Iran Accuses Mir-Hossein Mousavi of ‘Collaborating’ with People's Mojahedin

The opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi (Reuters)
The opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi (Reuters)
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Iran Accuses Mir-Hossein Mousavi of ‘Collaborating’ with People's Mojahedin

The opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi (Reuters)
The opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi (Reuters)

The Iranian authorities said on Friday that the reformist opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who called for bypassing Iran by drafting a new constitution, is affiliated with the opposition People's Mojahedin Organization, according to Mizan agency.

The news agency, affiliated with the Iranian judiciary, quoted an informed security official who described Mousavi's latest statement as a "direct copy" of the Organization's rhetoric.

He noted "reliable information" that Ardeshir Amir Arjomand has gradually instructed Mousavi to overcome the approach of the late Supreme Leader Khomeini, the system, and the constitution.

Amir Arjomand is a Paris-based political activist who runs the Kalima website and is Mousavi's adviser.

The source noted that the transition could be seen gradually in Mousavi's statements.

Mizan agency accused Mousavi's advisor of direct association with People's Mojahedin through one of his brothers, Bassem, who heads the Organization's representative office in Strasbourg.

Mousavi was prime minister in Iran during the 1980s before the post was abolished. During that time, the country witnessed a campaign of arrests and executions against opposition politicians.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei implicitly criticized those trying to raise issues such as generational differences in Iran, calling on Iranian officials to unite.

Khamenei's reference to generational difference was after the speech of former reformist President Mohammad Khatami last Monday, in which he touched on the difference between the current generation and the generation of the revolution and reform (1997-2005).

Khatami's speech included an implicit response to his ally, Mousavi, who described the structure and unsustainable basic system as a "major crisis" in a country facing many crises.

He urged Mousavi to draft a new constitution that respects all orientations and society segments.

Khatami saw reforms as possible by returning to the current constitution, rejecting calls for the regime's overthrow.

Kayhan newspaper, affiliated with the office of the Supreme Leader, and Javan daily, affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), attacked Khatami and Mousavi because of their statements.

Javan accused the two leaders of pursuing the "carrot and stick" strategy with the regime, while Kayhan doubted the relations of the two men with the revolution and the government.



Iran Urges Trump to Change 'Maximum Pressure' Policy

A large anti-US mural painted on the wall of a building in central Tehran - AFP
A large anti-US mural painted on the wall of a building in central Tehran - AFP
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Iran Urges Trump to Change 'Maximum Pressure' Policy

A large anti-US mural painted on the wall of a building in central Tehran - AFP
A large anti-US mural painted on the wall of a building in central Tehran - AFP

Iran signalled an openness towards Donald Trump Saturday, calling on the president-elect to adopt new policies towards it after Washington accused Tehran of involvement in a plot to kill him.

Vice President for Strategic Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif urged Trump to reassess the policy of "maximum pressure" he employed against Iran during his first term.

"Trump must show that he is not following the wrong policies of the past," Zarif told reporters.

Tehran and Washington severed diplomatic relations shortly after the Iranian revolution in 1979.

Zarif, a veteran diplomat who previously served as foreign minister, helped to seal the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and Western powers, including the United States.

However, the deal was torpedoed in 2018 after the United States unilaterally withdrew from the deal under Trump, who later reimposed sanctions on Tehran.

In response, Iran rolled back its obligations under the deal and has since enriched uranium up to 60 percent, just 30 percent lower than nuclear-grade.

Tehran has repeatedly denied Western accusations that it seeks to develop a nuclear weapon.

Zarif on Saturday that it was Trump's political approach towards Iran that led to the surge in enrichment levels.

"He must have realised that the maximum pressure policy that he initiated caused Iran's enrichment to reach 60 percent from 3.5 percent, and increased its centrifuges," he said.

- 'Wrong approaches' -

"As a man of calculation, he should do the math and see what the advantages and disadvantages of this policy have been and whether he wants to continue or change this harmful policy," Zarif added.

In December 2017 Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and the following year moved the American embassy there.

Trump also recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and later annexed.

During his first term, Trump also ordered the killing of revered Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, who led the Revolutionary Guard Corps foreign operations arm, the Quds Force.

Soleimani was killed in a drone strike while he was in the Iraqi capital Baghdad in January 2020.

Iran has not recognized its arch-nemesis Israel since the US-backed shah was toppled in 1979.

On Thursday, foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said he hoped the president-elect's return to power would allow Washington to "revise the wrong approaches of the past", although he avoided mentioning Trump by name.

On Tuesday, election day in the United States, Trump told reporters he was "not looking to do damage to Iran".

"My terms are very easy. They can't have a nuclear weapon. I'd like them to be a very successful country," he said after casting his ballot.

Iran insists that it uses nuclear technology for safe and civilian purposes.

Trump's election victory came after Iran and Israel attacked each other directly, raising fears of a further regional spillover of the conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.