Karroubi condemns Iran's Assembly of Experts inaction

Mehdi Karroubi

Mehdi Karroubi, disputing candidate of the elections, in a letter to Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani criticized him and the members of the Assembly of Experts for their inaction in the sixth session of the assembly which took place last Tuesday and Wednesday.

According to Mr. Karroubi, “The assembly merely hid its head in the snow.”

The Assembly of Experts, which according to Iran’s constitution is in charge of evaluating the Supreme Leader, had been urged by many reformist clerics to question the role of the Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, in the post-election violence of the government. Instead the assembly summarily concluded its meeting praising Ayatollah Khamenei’s every action in the aftermath of the elections while the expert members reaffirmed their complete allegiance to him.

Mr. Karroubi claimed that by not delving into the relevant matters, the Assembly of Experts rendered itself impotent.

Karroubi condemned the choice of the word “riot” for the recent crisis that has gripped the nation, especially reproaching the chairman of the assembly Ayatollah Rafsanjani for permitting this language. Ayatollah Rafsanjani was the target of further criticism by Mr. Karroubi for “failing to address the country’s situation,” and failing to review the actions of the government bodies that the Assembly of Experts has to oversee.

In the meantime, Mr. Karroubi praised Ayatollah Dastgheib, the only member of the assembly that has dared to address the demands of the protesters, and the opposition leader condemned the assembly’s threat of dismissing Ayatollah Dastgheib for his comments.