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Irans new cabinet to meet amid political turmoil
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's new cabinet prepared to hold its first meeting on Sunday as a leading reformist accused the government of a "fascist or totalitarian" approach and state TV reported the Islamic Republic was developing a weapons system to intercept incoming cruise missiles.Three days after parliament approved most of Ahmadinejad's government ministers in a move that bolstered his position after nearly three months of political turmoil the reshuffled government was due to meet for the first time on Sunday evening in the northeastern city of Mashhad, site of Shiite Iran's holiest shrine. In a sign that the opposition intended to keep up protests over the June election they say was rigged, former president Mohammad Khatami said: "We believe they destroyed in this election the biggest opportunity that had come about for the Islamic establishment and the country." "We are opposed to the interpretation of religion by those who in the name of confronting Western liberalism want to drive people by force on to the path they regard as prosperous using a fascist or totalitarian approach," Khatami said in a meeting with university professors in Tehran, the ILNA news agency reported. Khatami said the election had been an "opportunity to have the youth and people who were dissatisfied ... to return to the scene and make the right choice with hope in the establishment and the future." Khatami, who was president in 1997-2005, backed opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi in the vote. The country's Revolutionary Guards have called for both of them to be put on trial. Another leading reformist criticized the cancellation of an annual religious ceremony where Khatami had been due to speak and which could have become a rallying point for moderates. Iranian media said the Sept 9-11 event was called off after the authorities put pressure on its hosts. "The cancellation of the ceremonies at Imam Khomeini's shrine will hurt the prestige of the Islamic Republic," said Mohammad Salamati, head of the moderate Islamic Revolution Mujahideen Organisation party, ILNA reported. Posted by: Fred 2009-09-08 |
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