TEHRAN, July 6 -- Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, appearing in public for the first time in nearly three weeks, vowed Monday that protests against the disputed reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad "will not end" and predicted that the new government would face problems in the future because it lacks legitimacy.
But the former presidential candidate, who maintains he was denied victory in the June 12 election by massive vote-rigging on behalf of Ahmadinejad, stopped short of calling for new street demonstrations, which the government has declared illegal and largely crushed with a massive crackdown by security forces. Instead, Mousavi indicated that the opposition movement would take a new tack, moving toward political action and protest "within the framework of the law."
Mousavi made the remarks at a religious gathering as Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a new warning to Western nations that he said have "openly intervened" in Iran's internal affairs by criticizing the crackdown.
At the same time, however, Khamenei appeared to draw a line against denunciations of Mousavi, who has faced calls for his arrest from hard-line Ahmadinejad allies because of his refusal to accept the officially proclaimed election results. In a speech broadcast on state radio, Khamenei stressed the importance of unity.
"Friends should not be treated like enemies for the sake of a mistake," the supreme leader said.
But top commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps were less conciliatory. "Today, no one is impartial," Gen. Yadollah Javani said at a conference, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. "There are two currents: those who defend and support the revolution and the establishment, and those who are trying to topple it."
Mousavi spoke Monday at an art gallery of the Iranian Academy of the Arts, which he heads, on the occasion of a holiday commemorating Imam Ali, the most important saint in Shiite Islam, Iran's dominant religion. Surrounded by colorful impressionistic paintings, he addressed about 200 guests as his assistants handed out sweets and tea, according to a local journalist who was present.
"Though it might seem that the protests have become quieter, they will not end," Mousavi said. "This protest will continue." He said the Ahmadinejad government would face unspecified problems in the future.
"The legitimacy of this government is questionable because people don't trust it," Mousavi said. "This makes the government weak inside even if it keeps up appearances."
According to the pro-Mousavi Web site Parsine, the former candidate also said the election exposed "flaws in the system" and ended up weakening the government despite its show of force in putting down the demonstrations.
"When a government doesn't take shape within the framework of the law, it has no legitimacy in the eyes of the people," he was quoted as saying. "This weakens the government and encourages the government to resort to violence against the people."
The fact that "protests subsided or were silenced" does not resolve the issue, Mousavi said. "We need to make efforts to show our protest . . . within the framework of the law," Parsine quoted him as saying.
Commenting on government attempts to control the flow of information in Iran, Mousavi urged people to continue to spread news, local journalist Hossein Hormozi reported.
"In recent weeks, all communications methods have been cut . . . but the people are helping and informing each other very well," Mousavi said.
SMS text-messaging service, which resumed Wednesday after having been inactive since the election, was again switched off by authorities on Monday without explanation.
In a speech marking Monday's holiday, Khamenei urged all sides to show unity and asked Iranians to distinguish enemies from friends. Mousavi and Khamenei were respectively prime minister and president in the 1980s when Iran fought a protracted war with neighboring Iraq. They are also related and trace their roots to the same part of Azerbaijan, a Turkish-speaking Iranian province.
On Saturday, Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of Iran's most influential state newspaper, Kayhan, called for Mousavi to be put on trial. He called the former prime minister a foreign agent and said a political organization affiliated to him was "a fifth column" working for Iran's enemies.
Khamenei has warned Mousavi to accept defeat or face legal consequences, but he has indicated that the candidate would not be severely punished if he would stop calling for an annulment of the vote. The supreme leader also cautioned authorities not to brand all protesters as "rioters," as some have done.
"Those whose candidates did not have enough votes in the election were naturally somewhat upset," he said. "But they were not rioters."
In a conference on Sunday, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, the top commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, said his elite military organization had "taken the initiative" to quell the street protests in Tehran, IRNA reported. The remarks illustrated the growing importance of the 120,000-strong force, which Jafari said would remain highly influential in the future.
"We are convinced that the IRGC must play a deciding role in the preservation and continuation of the revolution," he said.
While denying that the Revolutionary Guard played a role in politics, Jafari said its members' actions on the streets caused "a revival of the revolution and clarification of the value positions of the establishment at home and abroad."
