Quick Notes
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
[en] I speak for Mousavi. And Iran | Mohsen Makhmalbaf | The Guardian
- To: mohsen BANAN <weblogs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Subject: [en] I speak for Mousavi. And Iran | Mohsen Makhmalbaf | The Guardian
- From: Mohsen BANAN <weblogs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 21 Jun 2009 18:47:29 -0700
- Content-type: multipart/mixed; boundary="=-=-="
- User-agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/23.0.60 (gnu/linux)
Attched HTML part was extracted from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/19/iran-election-mousavi-ahmadinejad on Sunday 06/21/09 06:47:00 PM PDTTitle: I speak for Mousavi. And Iran | Mohsen Makhmalbaf | Comment is free | The Guardian
I have been given the Âresponsibility of telling the world what is happening in Iran. The office of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who the Iranian people truly want as their leader, has asked me to do so. They have asked me to tell how Mousavi's headquarters was wrecked by plainclothes police officers. To tell how the commanders of the revolutionary guard ordered him to stay silent. To urge people to take to the streets because Mousavi could not do so directly. The people in the streets don't want a recount of last week's vote. They want it annulled. This is a crucial moment in our history. Since the 1979 revolution Iran has had 80% dictatorship and 20% democracy. We have dictatorship because one person is in charge, the supreme leader â first Khomeini, now Khamenei. He controls the army and the clergy, the justice system and the media, as well as our oil money. There are some examples of democracy â reformers elected to parliament, and the very fact that a person like Mousavi could stand for election. But, since the day of the election, this Âelement of democracy has vanished. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won, and that whoever opposed this will be suppressed â a position he affirmed speaking today in Tehran. People wanted to have demonstrations within the law, but the authorities would not let them. This is the first time we have seen millions on the streets without the permission of the supreme leader. Now they are gathering to mourn those who have died. The people of Iran have a culture that elevates martyrdom. In the period running up to the revolution, when people were killed at demonstrations, others would gather again in the days following the death. This cycle carried on for six months, and culminated in the revolution. Today they are gathering in Tehran for those who were shot on Tuesday, and if there are more killings, this will continue. So why do the Iranian people not want Ahmadinejad as their leader? Because he is nothing but a loudspeaker for Khamenei. Under Ahmadinejad, economic problems have grown worse, despite $280bn of oil revenue. Social and literary freedom is much more restricted than under his predecessor, Mohammad Khatami. The world views us as a terrorist nation on the lookout for war. When Khatami was president of Iran, Bush was president of the US. Now the Americans have Obama and we have our version of Bush. We need an Obama who can find solutions for Iran's problems. Although power would remain in the hands of Khamenei, a president like Mousavi could weaken the supreme leader. Some suggest the protests will fade because nobody is leading them. All those close to Mousavi have been arrested, and his contact with the outside world has been restricted. People rely on word of mouth, because their mobile phones and the internet have been closed down. That they continue to gather shows they want something more than an election. They want freedom, and if they are not granted it we will be faced with another revolution. Thirty years ago we supported each other. When police used tear gas, fires would be lit to neutralise its effects. People would set their own cars on fire to save others. Since then, the government has tried to separate people from one other. What we lost was our togetherness, and in the past month we have found that again. All the armed forces in Iran are only enough to repress one city, not the whole country. The people are like drops of water coming together in a sea. People say that Mousavi won't change anything as he is part of the establishment. That is correct to a degree because they wouldn't let anyone who is not in their circle rise to seniority. But not all members of a family are alike, and for Mousavi it is useful to understand how he has changed over time. Before the revolution, Mousavi was a religious intellectual and an artist, who supported radical change but did not support the mullahs. After the revolution, when all religious intellectuals and even leftists backed Khomeini, he served as prime minister for eight years. The economy was stable, and he did not order the killings of opponents, or become corrupt. In order to neuralise his power, the position of prime minister was eliminated from the constitution and he was pushed out of politics. So Mousavi returned to the world of artists because in a country where there are no real political parties, artists can act as a party. The artists supported Khatami and now they support Mousavi. Previously, he was revolutionary, because everyone inside the system was a revolutionary. But now he's a reformer. Now he knows Gandhi â before he knew only Che Guevara. If we gain power through aggression we would have to keep it through aggression. That is why we're having a green revolution, defined by peace and democracy.
Your IP address will be logged
Your IP address will be logged
I speak for Mousavi. And Iran | Mohsen MakhmalbafThis article was first published on guardian.co.uk at 19.00 BST on Friday 19 June 2009. It appeared in the Guardian on Saturday 20 June 2009 on p34 of the Comment & debate section. It was last updated at 19.00 BST on Friday 19 June 2009.
's comment
Comments in chronological order
CommentsIn order to see comments, please turn javascript on in your browser. CommentsSorry, commenting is not available at this time. Please try again later. {for comment in Comments}{if comment_index == 0 } {var position = "first"} {else} {var position = ""} {/if}
${comment.CommentBody}
{var comment = Comments[0]}
${comment.Author.displayName}'s description: ${comment.CommentBody}
Latest news on guardian.co.uk
Most viewed on guardian.co.uk
24 hours
7 days
Most talked about
${blog_item.article.title} (${blog_item.linkcount}{if blog_item_index == 0} technorati links{/if}) {/for}
Great DVDs from the Guardian shop
comment is free…
Latest posts
Free P&P at the Guardian bookshop
UK
USA
{for result in results} ${result.jobtitle}${ result.snippet } ${ result.state }
jobs by
Related information
Riots in Tehran After Election Results
13 Jun 2009: Violent clashes occurred throughout the Iranian capital Tehran after opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi accused the government of fraud in the presidential election
11 Jun 2009: Ian Black reports from Tehran on the electric atmosphere in Iran's capital as the Mousavi campaign gathers strength on the eve of the presidential elections
|
- Prev by Date: [en] Guardian Council: Over 100% voted in 50 cities
- Next by Date: [en & fa] Mousavi's statement number 5 to Iranian people - Iranian Presidential Election News
- Previous by thread: [en] Guardian Council: Over 100% voted in 50 cities
- Next by thread: [en & fa] Mousavi's statement number 5 to Iranian people - Iranian Presidential Election News
- Index(es):
Last modified 2010-06-11 07:48 PM
Verbatim Copying Permitted
You have characters left
Please read our community standards.
Closing this window without pressing "Post your comment" will result in your words being lost.
Are you sure?
Thank you for your comment. This has been submitted for moderation.
Your comment has been successfully posted.
Sorry, something has gone wrong and this action cannot be completed. Please try again later.