Larijani says time ripe for righting wrongs

Amid a political turmoil in Iran following the disputed presidential election in June, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani says it is time for all sides at fault to correct their mistakes.

“Politicians should think and judge whether all their actions have been correct. Why shouldn’t they just apologize for their mistakes?” said Larijani on Monday.

“They hatched plots and used their media to destroy the national achievement made after the mass participation of the Iranian nation in the June 12 election,” he added.

Larijani also accused some officials and politicians, without naming anyone, of making “efforts to prevent the strengthening of unity.”

“We are duty-bound to prepare the grounds for establishing peace in the country to settle the problems of the nation,” he noted.

He ordered all officials and political parties to follow the guidelines of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to “lead the country’s affairs on to a peaceful path.”

Following the presidential vote, Iran witnessed an outpouring of anger by supporters of defeated presidential candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, who took to the streets to protest the official vote result, which saw the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a massive margin.

Mousavi and Karroubi claimed “fraud” in the poll and asked for its annulment. The electoral body, however, disputed all allegations and verified the results.

The opposition demonstrations provoked a government crackdown, in which at least 30 people were killed. Officials blamed foreign agents for the unrest and accused opposition figures of plotting to topple the establishment in a “velvet coup.”