Rafsanjani Decries Iran Crackdown, Urges Release of All Political Prisoners (updated)

17 July 2009 :: staff

Wearing green wristbands indicative of support for Mir Hossein Mousavi’s opposition movement, a large but undetermined number of protesters gathered outside Tehran University, after prayers led by Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, to express their support for the defeated presidential candidate and his charges of election fraud. The Ayandeh news web site estimates that between 1.5 million and 2.5 million people gathered around Tehran University, either to get a glimpse of Friday prayers or show support for the opposition.

Xinhua is reporting that eyewitnesses spoke of police action to disperse the demonstrators. According to one witness, protesters were “chanting slogans and wrangling with supporters of President (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad”. There had been fears leading up to Rafsanjani’s appearance at Friday prayers that government backers would clash with opposition supporters or that security forces would seek to make large numbers of arrests.

Reza Taghavi, organizer of the Friday prayers, which are broadcast across the nation on live radio, admonished Rafsanjani to toe the government line in his speech, but said that the cleric had never been instructed what he should say at prayers. The Guardian reports that Taghavi has said Rafsanjani “should give a speech inside the regime’s political frame”, adding that ”The imam of the Friday prayer should be a follower of the supreme leader in his speech”, an apparent reference to Ayatollah Ali Khamene’i’s hard-line speech on the election outcome.

Rafsanjani took care to equate the rights of dissenting minorities to the virtues of Islamic society. He decried China’s violent crackdown on the muslim Uighur minority in Xinjiang province, to which he received chants of “Down with China!” Iran’s state-run news agency censored reports on the unrest in Xinjiang, calling the Uighurs “hooligans”, and not referring to them as muslims.

The AP reported that during the service itself, opposition and government supporters were chanting competing slogans. Opposition supporters were reportedly wearing green clothing and/or had brought green prayer mats. Hardliners were reportedly overheard chanting, prior to the sermon, “Death to America”, while opposition supporters chanted “Death to Russia”, an echo of Cold War tensions regarding Iran’s leadership and an open criticism of the government’s ties to Moscow.

Rafsanjani cited a story of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini, in which Khomeini declared “The legitimacy of the country comes from its people’s consent.” He added to that sentiment the criticism that the government has lost “the people’s trust” and suggested ”We need to have an open society in which people can say what they want to say… We should not imprison people. Let them rejoin their families.”

Those remarks were a direct and undeniable criticism of the government and its security crackdown. He continued to voice the opposition position that there is a connection between mourning the lives of those lost in the violence and the right to free and open dissent against the government, saying: “We need sympathy for the people who are in mourning or have been injured.”

He criticized the government’s wave of arrests, saying such tactics “let our enemies laugh at us”. One source on Twitter, considered “reliable” by international media, said Rafsanjani was visibly upset when addressing the issue of prisoners. Several members of Rafsanjani’s family, including his daughter Faezeh, were detained by security forces in an apparent effort to intimidate even powerful figures supporting the opposition.

Rafsanjani alerted the public to the government’s censorship of leading clerics in the holy city of Qom, some of whom, like Rafsanjani himself, could form a power bloc that would be empowered to remove the supreme leader, if crimes are found to have been committed. According to the Guardian, he was quoted by the website bahmanagha, saying ”Why should we offend our prominent clerics [in Qom].”

The powerful cleric said the post-election dispute had “created bitter conditions” between political groups in Iran, and urged unity, tolerance and dialogue. According to the LA Times’ reporting, Rafsanjani told worshippers gathered for Friday prayers:

“We could have taken our best step in the history of the Islamic revolution had the election not faced problems … We are in doubt today. Today, we are living bitter conditions due to what happened after the announcement of the election result. All of us have suffered. We need unity more than anytime else.”

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters massed for the prayer service, seeking to show persistent strong support for opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and the charges that the 12 June election was in fact hijacked. Mousavi was in attendance, as was Mehdi Karoubi, another of the opposition candidates in the disputed vote. Karoubi himself was reportedly attacked in a security crackdown that followed the sermon.

As reported by Bloomberg:

Videos posted on Facebook showed crowds gathered around Tehran University, chanting “Coup d’etat government: Resign!” “Political prisoners should be freed,” and “Death to a people-deceiving government.” At least 15 Mousavi supporters were arrested, Istanbul-based NTV news channel reported.

Mehdi Karrubi, a former Parliamentary Speaker and a defeated candidate in the June 12 ballot, was attacked by plain- clothed forces on his way to Friday prayers, his party said on its Web site. Karrubi didn’t require hospital treatment after the incident and later returned home.

Shadi Sadr, a prominent women’s rights activist, was reportedly abducted by unidentified men aligned with security forces, on her way to attend Friday prayers. The BBC’s Farsi-language service reported that Sadr had been detained while walking along a busy street, when a group of plainclothes men leapt from a car and grabbed her.

Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa program director, Malcom Smart, issued a press statement via email condemning the arrest: “This was an illegal, arbitrary and violent arrest in which no attempt was made by the authorities to show identification or provide any explanation for their action”.

UPDATE, 18:47 GMT: There are reports the security crackdown in which government forces sought to disperse pro-opposition demonstrators outside Ayatollah Rafsanjani’s Friday prayers included the firing of tear gas at opposition supporters, while prayers were ongoing. According to the Associated Press:

Tens of thousands of government opponents packed Iran’s main Islamic prayer service Friday, chanting “freedom, freedom” and other slogans as their top clerical backer Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani delivered a sermon bluntly criticizing the country’s leadership over the crackdown on election protests.

Outside, police and pro-government Basiji militiamen fired tear gas and charged thousands of protesters who chanted “death to the dictator” and called on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to resign. Dozens were arrested, piled in trucks and taken away, witnesses said.

Rafsanjani is reported to have used careful phrasing so as not to be seen as sowing unrest. He said government actions had led to widespread “doubt” about the integrity of the election process and that action should be taken to arrive at a legitimate determination of the final vote count. While worshippers chanted “azadi, azadi” (freedom, freedom), Rafsanjani is said to have had tears in his eyes as he said the Prophet Mohammed had “respected the rights” of the people that followed him.

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