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.



Macron Says Ready to Discuss Nuclear Deterrence for Europe

France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during the closing session of the Franco-Portuguese Business Forum in Porto, on the second day of a state visit to Portugal, on February 28, 2025. (Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during the closing session of the Franco-Portuguese Business Forum in Porto, on the second day of a state visit to Portugal, on February 28, 2025. (Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP)
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Macron Says Ready to Discuss Nuclear Deterrence for Europe

France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during the closing session of the Franco-Portuguese Business Forum in Porto, on the second day of a state visit to Portugal, on February 28, 2025. (Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP)
France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during the closing session of the Franco-Portuguese Business Forum in Porto, on the second day of a state visit to Portugal, on February 28, 2025. (Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA / AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron has said he is ready to start discussions on nuclear deterrence for Europe, hinting France could help to protect other EU countries, given the security threats posed by Russia.
European leaders will meet in London on Sunday to discuss a peace plan for Ukraine and they will attend a European Union summit on Thursday.
The bloc is grappling with US President Donald Trump's willingness to embrace Russian diplomacy and the implications of an extraordinary clash between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Trump at the White House on Friday.
Macron told Portuguese TV RTP in an interview he posted on X on Saturday that if Europe wanted to move towards "greater autonomy" in matters of defence and nuclear deterrence, then its leaders should start a discussion about it.
"I am available to open this discussion...if it allows to build a European force," he said. "There has always been a European dimension to France's vital interests within its nuclear doctrine."
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen was swift to react to Macron's comments.
"The French nuclear deterrent must remain a French nuclear deterrent," she said as she visited the Farm Show in Paris on Saturday. "It must not be shared, let alone delegated."
According to Reuters, Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu reiterated Macron's stance that France's vital interests include a “European dimension”, but also that it was under the exclusive control of the French head of state.
"Our nuclear deterrent is French, and it will remain so: from the design and production of our weapons, to their implementation by decision of the President of the Republic," he said on X.
"It protects the vital interests of France, which the head of state alone can define."