He indicated that a new phase of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution has started.
"All of us must fully comprehend its dimensions," Jafari said.
But the former presidential candidate, who maintains he was denied victory in the June 12 election by massive vote-rigging on behalf of Ahmadinejad, stopped short of calling for new street demonstrations, which the government has declared illegal and largely crushed with a massive crackdown by security forces. Instead, Mousavi indicated that the opposition movement would take a new tack, moving toward political action and protest "within the framework of the law."
Mousavi made the remarks at a religious gathering as Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a new warning to Western nations that he said have "openly intervened" in Iran's internal affairs by criticizing the crackdown.
At the same time, however, Khamenei appeared to draw a line against denunciations of Mousavi, who has faced calls for his arrest from hard-line Ahmadinejad allies because of his refusal to accept the officially proclaimed election results. In a speech broadcast on state radio, Khamenei stressed the importance of unity.
"Friends should not be treated like enemies for the sake of a mistake," the supreme leader said.
But top commanders of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps were less conciliatory. "Today, no one is impartial," Gen. Yadollah Javani said at a conference, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency. "There are two currents: those who defend and support the revolution and the establishment, and those who are trying to topple it."
Mousavi spoke Monday at an art gallery of the Iranian Academy of the Arts, which he heads, on the occasion of a holiday commemorating Imam Ali, the most important saint in Shiite Islam, Iran's dominant religion. Surrounded by colorful impressionistic paintings, he addressed about 200 guests as his assistants handed out sweets and tea, according to a local journalist who was present.
"Though it might seem that the protests have become quieter, they will not end," Mousavi said. "This protest will continue." He said the Ahmadinejad government would face unspecified problems in the future.
"The legitimacy of this government is questionable because people don't trust it," Mousavi said. "This makes the government weak inside even if it keeps up appearances."
According to the pro-Mousavi Web site Parsine, the former candidate also said the election exposed "flaws in the system" and ended up weakening the government despite its show of force in putting down the demonstrations.
"When a government doesn't take shape within the framework of the law, it has no legitimacy in the eyes of the people," he was quoted as saying. "This weakens the government and encourages the government to resort to violence against the people."
The fact that "protests subsided or were silenced" does not resolve the issue, Mousavi said. "We need to make efforts to show our protest . . . within the framework of the law," Parsine quoted him as saying.
Commenting on government attempts to control the flow of information in Iran, Mousavi urged people to continue to spread news, local journalist Hossein Hormozi reported.
"In recent weeks, all communications methods have been cut . . . but the people are helping and informing each other very well," Mousavi said.
SMS text-messaging service, which resumed Wednesday after having been inactive since the election, was again switched off by authorities on Monday without explanation.
In a speech marking Monday's holiday, Khamenei urged all sides to show unity and asked Iranians to distinguish enemies from friends. Mousavi and Khamenei were respectively prime minister and president in the 1980s when Iran fought a protracted war with neighboring Iraq. They are also related and trace their roots to the same part of Azerbaijan, a Turkish-speaking Iranian province.
On Saturday, Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of Iran's most influential state newspaper, Kayhan, called for Mousavi to be put on trial. He called the former prime minister a foreign agent and said a political organization affiliated to him was "a fifth column" working for Iran's enemies.
Khamenei has warned Mousavi to accept defeat or face legal consequences, but he has indicated that the candidate would not be severely punished if he would stop calling for an annulment of the vote. The supreme leader also cautioned authorities not to brand all protesters as "rioters," as some have done.
"Those whose candidates did not have enough votes in the election were naturally somewhat upset," he said. "But they were not rioters."
In a conference on Sunday, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, the top commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, said his elite military organization had "taken the initiative" to quell the street protests in Tehran, IRNA reported. The remarks illustrated the growing importance of the 120,000-strong force, which Jafari said would remain highly influential in the future.
"We are convinced that the IRGC must play a deciding role in the preservation and continuation of the revolution," he said.
While denying that the Revolutionary Guard played a role in politics, Jafari said its members' actions on the streets caused "a revival of the revolution and clarification of the value positions of the establishment at home and abroad."
He indicated that a new phase of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution has started.
"All of us must fully comprehend its dimensions," Jafari said.
