The Green Movement is calling for the people of Iran to support Green leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi by chanting “God is great” from the rooftops every night at ten o’clock. Mousavi and Karroubi believe that they will be arrested when President Ahmadinejad returns from New York later this week.
Karroubi and Mousavi have worried about this before, but there is some evidence they may be right this time. The chief prosecutor has promised to arrest and prosecute them. Their offices and home have been ransacked and even set on fire; Karroubi’s son has said his father was convinced that regime thugs were seriously trying to kill him, and Karroubi responded with a letter to former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Experts’ Council (that has the power to remove the supreme leader for cause), pointing out the many failures of Supreme Leader Khamenei and the unconstitutional powers amassed by the Revolutionary Guards. Meanwhile, all telephone lines to Karroubi’s house have been cut, and would-visitors, even national heroes, have been arrested and interrogated.
This does seem portentious, and the Green leaders have issued a warning. “should the Iranian regime be foolish enough to in any form or shape imprison the Movement’s leaders, the repercussions will indeed [be] “bitter” and painful for Iran’s un-Islamic rulers.” And the chants in support of Mousavi and Karroubi were certainly impressive.
Meanwhile, there was an explosion on a military base in Mahabad. The Intelligence Minister announced that the guilty parties have been identified and that he hopes they will soon be brought to justice. This comes after earlier announcements that identified the guilty as Kurds, then Israelis, then Americans.
Somebody on Twitter pointed out that the base had been under tight military control for several days before the explosion, preparing for the celebrations of the end of the Iran-Iraq War. So the regime would do well to look within its own ranks when such events take place. I think the supreme leader knows this, and fears the size and commitment of the opposition.
Which is why, if Mousavi and Karroubi are indeed arrested in a few days, it will be yet another sign of the desperation of the regime. Stay tuned.
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