Clerical Group Defies Leader on Disputed Iran Election
CAIRO The most important group of religious leaders in Iran has called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate, an act of defiance against the countrys supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the countrys clerical establishment.
The statement by the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum represents a significant, if so far symbolic, setback for the government and especially the authority of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose word is supposed to be final. The government has tried to paint the opposition and its top presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, as criminals and traitors, a strategy that now becomes more difficult if not impossible.
This crack in the clerical establishment and the fact they are siding with the people and Moussavi in my view is the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic, said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. Remember they are going against an election verified and sanctified by Khamenei.
Since the election, the bulk of the clerical establishment in the holy city of Qum, an important religious and political center of power, has remained largely silent, leaving many to wonder when, or if, the nations most senior religious leaders would jump into the events that have posed the most significant challenge to the countrys leadership since the Islamic Revolution. With its statement Saturday, the association of clerics formed under the leadership of the revolutions founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came down squarely on the side of the reform movement.
The association includes reformists, but Iranian political analysts describe it as independent and it did not support any candidate in the recent election.
The clerics decision to speak up is not itself a game changer and could fizzle under pressure from the state. Some seminaries in Qum rely on the government for funds, and the supreme leader and the man he has declared the winner of the election, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have powerful backers there. They also retain the support of the powerful security forces and the elite Revolutionary Guards. In addition, the countrys highest-ranking clerics have yet to speak out individually against the election results.
But the associations statement does give a tactical boost to Mr. Moussavi, former President Mohammad Khatami and the former speaker of Parliament, Mehdi Karroubi, who have been the most vocal in calling the election illegitimate and have been hindered in their attempts to force change by the jailing of so many of their influential backers.
While the government could continue trying to paint the three as traitors, analysts say it would be highly unlikely the leaders would use that same tactic against the clerical establishment in Qum.
The significance is that even within the clergy, there are many who refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the election results as announced by the supreme leader, said an Iranian political analyst who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
The clerics statement called not only for the election results to be thrown out, but also chastised the leadership for failing to adequately study complaints of vote rigging and lashed out at the governments use of force in crushing public protests over the election.
Perhaps more threatening to the supreme leader, the committee called on other clerics to join the fight against the governments refusal to reconsider the charges of voter fraud. The committee invoked powerful imagery, comparing the 20 protesters killed during demonstrations with the martyrs who died in the early days of the revolution and the war with Iraq. In doing so, they effectively cast the government as betraying the ideals of the revolution.
The complaints of other candidates were ignored and peoples protest, which was expressed peacefully, was violently crushed under a complete security circumstances, the statement said.
The statement was posted on the associations Web site late Saturday and carried on numerous other sites, including the Persian BBC, but it was impossible to reach senior clerics in the group to independently confirm its veracity.
The statement was issued following a meeting Mr. Moussavi had with the committee 10 days ago and followed a decision by the Guardian Council, a body loyal to the supreme leader, to certify the election and dismiss as unfounded all charges of voter fraud and rigging. Afterward, the council demanded that all matters concerning the election were closed.
But it has not ended.
With heavy security on the streets, there is a forced calm and return to order. But each day, slowly, another link falls from the chain of government control. This week, in what appeared a coordinated thrust, Mr. Moussavi, Mr. Karroubi and Mr. Khatami all called the new government illegitimate. On Saturday, Mr. Milani of Stanford said, former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani met with families of those arrested, another sign that he was working, quietly, behind the scenes, to keep the issue alive.
I dont every remember in the 20 years of Khameneis rule where he was clearly and categorically on one side and so many clergy were on the other side, Mr. Milani said. This might embolden other clergy to come forward.
The committee of clergy was formed in the 1960s and Mr. Milani said that for many years Ayatollah Khamenei also belonged to the group, and it has since developed some political clout by backing successful candidates for national office.
As the defiance has continued, so have the governments attempts to muzzle its critics.
On Saturday, a radical right wing newspaper close to the leader, Kayhan, called for Mr. Moussavi and Mr. Khatami to be treated as criminals and foreign agents. The article was written by the papers editor, Hossein Shariatmadari, the representative of the supreme leader.
An open court, in front of the peoples eyes, must deal with all the terrible crimes and clear betrayal by the main elements behind the recent unrest, including Moussavi and Khatami, the editorial said.
Iran also showed no signs of backing down from its plan to put on trial an Iranian employee of the British Embassy, a threat which had raised tensions with Europe and the prospect of Irans increased international isolation.
And Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer for a Newsweek reporter, Maziar Bahari, said the journalist had been accused of acting against national security, Agence France-Presse reported.
Michael Slackman reported from Cairo, and Nazila Fathi from Toronto.
