Mohsen Sazegara
Posted on 12/12/2004 10:00:15 AM PST by freedom44
After years of bitter internal divisions and a series of crackdowns from the Islamic Republic, the Iranian democratic opposition in the last two weeks has organized a united front to push for a referendum on the powers of the supreme leader.
In an exclusive interview with “The New York Sun”, a founder of the new front, which comprises the major student groups as well as leading lawyers and activists inside the country, said organizers this week began fanning out across Persia to collect the names of fellow citizens for a petition supporting changes to the constitution to allow a referendum.
"We think this is a good step that all the opposition groups are united in one direction, the direction of the referendum", Mohsen Sazegara said in a telephone interview from London. "As far as I know, this is a unique event, all groups from monarchists to republicans, from left to right are now behind us and they support the referendum movement".
We think this is a good step that all the opposition groups are united in one direction, the direction of the referendum
Mr. Sazegara is a founder of what in Farsi is called Tahkime Vahdat, which is translated into "Consolidate unity". The organization includes many of the reformists who had tried to work within the system with President Mohammad Khatami as well as supporters of the son of the deposed Shah, Reza Pahlavi.
Perhaps most important though, the new unified front includes the Islamic student organizations active in the country's universities. These groups originally supported the 1979 Islamic revolution but in recent years have demanded more political freedoms for the Iranian people.
Mr. Sazegara told the Sun yesterday that Tahkime Vahdat sought to enlist handwritten signatures for the referendum petition inside the country to post on their new website, www.60000000.com,a site that hopes to eventually get that many supporters for the referendum. "We have received in the last two days already 350 emails, containing the names of whole families, in some cases with 50 names each. This shows that the referendum is supported by the youth and their parents." In the last two weeks, the website says it has already received 19,000 people who support the national vote.
So concerned have the Mullahs been about the web site that they have blocked it inside the country, borrowing a tactic from Communist China that bars its citizens from accessing even western newspapers. "It's fine that they want to block the website, we are just going to get the people to participate through the email," he said.
Mr. Sazegara said his organization planned to present the names of Iranians who sought the referendum to the United Nations and other international bodies. "We want to show the international community that this is the will of the Iranian people."
Mr. Sazegara arrived in London in March for surgery to his ailing heart; a condition worsened when he was in an Iranian jail and led a 79 day hunger strike. He told the Sun he intended to return to Iran in the coming months, where the regime says he must spend another year in jail for his opposition activities. "If they send me to jail again, I will start another hunger strike".
Unlike many in Iran's exile opposition, Mr. Sazegara was originally a close ally of Grand Ayatollah Roohollah Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic Republic. Indeed he was an early member of the revolutionary guard, the elite military force that has in the past facilitated terrorist activities against America and Israel.
"In those days we thought we were afraid of foreign attacks. I thought if we could have a militia to organize the people in an army then we could protect the country. I thought it was a good idea in those days. After three months after establishing it, I found out that I was not suitable for military action and went into radio and television. The revolutionary guard became something else. Now the revolutionary guard commanders intervene in politics", he said.
Tahkime Vahdat also includes the lawyer for the families victimized by the chain murders of the 1990s, Nasser Zarafshan, who has been in prison since 2002; the former president of Tehran University, Mohammed Maleki; as well as human rights lawyer who was arrested for attending an opposition conference in Berlin in 2001, Mehrangiz Kar. Ms. Kar is now a professor at Harvard University.
From the ranks of student activists inside the country, the organization includes Ali Afshari, Reza Delbary and Akbar Atri. The new group is also significant because it has enlisted support from Iran's ex-patriot community in Europe and America.
We ask all Iranians, progressists and patriots, to join us in our call, and, by signing the present Appeal, echo our voice, with strength and determination, throughout the world
Mr. Sazegara told the Sun yesterday that he was interested in enlisting support from western democracies including America, the country he fought against in 1979 when he was a member of the revolutionary guard.
"We need America to defend the democratic rights of the Iranian people. We want this right to vote in a referendum, we don't want the current constitution, we want to change it", he said. "We need practical help to defend Iranian people. If the Americans can use international policy and sanctions, not against the Iranian people, but against the officials of the regime, this would be good. The people of Iran would like to see the bank accounts frozen for the regime officials. If they publish the bank accounts, the Iranian people will be very happy". Mr. Sazegara also said he would like to see the State Department publicly call for the release of journalists and bloggers arrested in the last month.
http://www.60000000.com
Please visit website above and sign the petition for a referendum in Iran.
If they get enough signatures, there is no way the Mad Mullahs will be able to ignore this.
Petition signed ~ Bump!
Just about to settle into comfortable pessimism at FR, and you have to post this.
I checked the box to get in line to beat Khomenei with my shoe.
LOL!
You'll have to get in line behind me. I want the first whack at him. And I'll be wearing steel toed shoes.
BTW - that Khamenei. No point in beating a dead guy. Him I'd spit on.
I'll give you names of two dozen others we can line up, including Khatami (the wimp) and Mortazavi (the sadistic B@st@$d)
Thanks for the ping!
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