Mir Hossein Mousavi’s Statement is a Step Forward in the Transition from the Islamic Republic

Collective Statement of Secular-Democratic Republican Organizations and Parties

In a statement entitled “To Save Iran”, Mir Hossein Mousavi has distanced himself from his positions 13 years ago and announced: “Implementation of the Constitution without compromise”, as a slogan that was hoped for thirteen years ago, is no longer effective and we must take a step further. After enumerating numerous crises, he emphasized: “The crisis of crises is the contradictory and unsustainable structure of the country’s constitutional system. This irresponsible power makes the times dark for us and blocks the way to the well-being of the suffering people”. He proposed the necessity of fundamental transformation and linked it with the revolutionary movement and said: “Iran and Iranians are in need and ready for a fundamental transformation, the main lines of which are drawn by the pure movement of “women, life, freedom”. These three words are the bright seeds of the future. A future without oppression, poverty, humiliation and discrimination”.

In this statement, Mousavi has proposed a three-step approach to save the country from the ruling system: holding a referendum on the necessity of changing or drafting a new constitution, forming a Constituent Assembly through free and fair elections, and a referendum on the text approved by the Constituent Assembly in order to establish a system based on the rule of law and in accordance with the standards of human rights and arising from the will of the people. Mousavi is aware that “his proposals may have some ambiguities, and solving the ambiguities requires reflection and cooperation.”

With this statement, Mousavi has taken a big step forward and has joined the movement of women, life, freedom and opposition forces, who see the salvation of the country in the transition from the Islamic Republic. Due to his influence among the supporters of the Green Movement, the regime body, the military forces, and the spectrum of reformers, Mousavi can strengthen the discourse of the transition from the Islamic Republic to democracy among them and become a focal point for them to gather. This will lead to the strengthening of the revolutionary movement.

In Mousavi’s three-stage approach, in the first stage of holding a referendum, the necessity of changing or drafting a new constitution has been raised. The main demand of the Women, Life, Freedom movement, which has received unprecedented support from social groups inside the country, Iranians abroad, and international solidarity, is the overthrow of the Islamic Republic. In other words, the movement has responded positively to the need to change the constitution. What is in question is to hold free elections to form the Constituent Assembly and draft the constitution and put it to the vote after the release of political prisoners and ensuring political and social freedoms. In the statement, it is emphasized on the establishment of a system based on the rule of law and in accordance with the standards of human rights and arising from the will of the people. But the separation of religion and state, which is an inseparable part of the movement of women, life, freedom, and adherence to the Universal Charter of Human Rights, which is a necessary and urgent matter today, has remained silent.

We, the signatories of this declaration, who are trying to form the weight of the republican forces that believe in replacing the Islamic regime with a secular-democratic republic, consider Mousavi’s statement a positive step in strengthening the revolutionary movement and supporting the democratic forces inside and outside the country to transition from the Islamic Republic and save the country from the destructive regime of the Islamic Republic.

Executive-Political Boards of:

United Republicans of Iran

The Left Party of Iran (People’s Fadaian)

Iran National Front – Europe

Iranian National Front Organizations – Abroad

Solidarity of Republicans of Iran

February 11, 2023

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