinations. It is interesting that in some of this footage, people were seeing their [religious] brothers behind the faces of the oppressive police and Basij forces, and in that critical situation and on that deafening and hateful day they were trying to protect them from any harm. If the state-run television and radio had the slightest bit of fairness,to calm the atmosphere and bring people closer together, it would have shown a little of these scenes. But no way! The progress of events after Ashura and the extent of arrests and other Government actions show that the authorities are repeating the same past mistakes this time in a greater scale and think that the policy of terror is their only solution.”
Mousavi for the first time actually discounts his own influence and that of Mehdi Karroubi. He admits that even though people asked him to call for protests or at least lend his support, he did not do so in the case of Ashura. He also acknowledges the fact that people came out without him calling them to come out... The Green Movement has indeed partially spiraled out of the hands of Karroubi and Mousavi... acknowledges it by saying that he is ready to die alongside other members of the movement, knowing that the movement would continue even with his absence... Mousavi openly speaks out against the IRGC. It is no secret that the IRGC has been one the driving forces behind the suppression of peaceful protesters and the main source of Ali Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's power. Along the Basij -- which falls under its command -- they have been responsible for most of the bloodshed on the streets of Iran during protests. He ridicules the IRGC, possibly sending a message to his supporters that they can now openly denounce the IRGC as well as Basij.Thanks nuconvert.