Ahmadinejad rhetoric endangers Iran, says opposition leader

Aug 28, 2010, 10:48 GMT

Tehran - The rhetoric used by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has endangered the security of Iran, opposition websites Saturday quoted opposition leader Mir-Hossein Moussavi as saying.

'The (president's) adventurous policies in recent years as well as exaggerated and provoking rhetoric have endangered the security in Iran,' Moussavi and leader of the country's Green Movement said in a meeting with war veterans of the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.

Ahmadinejad's remarks such as eradicating Israel from the Middle East map, questioning the Holocaust in the Second World War, or describing UN Security Council resolutions as wasted paper tissues have caused international anger, he said.

Also Ahmadinejad's uncompromising stance in the nuclear dispute and warnings of harsh retaliations in case of military attacks on Iran's nuclear sites have caused fear of a war in the region.

The former Iranian prime minister also blamed Ahmadinejad's intelligence service of accusing the opposition of having obtained one billion dollars by the United States via Saudi Arabia, allegations which Moussavi once again categorically denied.

Moussavi, former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi and the two ex- presidents Mohammad Khatami and Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani currently form the country's opposition quartet.

There were reports last week by opposition websites that the government had banned local media from carrying news, photos and statements by Moussavi, Karroubi and Khatami. However, the reports were not confirmed by official sources.

As Rafsanjani still has an official position as head of the arbitration body of Expediency Council, the moderate cleric is exempted from a probable ban.

Moussavi and Karroubi, who ran against Ahmadinejad in last year's presidential election, accuse the president of election fraud and have not yet acknowledged his re-election.

Scores of demonstrators were killed and thousands arrested in the political unrest after the disputed election, and more than 100 dissidents are reportedly still in prison.

Two members of monarchist groups were hanged in January for conspiring to topple the Islamic establishment and at least 10 people have reportedly been sentenced to death and are currently going through the appeals process.

Since December last year, there have been no major protests and opposition movement leaders have limited their activities to statements carried on their locally banned websites.