Planet Iran editor’s note: The Islamic Republic Mujahedin Party is not to be confused with the Mujahedeen Khalq.

Source: &
April 08, 2010

Reformist delegates of the Islamic Revolution Mujahedin from the 6th Parliament visited Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi.

In this meeting, before Mr. Mousavi, some of the members of this committee spoke. Mr. Mousavi followed by acknowledging the importance of their issues and added: “Our establishment is suffering from problems these days that go beyond street demonstrations. Our issues and problems are much deeper than things like street protests. One of these very problems is that the government thinks overcoming the street protests means solving the issues with dissidents who attended the demonstrations.”

Mr. Mousavi continued: “Everything that should serve as the source of pillars and basis of legitimacy and credibility for a system is decaying. Systems of government usually rely on their hard forces [of security, military, and intelligence] to maintain themselves in the final stages by any means. But we saw that in our country they relied upon too. This is something to pay a great deal of attention to and think about. Issue of ‘Lies’ has become the prominent issue of our day such that people are objecting to it. Unfortunately, lies are told very easily in levels of governance and their propagandas. This has uprooted the trust people in the establishment and has put doubts in their belief. Moral and financial corruption, general incompetence, and [lack of a proper] foreign policy have come together to create a general distrust towards the government and the establishment. Would such problems solve themselves if we cling to forces of oppression and clampdown [on people]?”

The prime minister during the war holy defense [against Iraqi invasion] continued: “This [chronic] condition [of incompetence] has completely interrupted the stream of investments in the country. Since future has become so uncertain, unlike countries like Japan where some family investments go as back as two centuries. The focus in our society has shifted to short term profits because there is no hope to any future. Because of the existing conditions nobody is willing to invest their money production or long-term investments that create consistent employment. Would this not lead to further unemployment and poverty? While our fourth Budget set the goal of 12.2% for the average growth rate of investment, this rate has declined t o 7 percent in the last five years. The new rate should have been achieved with 82 Billion dollar spending projects that Budget had recognized. But the government with more than 220 billion spending, 7.2 times more that what was anticipated, still not only failed to achieve the goals but managed to ‘advance our rates’ [towards their decline.] Is not such an incident a catastrophe?

The presidential candidate, who opposed the election results, continued by alluding to the new ‘goal-oriented subsidies’ bill:”The main focus of the government in all the persistence and energy put in this bill and its quarrels is only and only to get permission to spend money in billions to attract and buy votes. The [apparent differences between the] reality [that people face in their daily lives] and the propaganda broadcasts that declare a decline in inflation rates down to 8.1% has created serious doubts in everyone. These are all signs that termites of distrust are eating the pillars of establishment inside out.

Mr. Mousavi named the administration’s dependence on misrepresenting moral issues in order to find audience in society as yet another sign of the distrust between people and the government: “Instrumental use of Islamic and revolutionary values by the government in order to further their own interest has caused a kind of disturbance and confusion in the society. The way Imam Khomeini is portrayed to the younger generations in the so-called national media as well as foreign media is inaccurate and unfaithful. Given all this, how do people perceive Imam?”

Mir Hossein Mousavi pointed out the way environment activists were treated as they were demonstrating close to Oroomieye Lake. He said: “The strange way they dealt with people who had gathered to protect Oroomieye Lake’s environment is yet another sign of this.”

He continued: “By turning Behesht Zahra Cemetery into a military base on the 12th of Farvardin, the day of Islamic Republic… Can they solve the nation’s problems by militarizing the public areas? The country can not run properly if all the power is concentrated in one sect of the society.”

Mousavi then made comments about his readiness to come to terms with the election results as announced by the government: “The truth is, if the current government could be semi-productive, I would have forgone my objections to the election results in the hope that the country would move in a good direction but even this is not the case. The government’s inability to deliver on Asalooiei project[1], or its failure in foreign policy that led to the current problems in our nuclear program are all signs of the government’s utter incapability.”

Former Prime Minister Mousavi talked about the way democracies solve national problems: “In democratic regimes that exhibit good judgment, critical problems specially those in international relations, are tackled by trying to seek the advice and support of the opposition parties. Here, we can clearly observe that the even the party in power is unable to reach a consensus. What is this a sign of?”

Mir Hossein Mousavi summed up his observations: “Noting the current situation and the issues the nation is facing, I see the unconditional execution of the constitution as Green Movement’s primary demand from the current administration. With this regard, we must ensure that our movement uses a clever and precise language. Numerous sections of the constitution that guarantee the nations rights have been forgotten (Specifically, section 168 that deals with political and media related accusations which must be investigated in the public hearings and in presence of a jury). If these demands are presented well, Green Movement will find more general support.”

He continued: “The cause of any change in a society is the birth of an idea. The idea has been born in Iran and the desire for change and reform has become widespread. People must be warned about officials whose personal interests will compel them to stand against the movement’s and nation’s rightful demands. We must take a stance against such corrupt officials. Furthermore, protecting these special interests has also stopped government officials from fighting corruption.”

Mir Hossein Mousavi specifies the outlook of the future activities of the Green Movement as follows: “We should put forth and redefine clear ideas and spread them with resistance and perseverance. We should find ways to continue pursuing our activities with better organization and foundations than before. We should make the ruling establishment understand that in order to run the country with optima costs they should provide freedom for the activities of organizations, media outlets, unions, civil institutions, etc., instead of standing against them and confronting them.”

He continued: “The green Movement should establish ties with people from all social classes and pursue their demands, such as workers, teachers, ….The Green Movement’s goal is a better life for all, specifically the less-privilaged and vulnerable [social classes]. We should support both the workers and the entrepreneurs; the interests of both aforementioned groups are inseparable and they are in positive interaction with each other and their constructive cooperation will lead to advance and development in our society. The issues of importance to our teachers, who make up a large portion of our society and have an important and crucial role in ur social life, should be put forth and pursued. The same should be donbe for all various groups and classes.”

Furthermore, this former presidential candidate expressed hope [for change]: “My understanding and hope is that those ruling in the country would return to abiding by the constitution, including all of it’s articles. They would put side their policing and militarization and open up the social atmosphere. But if they do not commit we will have to stand up against them, because we love our counrty, our establishment, and our revolution.”

Mousavi continued: “If at the time of the revolution religious forces were asked if they were willing to come to power and kill people [if it led to killing people?], no one would have accepted. As such we cannot be indifferent towards the current circumstances. The Green Movement does not demand too much, but apparently fulfilling even these minimal demands is too difficult for them. This is why they make up myths to confront the Green Movement and then they fall into the prey to their own lies and myths. In spite of all this, I pray that the ruling forces can escape the small circle they have entraped themselves in, and govern the country so that it can fall back into its appropriate course.”

He advised those in power [with these words]: If they think that they can solve the country’s problems with their current views and approach, they are making a huge mistake. We should stand up [and persevere] until the problems are actually solved. The people have payed very much in the course of these events, and because they are struggling for noble cause, they have also got used to paying for it. You can see that now the prisoners have become people’s heroes and are welcomed with much fervor and enthusiasm; this shows how ineffective their methods have been against the movement and the will of the people. The solution is returning to the constitution and implementing it in its entirety.

He concluded: The political institutions that are active inside the country have more capacity than what is currently utilitized; they should become more active, publish their analysis [of current events], issue statements, etc., and constantly keep in touch with people so that with our joint effort we can help our growth and development and build a better tomorrow.

[1] A massive petrochemical project in south of Iran that was supposed to revolutionize Iranian petrochemical industry, bringing the country large gains in form of exports and new jobs.