But along with Mousavi's e-mail, Karroubi, former President Mohammad Khatami and a leading opposition party also issued statements Wednesday sharply criticizing the government.
The reformists' forceful, multifaceted response to the Guardian Council's confirmation Monday of the election results and to the president's attempt to consolidate his victory served as a striking counter-narrative to the official depiction of the recent unrest. The government says the protests are the work of foreign agents using the news media to sow discord among Iranians and foment a popular uprising, or "velvet revolution," against the Islamic Republic.
"Given what has been done and declared unilaterally, we must say that a velvet revolution has taken place against the people and the democratic roots of the system," Khatami wrote.
The strident missives also suggested a shift in tactics by reformists: Now that it appears Ahmadinejad is on his way to being sworn in for another term, they are trying to tarnish the government's reputation and credibility, weakening its ability to govern, and to sabotage its agenda of funneling oil money into economically questionable populist giveaways, tightening social restrictions and heightening its confrontation with the West.
"This is a government that is not law-abiding, is not transparent and makes bad decisions that are destroying our society," Mousavi wrote, calling for an end to "militaristic" suppression, a change in election laws and a restoration of civil liberties.
Observers said the reformist camp appeared to be trying to gather momentum for a national strike or more protests in defiance of Khamenei, who the opposition says disregarded tradition and made himself fair game for criticism by openly siding with Ahmadinejad.
"The supreme leader has confronted the emerging opposition and has lost his fatherly role for the nation," said an analyst in Tehran who requested anonymity.
The letter by the Islamic Participation Front, Iran's main reformist political alliance, called Ahmadinejad and his supporters "conductors of a coup" against the Islamic Republic. "What these military coup-makers have done is what they have been planning since last year, and all of these actions have badly damaged the face of the governing system in Iran domestically and internationally," it said.
Karroubi's missive, published online, decried the "reactionary fanaticism" of Ahmadinejad's circle and urged "resistance against dictatorship, repression and reactionary and Taliban" Islam.
The government has managed to quell the public protests using batons and tear gas, but the continued criticism against a sitting president and open defiance of the supreme leader herald something new.
"The movement has been repressed, but the discontent is so deep and widespread that it will continue," Khosrokhavar said. "Major parts of the Iranian electorate don't believe in the legitimacy of the election."
--
daragahi@latimes.com
Mostaghim is a special correspondent.
