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Talks held with Mousavi

DUBAI: As the crackdown by the government takes effect, meetings behind the scenes have commenced between pro-regime representatives in Iranian Parliament and the opposition leadership demanding the annulment of the disputed presidential elections.

Iran’s state-run Press-TV has reported that representatives of the Parliament’s committee on national security and foreign policy has met high-ranking cleric and former President, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Mir Hosain Mousavi, chief advocate for the conduct of fresh elections. Press-TV quoted Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the committee, as saying talks with Ayatollah Rafsanjani had been “constructive”.

“The lawmakers asked Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani to help solve the problems and he vowed support and we hope that we would witness practical measures to be taken to end the current situation soon,” he added.

Regarding the meeting with Mr. Mousavi, Mr. Boroujerdi said: “During the meeting, the governing board of the committee explained their expectations from Mr. Mousavi and he voiced his interest to help in solving the issues.” On his part, Mr. Mousavi has said he was being subjected to enormous pressure by the regime.

He said on his website Kalmeh that he had become the victim of a verbal vilification campaign that sought to link him to foreigners, accused by the government of instigating riots. Mr. Mousavi, however, said he would stay defiant. “I cannot modify black as white and white as black,” he was quoted as saying. “This is not the solution to expect me to express something in which I don’t believe.”

On Wednesday, Mr. Mousavi also met 70 university professors, said his website. These academics of a liberal persuasion were, however, detained after the meeting.

Analysts point out that the government has so far managed to contain the student-led revolt, which is essentially demanding greater civil liberties within the framework of the revolution. This is because an alliance of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and a prominent religious school based in the Qom has held up against a combination of students, reformists, sections of the middle and working classes and prominent members of the clergy. Key regime representatives, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and powerful IRGC members have reportedly been backed by the Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah Yazdi, an influential cleric heading the Haqqani religious school in Qom.

On Tuesday, the establishment recorded a success when Mohsen Rezai, who had unsuccessfully contested elections, withdrew his complaints about the fairness of the poll. Iran’s crackdown has continued to hit Tehran’s relations with the United States and Britain. The U.S. administration has withdrawn invitations to Iranian diplomats to attend Independence Day celebrations on July 4, citing recent events. Britain has recently frozen Iranian assets worth £1 billion.

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