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Hadi Khamenaei served as a high-profile advisor to president Khatami. |
Hadi Khamenaei, the brother of Iran’s Supreme Leader, supports the former prime minister and presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi in the upcoming election.
Khamenaei is a member of the Reformist group the Association of Combatant Clerics, a former member of parliament, and the managing director of the Hayat-e No newspaper, which was banned temporarily in January 2000 by the Special Court for Clergy based on the allegations of "insulting the revolutionary symbols.” Also, he was a deputy minister in the 1980s, and he served as a high-profile advisor to president Khatami.
In an exclusive interview for IslamOnline.net, Hadi Khamenei spoke about the Reformist movement and the prospects of Mirhossein Mousavi’s ascendance to power.
| Some people are trying to manipulate the Supreme Leader’s statements to acheive their political ambitions. |
Some advocates of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad believe that the spiritual backing Ayatollah Khamenaei offers to the incumbent president indicates the electoral preference of the Supreme Leader. What do you think of such claims?
I believe that those who make such accusations are merely trying to degrade the Supreme Leader’s position. The Leader himself denied supporting a particular candidate during his New Year speech to a large crowd in the holy city of Mashhad. He stated that he would remain neutral and impartial.
However, I believe that some people are trying to manipulate the Supreme Leader’s statements to acheive their political ambitions, and to make him less loved by the public, which is totally unacceptable.
The Supreme Leader has denounced such false claims, making it clear that it is not the responsibility of the Supreme Leader to support a certain presidential hopeful. These are slanderous accusations.
But it seems that the Supreme Leader has been supporting the current government more vehemently than he has ever done with any previous government. Does the Supreme Leader bring to the president’s attention any violation of the law by the government?
As far as I know, yes he does. The Supreme Leader has already made various comments on the current government’s performance, and has even warned against possible violations of the law.
However, it is important to note that the position of the Supreme Leader is dignified; he does not get into all the minute details, but he specifies the general guidelines for the country's long-term plans on the economic, political and cultural levels, and the government is responsible for implementing these plans competently.
And it is the responsibility of the president to examine and address any pitfall from the side of the government or any of its bodies.
| Surveys show that the gap between Mr. Mousavi’s popularity and that of the rest of candidates is widening. |
Do you think that the fact that two Reformist candidates are taking part in the presidential race will result in splitting the Reformist vote?
I don’t think that this is true. The fact that another Reformist candidate is contesting the election would not affect the number of voters who would vote for Mr. Mousavi because those who would vote for him are different from those who would vote for Mr. Karroubi in the upcoming election.
Despite being unreliable, surveys show that the gap between Mr. Mousavi’s popularity and that of the rest of candidates is widening, and I think that with a bit more campaigning, there is a good possibility of Mr. Mousavi winning the first round of the election.
The critics of Mirhossein Mousavi argue that instead of talking about his plans for the future of country, he is merely criticizing the current government, and using a black propaganda against Ahmadinejad. What do you think?
No, this is untrue. Mr. Mousavi has been discussing his electoral program publicly since three months during campaign gatherings and lectures. Also, he has been using brochures, TV footages, online campaigning through his websites.
The CDs, booklets, and pamphlets containing Mr. Mousavi's electoral platform are now accessible everywhere, and they provide voters with the latest news about his campaign. If you assemble all the booklets and brochures released as part of Mr. Mousavi's campaign, you will have a lengthy, massive book that would take you several days to read!
As for his criticism of Mr. Ahmadinejad, you should examine the performance of the IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting) over the past 4 years.
The body controlling all the national TV and Radio channels acted as if it was the voice of a certain group or a certain person. Unrealistic statistics were publicized, the president and his cabinet were praised interminably.
Tricking the Iranian people in such a way has turned our national radio and TV channels into a propaganda too. So, we had to respond to their extremism by criticizing and challenging them. However, I still believe that criticism should be made in a modest, inoffensive tone.
What would you like to tell the Iranian people?
They should put aside their concerns about electoral fraud. Instead, they should supervise the electoral process closely in order not to allow wrongdoers to distort their will.
We believe that there will be lots of obstacles in the way of Mr. Mousavi should he win the election; nevertheless, Mr. Mousavi’s experience in handling Iran’s problems during the eight-year war with Iraq makes us sure that he will be able to successfully administrate the country over the coming few years.
Mr. Mousavi has braced himself for problems and difficulties, so we believe that a bright future is awaiting our country under his presidency.
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