Ayatollah Dashtgheib Calls for Iranian Government to Apologize to the People

Ayatollah Ali Mohammad Dashtgheib, a member of the Assembly of Experts, criticized Iran's judiciary and institutions like the Guardian Council and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), demanding an apology from these entities to the people for their treatment of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. His statement was published on the website Kalemeh, a media outlet close to Mousavi, on Tuesday, January 5, where he accused the Guardian Council and judiciary of lacking independence and the IRGC of neglecting the rights of the people. He wrote in part: "The people undoubtedly consider Mr. Engineer Mir Hossein Mousavi one of the beloved, honest, and beneficial figures of this time because they are well aware of his background, faith, politics, and honesty. How can he be removed from the hearts of the believers, the devout, the seekers of truth, and the freedom-seekers? Can they [Mousavi and Karroubi] be removed from hearts with a few slogans from the state-run media and the IRGC, which disregards people's rights and an independent judiciary?" Mousavi and Karroubi, who have been under house arrest since winter 2010, continue to be targets of severe attacks from the ruling hardliners, one of the latest examples being remarks from Mohammad Ali Mohsenzadeh, the representative of the Supreme Leader in one of the IRGC's divisions, who stated that these two are "corrupt on Earth" and deserve the death penalty. Ayatollah Dashtgheib has been a supporter of Mousavi and Karroubi since the protests against the results of the 2009 presidential election and has repeatedly called for the release of Green Movement prisoners and the lifting of house arrest for these two figures. In his statement on Tuesday, he also criticized the government institutions' attacks against Mousavi and Karroubi, addressing these institutions: "You must cease these baseless actions and ask God for forgiveness and apologize to the dear nation of Iran and return to the embrace of the wise and God-seeking people... and learn from history." He further added: "Isn't all the nation's suffering due to the negligence of the Guardian Council and the dependent and non-independent judiciary? Isn't it due to the supervisory oversight? Isn't it due to these unreliable individuals, who, as Imam [Ayatollah Khomeini] said, are members of the Hojjatiyeh Society, who think only of striking at the sacred Islamic Republic? What does this system think? ... With this approach, are the IRGC, judiciary, and Guardian Council among the righteous or the patient? What can the people be comforted by, lies, slander, and insults!" Ayatollah Dashtgheib finally stated that a competent court should be established "to determine who are the servants and who are the traitors." Despite his criticisms of the Iranian government, Ali Mohammad Dashtgheib has registered to run for the fifth term of the Assembly of Experts.