Iran in Hands of 'Anti-Religion Hooligans', Says Opposition

Iran's main opposition leaders charged on Tuesday that the Islamic republic was being run by "anti-religion ... hooligans," in a statement on the eve of its 32nd anniversary.

The bitter criticism from Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, once seen as pillars of the Islamic establishment, came three days before the anniversary of the February 11, 1979 Islamic revolution which toppled the U.S.-backed shah.

"Today, the regime is hiding behind this concern that if it does not exist, religion will vanish and, by repeatedly voicing alarms, it tries to rally and organize the religious strata behind itself," the opposition leaders said.

"But in reality what has hurt the religious atmosphere of society the most is the anti-religion and oppressive behavior of the regime itself," they said in the joint statement on their websites, Kaleme.com and Sahamnews.org.

Former premier Mousavi and two-time parliament speaker Karroubi turned bitter critics of the regime after the June 2009 presidential election, which they both contested but lost to the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The two leaders refuse to acknowledge Ahmadinejad's re-election, which they insist was the result of massive vote-rigging.

"Today the political situation in the country is nothing short of the danger of reproducing monarchism except for hereditary rule," they said in their statement.

But "a new discourse has been born ... which rejects violence and seeks change peacefully. A discourse which seeks to put an end to the rule of hooligans and instill meritocracy," they said of the opposition.

Their immediate post-election opposition triggered mass protests in what turned into one of the worst crises faced by the Islamic republic in its now 32-year history.

Anti-Ahmadinejad demonstrations and clashes with security forces on the streets of Tehran and other cities after the election rocked the pillars of the regime and divided its clerical elite.

Dozens of people were killed, scores wounded and thousands arrested by the authorities. Two detainees were hanged last month and others have been sentenced to long prison terms.

Mousavi and Karroubi have also said they want to hold a rally on February 14 in support of the Arab uprisings, in what observers say could be a ploy to assemble their supporters in opposition to Ahmadinejad's government.

The opposition supporters known as the Green Movement have stayed off the streets since last year's revolution anniversary on February 11 amid a heavy crackdown by security forces.

"What happened to the election results and the aftermath of the pseudo-coup of the authoritarians undermined the nation's right to determine its fate," Mousavi and Karroubi said on Tuesday.

Iran's all-powerful supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who openly sided with Ahmadinejad after the vote, has repeatedly lashed out at the Green Movement as "sedition," backed and masterminded by Western powers.