Tehran, January 02: Iran’s opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi on Friday pledged to remain defiant in the face of new threats — including calls by hard-liners for his execution — and said he would sacrifice his life in defense of the people’s right to protest peacefully against the government.
Mousavi’s remarks come after the worst unrest since the immediate aftermath of the disputed June presidential election. At least eight people died during anti-government protests on Sunday.
In one of his strongest statements to date, Mousavi said he was ready to sacrifice his life for a higher cause — and lashed out at the bloody crackdown the authorities are waging against the opposition.
He said the government was making more mistakes by resorting to violence and killings, and that it must accept the people’s rights to hold peaceful demonstrations.
Government supporters have called for the execution of Mousavi and other opposition figures, while a previously unknown group claimed in an online posting that suicide squads were ready to assassinate opposition leaders should the judiciary fail to punish them within a week.
Iran’s state prosecutor on Thursday warned opposition leaders could be put on trial if they don’t denounce this week’s anti-government protests.
“I explicitly and clearly state that an order to execute, murder and imprison (opposition leaders) … won’t resolve the problem,” Mousavi said in a statement on his website, Kaleme.
One of those killed in clashes on Sunday between security forces and opposition protesters was Mousavi’s nephew, Ali Mousavi.
He was gunned down but authorities claimed police didn’t use firearms and said the nephew was “assassinated” by unknown assailants. Mousavi’s nephew was buried Wednesday in a hastily organized ceremony that was attended by the opposition leader and other family members.
Sunday’s unrest was followed by two days of pro-government protests Wednesday and Thursday in which crowds called for Mousavi’s execution and that of another opposition figure, Mehdi Karroubi.
In his statement on Friday, Mousavi also denounced hard-liners who he said preached violence from state-funded podiums in the name of Islam.
“Encouraging the killing of people … is a tragedy carried out by specific individuals and the state TV,” Mousavi said, adding that efforts to silence the opposition “through arrests, violence and threats,” would not succeed.
Iran, Mousavi said, was in a “serious crisis” but killing protesters will only make the opposition stronger.
Mousavi asked the authorities to release all detained protesters.
——-Agencies