Iran Opposition Seeks Fatwa Against Ahmadinejad
A spokesman for Iranian presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi says his camp will keep pushing to change the results of Friday's election that gave incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad a landslide win.
"We are going to stay in the streets and ask the mullahs to give fatwas that Ahmedinejad is not our president. We are going to ask the Leader, through the will of the people, to change his mind," said Mostafa Makhmalbaf, who is speaking to the foreign press on Mousavi's behalf from his home in Paris.
"I don't think we can do a total Revolution in Iran but we can make some change," he told ABC News, describing what would be an unprecedented reversal for the Islamic Republic.
Mousavi's campaign claims the announced outcome, which gave Ahmedinejad 63 percent of the vote, was fraudulent.
Ahmedinejad and state election officials, some of them his appointees, have said the election was fair and accurate, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei confirmed Ahmedinejad's landslide win on Saturday morning. "The most magnificent contemporary election took place on Friday in Iran ... to us this [complaint] lacks any legal base, and to our nation as well it is without any legal value," Ahmedinejad said today at a victory press conference. International observers have pointed to irregularities; the Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, noted a handful of concerns including a lack of data made available to support the overall count.
Makhmalbaf said the campaign urged governments around the world not to accept Ahmedinejad's election as president.
"He is a coup d'etat man," said Makhmalbaf, referring to the election results as "a state of fascism."
Mousavi has called for the results to be dismissed and a new vote taken. His camp has planned a rally for Monday, marching from Tehran's Engelab to Azadi Squares. Mousavi himself and former President Mohamed Khatami, his political backer, plan to attend the event.
Over the weekend, protests were met with a harsh response from riot police, who attacked demonstrators with batons and tear gas.
"People are like fire nowadays. Whatever Ahmedinejad does it will be worse. Saturday morning the city was in shock. Now in the coming days you'll see a change," Makhmalbaf said.
Makhmalbaf clarified rumors that Mousavi was under house arrest, saying there was no official detention but that police were keeping watch on his home, exerting enough pressure to keep him indoors.