CAIRO The most important group of religious leaders in Iran has called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate, an act of defiance against the countrys supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the countrys clerical establishment.
The statement by the Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum represents a significant, if so far symbolic, setback for the government and especially the authority of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose word is supposed to be final. The government has tried to paint the opposition and its top presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, as criminals and traitors, a strategy that now becomes more difficult if not impossible.
This crack in the clerical establishment and the fact they are siding with the people and Moussavi in my view is the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic, said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. Remember they are going against an election verified and sanctified by Khamenei.
Since the election, the bulk of the clerical establishment in the holy city of Qum, an important religious and political center of power, has remained largely silent, leaving many to wonder when, or if, the nations most senior religious leaders would jump into the events that have posed the most significant challenge to the countrys leadership since the Islamic Revolution. With its statement Saturday, the association of clerics formed under the leadership of the revolutions founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came down squarely on the side of the reform movement.
The association includes reformists, but Iranian political analysts describe it as independent and it did not support any candidate in the recent election.
The clerics decision to speak up is not itself a game changer and could fizzle under pressure from the state. Some seminaries in Qum rely on the government for funds, and the supreme leader and the man he has declared the winner of the election, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have powerful backers there. They also retain the support of the powerful security forces and the elite Revolutionary Guards. In addition, the countrys highest-ranking clerics have yet to speak out individually against the election results.
But the associations statement does give a tactical boost to Mr. Moussavi, former President Mohammad Khatami and the former speaker of Parliament, Mehdi Karroubi, who have been the most vocal in calling the election illegitimate and have been hindered in their attempts to force change by the jailing of so many of their influential backers.
While the government could continue trying to paint the three as traitors, analysts say it would be highly unlikely the leaders would use that same tactic against the clerical establishment in Qum.
The significance is that even within the clergy, there are many who refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the election results as announced by the supreme leader, said an Iranian political analyst who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
The clerics statement called not only for the election results to be thrown out, but also chastised the leadership for failing to adequately study complaints of vote rigging and lashed out at the governments use of force in crushing public protests over the election.
Perhaps more threatening to the supreme leader, the committee called on other clerics to join the fight against the governments refusal to reconsider the charges of voter fraud. The committee invoked powerful imagery, comparing the 20 protesters killed during demonstrations with the martyrs who died in the early days of the revolution and the war with Iraq. In doing so, they effectively cast the government as betraying the ideals of the revolution.
The complaints of other candidates were ignored and peoples protest, which was expressed peacefully, was violently crushed under a complete security circumstances, the statement said.
The statement was posted on the associations Web site late Saturday and carried on numerous other sites, including the Persian BBC, but it was impossible to reach senior clerics in the group to independently confirm its veracity.
The statement was issued following a meeting Mr. Moussavi had with the committee 10 days ago and followed a decision by the Guardian Council, a body loyal to the supreme leader, to certify the election and dismiss as unfounded all charges of voter fraud and rigging. Afterward, the council demanded that all matters concerning the election were closed.
But it has not ended.
With heavy security on the streets, there is a forced calm and return to order. But each day, slowly, another link falls from the chain of government control. This week, in what appeared a coordinated thrust, Mr. Moussavi, Mr. Karroubi and Mr. Khatami all called the new government illegitimate. On Saturday, Mr. Milani of Stanford said, former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani met with families of those arrested, another sign that he was working, quietly, behind the scenes, to keep the issue alive.
I dont every remember in the 20 years of Khameneis rule where he was clearly and categorically on one side and so many clergy were on the other side, Mr. Milani said. This might embolden other clergy to come forward.
The committee of clergy was formed in the 1960s and Mr. Milani said that for many years Ayatollah Khamenei also belonged to the group, and it has since developed some political clout by backing successful candidates for national office.
As the defiance has continued, so have the governments attempts to muzzle its critics.
On Saturday, a radical right wing newspaper close to the leader, Kayhan, called for Mr. Moussavi and Mr. Khatami to be treated as criminals and foreign agents. The article was written by the papers editor, Hossein Shariatmadari, the representative of the supreme leader.
An open court, in front of the peoples eyes, must deal with all the terrible crimes and clear betrayal by the main elements behind the recent unrest, including Moussavi and Khatami, the editorial said.
Iran also showed no signs of backing down from its plan to put on trial an Iranian employee of the British Embassy, a threat which had raised tensions with Europe and the prospect of Irans increased international isolation.
And Saleh Nikbakht, the lawyer for a Newsweek reporter, Maziar Bahari, said the journalist had been accused of acting against national security, Agence France-Presse reported.
Michael Slackman reported from Cairo, and Nazila Fathi from Toronto.
