Senior Advisor to the Commander of the IRGC: Mousavi is Still Delusional and Will Not Repent

The senior advisor to the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Mohammad-Hossein Safar-Harandi, accused Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the opposition candidate from the 2009 elections, of being "still delusional today and for this reason, he does not repent or apologize." According to Mehr News Agency, Safar-Harandi made these remarks on Sunday night, January 6, during a ceremony commemorating "9 Dey," the anniversary of the gathering of supporters of the Islamic Republic to counter the protests of 2009. He added that Mousavi "wanted to be in the scene at any cost with an ambitious mindset to compensate for the past that was left aside." Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who was the Prime Minister during the eight-year Iran-Iraq War, along with former Parliament Speaker Mehdi Karroubi, has been under house arrest since March 2011 due to protests against the presidential election results and calls for gatherings in support of the "Arab Spring." Safar-Harandi further stated about the events of 2009: "The 2009 sedition was a serious threat to the regime, which was brought to the brink like wrestlers, and the U.S. was waiting as an international referee for the Islamic regime to be crushed because the enemy believed that the Islamic Republic was about to fall." He introduced Mousavi, Karroubi, and former President Mohammad Khatami as "tools of the 2009 sedition" and claimed that "the West wanted the government in Iran to change so that those who did not submit to their impositions would be replaced by those who could implement their plans, thus they approached these individuals and instigated the sedition with the help of internal forces." Safar-Harandi also claimed that these three were not "seasoned mercenaries" but, according to him, "were deluded and ignorant and thought they had become president again." He added: "We must say that these gentlemen were not mercenaries of America but were members of the system, there is no doubt they were allies of the revolution," but he claimed that "the enemy manipulated them and then implemented its plan through these individuals." He alleged that Mousavi was told during the 2009 presidential election that "you do not have good votes in small towns and some counties, and it is better to withdraw so that the people's view of the Prime Minister during Imam's era remains favorable," but Mr. Harandi quoted this candidate as saying, "My name will win votes." Mousavi and Karroubi are under house arrest, with their families repeatedly complaining about their poor physical condition. Despite more than five years passing since the protests against the 2009 election results, which led to the deaths of dozens and the arrest of thousands, hardline conservatives and supporters of the Supreme Leader continue to speak and comment on this event, referring to it as the "2009 sedition." The approaching elections for the Islamic Consultative Assembly and the Assembly of Experts in March this year have also raised concerns among some factions in the Islamic Republic about the victory of critics and reformists in both elections. On January 4, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, Secretary of the Guardian Council, referred to the protests of 2009 in his Friday prayer sermons and criticized those who, according to him, have remained silent about this "sedition." He said: "We should not underestimate the sedition but should continue this issue, and 9 Dey should continue so that wherever sedition is to be instigated, the people must be vigilant and extinguish the sedition like that day." Nejatollah Ebrahimiann, spokesperson for the Guardian Council, also stated on Sunday regarding the approval of candidates for the elections in March: "Any comments or actions regarding the 2009 sedition are the criteria for the Guardian Council, and candidates must have a clear and distinct boundary regarding the sedition." Mohammad-Hossein Najat, cultural deputy of the IRGC, also in an interview with Fars News Agency published on January 6, called on the executive bodies of the elections, which are under the Ministry of Interior, to "disqualify" those who protested the results of the 2009 presidential election or, as he called them, "seditionists and supporters of seditionists." He added: "If the Ministry of Interior does not fulfill its legal duty, the Guardian Council must act."