Rafsanjani says Iran is ‘in crisis’ - Former president calls for open debate

Rafsanjani says Iran is ‘in crisis’ - Former president calls for open debate
By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
Published: July 17 2009 12:25 | Last updated: July 17 2009 17:33
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8bba5ce0-72c0-11de-ad98-00144feabdc0.html


Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, Iran’s former president, on Friday threw his weight behind reformists and declared that the country was in “crisis” following the disputed presidential election .

He told the hundreds of thousands of protesters attending his address at Friday prayers in Tehran university: “Conditions today are bitter ... and we all have lost.”

In the biggest show of dissent since a crackdown by Iran’s security forces, many in the crowd wore the opposition’s trademark green scarves, wrist and headbands after a month in which no one had dared to do so.

Eyewitnesses said clashes erupted as security forces used teargas against protesters, many of whom were reportedly arrested. Gunshots were heard but there were no immediate reports of any deaths.

Mr Rafsanjani, whose words were repeatedly interrupted by both supporters and opponents, made no comment on the declared landslide victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad.

He urged anti-government forces to pursue their demands through legal channels and called on the regime to let opposition participate in “rational debates”.

He said: “We have to win back the trust of people ... as a holy goal.”

All sides needed to be “convinced” of the election results.

Mir-Hossein Moussavi, the opposition leader who claims that the election was stolen from him, was present in a show of solidarity with his supporters, many of whom were attending Friday prayers for the first time.

Indicating that he expects protests to continue, Mr Rafsanjani said: “This trust cannot be regained overnight. It is a long process, but we should create an atmosphere in which all sides can speak out.”

Iran’s security forces have engaged in a brutal crackdown on any gathering to protest against the election results. There have been at least 20 deaths and hundreds of arrests.

Many protesters, encouraged by what was a rare tough speech by Mr Raf­sanjani’s, shouted: “Death to the dictator”, “Ahmadi-Nejad, resign, resign” and “Allahu Akbar [God is great]”.

Bloggers were quick to welcome the former president to their“green movement”, in early signs that the speech could repair his public image. Mr Rafsanjani has been an unpopular figure as a result of his family’s alleged corruption.

In his address to the crowd, which spilled out from the university on to the nearby streets, Mr Rafsanjani called for the release of political prisoners whose detention, he said, had given a pretext to Iran’s “enemy” – a clear reference to the west – to censure Iran.

He urged the regime to express sympathy for the families of those killed during the unrest.

Western powers might increase pressure on Iran over issues such as its nuclear programme if the split in the regime continued, he warned. “Today, we need unity more than any other time.”

The former president heads two powerful conservative bodies: the expediency council, which oversees government policy; and the experts assembly, which appoints the next supreme leader. He said the Islamic Republic was not a “ceremonial name” and there was a moral imperative not to ignore the people’s votes.

“I hope this sermon will be the beginning of some changes in this situation, which unfortunately we have to call a crisis,” he said.

As he spoke, supporters of Mr Ahmadi-Nejad in the front rows chanted slogans in support of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, who has given his full backing to the declared election result.

The opposition retorted with shouts of: “Hashemi [Rafsanjani], Hashemi, we support you.”