Senior opposition figure recognizes Ahmadinejad as head of Iran’s government

Iran opposition figure recognizes Ahmadinejad

TEHRAN, Iran — In a major shift, a senior opposition figure announced he now recognizes Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the head of Iran’s government while standing by his claims that the election was rigged, the opposition leader’s son said Monday.

Mahdi Karroubi’s new position is a retreat from his statements following the June 12 presidential election, when he insisted Ahmadinejad’s government is illegitimate.

The softening aimed to show that the opposition, while still seeking Ahmadinejad’s removal, is not protesting against Iran’s entire ruling clerical system, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Karroubi’s son, Hossein, told The Associated Press.

The election sparked widespread street demonstrations against Ahmadinejad’s government, but in recent months the movement has appeared to broaden, sharply criticizing the clerical leadership, including Khamenei. That has raised fears of an even sharper crackdown against the movement.

Hossein Karroubi said his father cited Khamenei’s endorsement of the president as the reason to recognize Ahmadinejad.

“I still strongly believe that the election was massively rigged. I stand by my word. But since Mr. Khamenei endorsed Ahmadinejad, I recognize him as the head of the government,” Hossein Karroubi quoted his father as saying.

The elder Karroubi deliberately refrained from using the word ‘president’ in order not to give full legitimacy to Ahmadinejad’s administration.

The position is “an attempt to get out of the present deadlock and avoid bloodshed while continuing to challenge the government,” Hossein Karroubi said.

He said his father believes Ahmadinejad’s government was on the verge of collapse and he wants to limit his fight against Ahmadinejad, not the entire ruling system.

“Nothing can change the fact that Ahmadinejad’s re-election was fraudulent … my father hopes that his new statement will expedite the fall of Ahmadinejad’s government but the ruling system will remain,” he said.

Earlier Monday, the semi-official Fars news agency had quoted Mahdi Karroubi as saying that he “recognized Ahmadinejad as Iran’s president elected by the Iranian people.”

But Hossein Karroubi denied the Fars report, saying his father never made such statement.

Iran’s top opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has refused to explicitly recognize Ahmadinejad’s government and Karroubi’s statement is the first time that a senior opposition figure is doing so.

The opposition says at least 80 protesters have been killed in clashes with security forces while Iranian officials have said about 40 people died in the postelection turmoil — Iran’s worst unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In late December, protests gained momentum again and clashes between security forces and opposition supporters killed at least eight people — the worst violence since the height of the unrest in the summer.