• 25 January 2010
  • Posted By Nayda Lakelieh
  • 7 Comments
  • Events in Iran, Human Rights in Iran, Iran Election 2009

Karroubi ‘recognizes’ Ahmadinejad…

25 January 2010 Posted By Nayda Lakelieh

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports (via www.payvand.com) that opposition leader Mehdi Karrubi recognizes Ahmadinejad as being the head of Iran’s government, although he is quick to maintain that the June presidential election was rigged.

Karrubi’s new found stance could demonstrate a ploy to extract similar concessions from the ruling elite–sort of a quid pro quo.   Hossein Karrubi, the opposition leader’s son, explained to RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that his father still believes the presidential election was tarnished by fraud.

Karrubi, who stood against Ahmadinejad in the disputed June vote, was asked by the semiofficial Fars news agency whether he recognized “the lawful and elected president of the Iranian people.”

He was quoted by Fars as responding, “I still maintain that there were problems, but with regard to your question, I should say that I recognize the president.”

…

A opposition source adds that security fears told RFE/RL that Karrubi’s comments did not represent a shift in his previous stance.

“He didn’t say he recognizes Ahmadinejad as the elected president, he said he recognizes him as the head of the government. There is a government in the country and its head is Ahmadinejad,” the opposition source said in a telephone interview from the Iranian capital.

Many are anticipating more protests next month following the commemoration of the 1979 Islamic Revolution; perhaps Karrubi’s seemingly calculated stance is a consequence of the Revolution’s impending 30th anniversary.


Posted By Nayda Lakelieh

    7 Responses to “Karroubi ‘recognizes’ Ahmadinejad…”

  1. AK says:
    January 25, 2010 at 3:38 pm

    The 30th anniversary of the Revolution was last year. This year will be the 31st.

    Reply
  2. Pirouz says:
    January 25, 2010 at 3:58 pm

    Karroubi sure could have saved a number of families from heartache (both protester and police) had he adopted this appropriate stance back in June 2009 rather than January 2010.

    And all the others rushing to try and “clarify” the clerics remarks merely represents a sort of damage control to their own, personal agendas.

    Really, Karroubi is bowing to the inevitable. Mousavi implied the same, by his last statement. The pro-establishment camp holds all the cards.

    Iran faces many challenges. It’s time to move on. Good to see Karroubi has finally conceded the fact that the interests of the nation come first.

    Reply
  3. Guest says:
    January 25, 2010 at 5:43 pm

    http://www.rahesabz.net/story/8710/

    “My word is the same word as that of the nation. Where is my vote?” Mehdi Karroubi

    Reply
  4. Publicola says:
    January 25, 2010 at 6:32 pm

    As a non-Iranian and non-English-speaking (non-native-speaker) European my impression is that in contrast to semi-official statements made in Europe,
    in Iran – due to the decade-long restrictions of the liberty of opinion and the press (a restrictions of various gradual gradations) each individual and single word of an official and in particular of an semi-official statement is to be submitted to a most painstaking analysis regarding the range of the semantic width of each expression and the various possible connotations of each word. A possible example of the complex meaning of lexical and syntactic units under conditions of a reduced liberty of opinion and liberty of the press is obviously presented by the website “enduringamerica”, whose interpretation of events is in brief (the headline):
    »Karroubi has taken a stand against the “president” and the supreme leader«

    Reply
  5. Iranian-American says:
    January 25, 2010 at 8:01 pm

    I saw this article. It’s funny to see Pirouz’s take on this.

    Of course Karroubi recognizes Ahmadinejad as the president. This is not anything new. The fact is Ahmadinejad is the president of a government which many (perhaps most) people in Iran oppose. If he wasn’t the president, then, by definition, there would not be an opposition. Karroubi maintains that Ahmadinejad is not the elected leader.

    Calling it “damage control” is laughable. As someone who opposes Ahmadinejad, if someone where to ask me who is the president of Iran, I would say Ahmadinejad, obviously.

    To blame Karroubi for the murder of innocents by the government is like blaming Martin Luther King Jr. for the murder of civil rights activists during the civil rights movement by the KKK and “law enforcement”. Many white people did in fact blame MLK. Some, I would say even most, were indeed racists, even though many did not admit it. Others were just more interested in maintaining an unjust peace rather than taking the necessary actions for justice and equality. In this analogy I would guess Pirouz is the racist who is not admitting to being a racist. But then again, only he knows that. This is the conclusion I have come to based on reading his comments.

    Pirouz, if it makes you feel better that “Karroubi has finally conceded”, I guess I am conceding too. Ahmadinejad is the president of Iran . And that is exactly the problem.

    Reply
  6. AK says:
    January 26, 2010 at 12:23 pm

    predictable apologist troll is predictable.

    Reply
  7. Iranian-American says:
    January 26, 2010 at 1:26 pm

    http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2010/01/iran-much-ado-about-nothing-in-kerfuffle-over-karroubi-remarks.html

    Reply

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