Grand Ayatollah's pronouncement is sign of disintegrating regime

Grand Ayatollah's pronouncement is sign of disintegrating regime
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In case you missed it, another blow to the Iranian regime's legitimacy was delivered yesterday when the Grand Ayatollah Montazeri issued a statement declaring essentially that no sane person should believe the official election results and that regime's handling of Mousavi's appeal is shameful.

It is difficult to overstate the significance of this turn of events. Although he's not well-known in the West, within Iran, Montazeri is highly revered, even amongst young people. He is the most senior Shiite cleric in the country and his pronouncements carry enormous weight.

Even more interestingly, Montazeri appears to have issued his remarks to the security forces in particular, a sign that loyalty amongst the Revolutionary Guard and army is already (or likely to soon be) cracking. The Basiji seem to be the only ones still strictly following the regime's orders to attack the protestors.

This is now the most obvious split that the regime is tearing apart, and its portrayal of itself as a monolith is a facade. Montazeri's statement is a hugely significant signal to both friends and opponents of Ahmadinejad, and is most likely going to hasten the disintegration of the regime.

See article below.

Iran's Top Cleric Denounces Election

Tuesday 16 June 2009

by: Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landay @ McClatchy Newspapers

Tehran, Iran - Supporters of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejadand his main rival in the disputed presidential election, Mir HosseinMousavi, massed in competing rallies Tuesday as the country's mostsenior Islamic cleric threw his weight behind opposition charges thatAhmadinejad's re-election was rigged.

"No one in their right mind can believe" the official results fromFriday's contest, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri said of thelandslide victory claimed by Ahmadinejad. Montazeri accused the regimeof handling Mousavi's charges of fraud and the massive protests of hisbackers "in the worst way possible."

"A government not respecting people's vote has no religious orpolitical legitimacy," he declared in comments on his official Web site."I ask the police and army personals (personnel) not to 'sell theirreligion,' and beware that receiving orders will not excuse them beforeGod."

As many as three more protesters were reported killed in clashesduring Tuesday's opposition demonstration in Vanak Square - adding toeight who were confirmed killed in Monday's protests.

Foreign news organizations were barred from covering Wednesday'sdemonstrations, and the source of the report of the latest deaths was awitness known to McClatchy, who asked that his name not be used for hisown security.

Tehran residents, who spoke to a McClatchy reporter on conditionthat their names not be published, said there was widespreadintimidation by thousands of members of the Basij, a hard-line Islamicvolunteer militia loyal to the Islamic regime.

Iranian bloggers reported scattered violence after dark by Basijmembers.

Nor were reports of violence limited to the capital.

In a voicemail to U.S. government-funded Radio Farda, and posted onthe Web site of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, a woman who identifiedherself as Zeinab from the city of Shiraz said students gathered infront of university dormitories and protested peacefully.

"The Guard attacked the university and started beating the people.What are the people supposed to do? They are forced to react," she said,referring to the elite Revolutionary Guard, a parallel military forcethat's controlled by Khamenei.

Montazeri's pointed public comments provided fresh evidence that aserious rift has opened at the top of Iran's powerful religioushierarchy after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei endorsed the officialelection results and the harsh crackdown against the opposition.

A leader of the 1979 Islamic revolution who's often feuded withKhamenei and once vied with him for the supreme leader's position,Montazeri accused the government of attacking "the children of thepeople with astonishing violence" and "attempting a purge, arrestingintellectuals, political opponents and scientifics."

"He is questioning the legitimacy of the election and alsoquestioning the legitimacy of (Khamenei's) leadership, and this is theheart of the political battle in Iran," said Mehdi Noorbaksh, anassociate professor of international affairs at Harrisburg University ofScience and Technology in Pennsylvania. "This is very significant. Thisis huge support for Mousavi and the demonstrators on the reformists'side."

In an attempt to defuse the crisis, the 12-member Guardian Council,part of the ruling theocracy, announced that it would conduct a partialrecount of the balloting, which the government said Ahmadinejad won withmore than 24 million votes, to 13 million for Mousavi.

Government-funded Press TV, an English-language news service,reported that at a meeting Tuesday with the council and the candidates'representatives, Khamenei said a recount could take place if aninvestigation found there was a need for one.

"Those in charge of supervising the elections are always trustworthypeople, but this should not prevent an investigation into possibleproblems and clarifying the truth," he was quoted as saying.

The recount announcement, however, didn't appease Mousavi, reformpresidential candidate Mahdi Karroubi or their supporters. Tens ofthousands filled the streets of Tehran for a fourth day carrying signsand wearing scarves and ribbons of Mousavi's trademark color of green todemand that the results be annulled.

"We are ready to recount those boxes that some presidentialcandidates claim to have been cheated," council spokesman Abbas AliKadkhodaei told Iranian journalists. Despite a lapsed deadline forcomplaints, "the body is ready to receive complaints and probe into theissue and build more confidence," he said.

It wasn't clear how many ballot boxes - or which ones - would berecounted. Mousavi has demanded an annulment of the vote.

President Barack Obama said he had "deep concerns about theelection," but added that "it's not productive, given the history ofU.S.-Iranian relations, to be seen as meddling."

The Iranian government, meanwhile, moved to extinguish internationalnews coverage of the crisis. The British and Czech charge d'affaires,whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, were called to theForeign Ministry to hear complaints of "interference" in Iran's internalaffairs, Press TV reported.

At least eight demonstrators were shot dead and 28 others woundedMonday by members of the Basij, according to workers at Tehran's RasoulAkram Hospital, where a video posted on YouTube showed hundreds ofdoctors and nurses protesting the election results Tuesday.

The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance issued the ban onforeign news coverage of rallies in Tehran, revoked the credentials ofthose with temporary visas and ordered them to leave the country as soonas possible. Cell phone service was cut in the city.

The ministry also prohibited news agencies and foreign broadcastersfrom distributing video and pictures - a move that could precede a moreviolent government crackdown. However, details of the Ahmadinejad andMousavi rallies reached the outside world via Twitter, YouTube and otherWeb networks.

Video that demonstrators shot on cell phones showed comradescarrying away a severely injured man in Vanak Square, the site ofnightly clashes. Another video clip showed large fires in the trafficcircle around the square.

Press TV said tens of thousands of people waving Iranian flags,carrying portraits of Ahmadinejad and Khamenei and chanting "We are ofthe same nation" attended the pro-Ahmadinejad "unity rally" at Vali-AsrSquare.

It quoted rally organizers as endorsing the Guardian Council'sreview and urging security forces and judicial authorities to take"decisive action" against "efforts to break the law, fuel chaos andspark hooliganism."

The statement also called for the arrest and punishment of the "mainperpetrators of the recent plots," and accused the U.S., Britain andIsrael of "plotting against the government and giving media support toenemy groups, rioters and social and political hooligans who are tryingto fuel chaos in the Islamic Republic."

Press TV reported that a number of reformist politicians had beenarrested, including former Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi, andaccused of "orchestrating" post-election violence.

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