Islamic revolution 'failed' to root out tyranny, says Mousavi

AFP - Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi said Tuesday the 1979 Islamic revolution had failed to achieve its goals as the "roots of tyranny and dictatorship" that marked the shah's era still exist.

The ex-premier, once rated as a key pillar of the Islamic revolution, added in a strongly worded interview posted on his website Kaleme.org that present day Iran showed the "attitude of a historic tyrant regime everywhere."

"Dictatorship in the name of religion is the worst kind. The most evident manifestation of a continued tyrannical attitude is the abuse of parliament and judiciary. We have completely lost hope in the judiciary," he said.

Mousavi added that he no longer believed, as he once did, "that the (1979 Islamic) revolution had removed all those structures which could lead to totalitarianism and dictatorship."

"Stifling the media, filling the prisons and brutally killing people who peacefully demand their rights in the streets indicate the roots of tyranny and dictatorship remain from the monarchist era... I don't believe that the revolution achieved its goals," said Mousavi in his strongest published opinion yet on the revolution.

The former prime minister, who has spearheaded the anti-government protests since the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last June, made the remarks as Iran marks the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

Celebrations marking the 1979 return from exile of hardline cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini began on Monday and will climax on February 11, the anniversary of the fall of shah who had ruled Iran for nearly four decades.

The violent protests against Ahmadinejad have triggered one of the worst crises since the foundation of the Islamic republic, rocked the pillars of the regime and divided the nation's clergy.

Dozens of people have been killed in the protests, hundreds wounded and several others put on trial by authorities for plotting to overthrow the government.

A judicial official said on Tuesday that the authorities would "soon execute" another nine people arrested during anti-government protests for seeking to topple the Islamic regime. Iran executed two people on Thursday on similar charges.

Mousavi as prime minister steered the nation's economy during the brutal conflict between Iran and Iraq in the 80s under the leadership of revolutionary leader Khomeini.

"Another example is the similarity between elections (now) and the ones in past," he said in the interview, just days after implicitly calling his supporters to demonstrate yet again on February 11 when traditionally Iranians march across the country to celebrate the revolution.

He also called on Iran's volunteer Basij militia and the police who have been used by authorities to crack down on protesters, to be "nice to people."

He went on to urge his supporters to "reduce their differences with other people", adding that his opposition movement, known as the "green movement", has "risen from the people and it belongs to the people."