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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iran: Former president to lead political protest |
| 2009-07-16 |
| Former Iranian president Hashim Rafsanjani plans to lead a demonstration in Tehran on Friday, after giving a sermon during prayers at the capital's main mosque. Rafsanjani will also lead a protest that will also include two defeated presidential candidates, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karoubi, Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat quoted an Iranian source as saying. "In this way Rafsanjani wants to send a clear message to say that the things that have happened in Iran recently should not happen again and that what happened in recent weeks in Tehran must be investigated," the source said. The source, who is close to the former president, said that before the elections, Rafsanjani was positioning himself in the centre between the reformists and the conservatives. "After the elections however, he moved much closer to the reformists and is with the moderates who want change in a peaceful and legal way," the source said. Earlier this week, Iranian opposition leaders criticised what they called the "security state" imposed in the country after the controversial June elections. They also called for the release of people detained during mass street protests that were marred by violence after the vote. More than 1,000 opposition supporters and political reformists were reportedly arrested in the aftermath of the election, and a month later, noone is certain how many are still being detained. Runner-up Mir Hossein Mousavi's website said the call was backed by fellow defeated candidate Mehdi Karoubi and former reformist president Mohammad Khatami. There is expected to be a great deal of interest in his sermon, which will mark the first time he has broken his silence in a month. Since the presidential election in which president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected on 12 June, Rafsanjani has stopped leading the Friday prayers in Tehran. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #4 There are a lot of regular folks and big shots putting their asses on the line over there in Iran. God bless em and I sure am glad the USA is in total support of their efforts. |
| Posted by: bman 2009-07-16 15:11 |
| #3 This is from Adnkronos, so salt to taste. Most of the speculation I'm seeing expects him to announce a |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2009-07-16 15:08 |
| #2 Get yer popcorn ready! |
| Posted by: eltoroverde 2009-07-16 13:41 |
| #1 Will the bastards set loose the ax-swinging motorcycle thugs on a crowd led by Rafsanjani? Interesting. I never expected him to go all-in like that. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2009-07-16 12:26 |