Britannia Radio

Special Dispatch|3244|September 19, 2010 Iran Iranian Opposition Leader Mehdi Karroubi: '[We] Did Not Expect Anything Like This When We Decided to Run for Elections' Following are excerpts from an interview with Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on September 12, 2010: To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2609.htm. Mehdi Karroubi: "I was convinced that we would witness harsh incidents during the elections, but I did not expect them to be of this scale. My impression was based on the conduct of the authorities in past elections. Therefore, I told [Mir-Hossein] Moussavi that the situation was dire, and I asked him: Are you prepared to confront them? "There is a crisis at present, and the situation is difficult, as never before. There is no doubt about this. In the past 30 years, we have witnessed difficult developments, but it has never been as bad as this. But Mr. Moussavi and I, and even Mohsen Rezai, did not expect anything like this when we decided to run for elections. [...] "There is no justification for what we see or for the authorities' behavior, which is characterized by recklessness and by clashes with the others. This regime believes that its rule depends upon generating crises. In domestic issues as well, the regime takes steps to aggravate matters. The Iranian people suffer from many economic and other issues. The regime causes many problems in the universities and various trade unions, and the clerics have also suffered from many problems. "Matters are now in the hands of the Revolutionary Guards. They are the ones doing these things, as well as part of the Intelligence Ministry. I should stress that I am referring only to elements with these bodies, and not to all the people enlisted in them. The majority is unhappy with the current situation. This regime is illegitimate, because it was not voted into power by the people. They 'engineered' the elections. At first, we did not realize this, but as time passed and the events unfolded, we realized that this was not merely a matter of election forgery, but that this had been premeditated and that they had 'engineered' the votes. [...] "What the current regime is doing is inconceivable and illogical. I do not understand why they are acting this way. They are refraining from implementing laws, and this is strange. The situation became difficult when they rebelled against the law, and abandoned the constitution." […]