Babak Namdar

Mousavi has written one, so has Karroubi — and no we are not talking about execution orders.  It seems every current and former Islamic Republic regime official is preoccupied with how to absolve themselves of crimes they’ve committed while jockeying for power and position.

Even former regime officials living in exile are jumping on, expanding on their reformist colleagues list of demands.

The demands the reformists are making are not particularly breath-taking nor revolutionary, however they do shed light on their line of thinking.

Mousavi’s “top 5” starts by demanding that the administration be responsible for the problems it created for the country.  Mousavi has been previously asked about his role in the execution of over 30,000 prisoners in the summer of 1988, to which he has replied that he was not aware that these executions were taking place.  So in short, Mousavi wants Ahmadinejad’s administration to be responsible for its actions, but conveniently excludes himself.

Additionally, Mousavi also demands free and fair elections to “restore the people’s trust”, as if there were free and fair elections prior to the 2009 [s]election.  This notion that you can swear allegiance to the Islamic Republic and its constitution, while at the same time demanding free and fair elections just sounds for lack of a better word – retarded.

Not to be outdone, Karroubi released his own “top 5” list, with the most interesting demand being that “Oppressors, those who committed crimes in the aftermath of the election and made people’s lives difficult, should confess to their crimes and ask for forgiveness.”  So according to Karroubi logic, you are only a criminal if if you murdered, raped and tortured after the 2009 [s]election.  Very interesting.  We shouldn’t be surprised however, after all if Karroubi wanted to apply his logic without bias, then he too would have to “ask for forgiveness.”

Karroubi’s “top 5” also includes a point regarding the need to to revert back to the “golden days” of the Islamic Revolution during which Khomenei ruled.  For those that were spared those truly horrific years, suffice to say that it was not exactly “heaven on earth” as many reformists claim. During the “purging years” hundreds of political dissidents were executed on a daily basis – yes “golden days” indeed.

Manifesto-mania even gripped  regime officials, such as the architect of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) Mohsen Sazegara, former Intelligence Ministry officer Akbar Ganji and former Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Ataollah Mohajerani, to write their own manifesto.

The manifesto of the “criminal 5” consists of 10 points instead of 5, but more importantly, one of the demands is the “Persecution of torturers and murderers for recent crimes”.  The consensus emerging from reformists looks something “alright, we all have blood on our hands, so lets not implicate ourselves and focus on crimes committed post 2009 [s]election”.

The “criminal 5” also try to speak on behalf of Iranians demanding “prosecution of those involved in murders and torture of recent months in a public court of law with retribution to the victims and their families.”  Those who have lost loved ones in the hands of Islamic Republic will determine who they will forgive and who they want prosecuted not five murdering criminals living in exile.