Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami has warned the country’s current leadership against further suppression of the anti-government protests that have continued for almost three months.
“Security should not be used as a pretext to suppress freedom,” the Islamic cleric was quoted as saying by the Shargh newspaper.
Khatami warned that the demands of the protest movement should be taken seriously.
Referring to the protesters’ “beautiful slogan: woman, life, freedom,” he said Iran’s political leaders should reach out to the demonstrators “before it is too late”.
Khatami, who is 79, was president of the Islamic Republic between 1997 and 2005.
The current protests in Iran were triggered by the death of the Iranian Kurdish woman Jina Mahsa Amini in mid-September.
She died in police custody after being arrested for violating Islamic dress codes.
The ex-president has always been seen as a reformer, and is regarded as a thorn in the side of the country’s current political leadership.
According to observers, Khatami could play an important mediating role in the deadlocked political situation.
Nevertheless, many people who have been taking to the streets in the country for weeks also reject the policies of reformist politicians.
A large part of the demonstrators consider reforms impossible and demand a change of power.
Read the article in The Canberra Times (AAP).