Tehran: Iranian opposition leaders have demanded they be given time to speak on state television to back up their allegations that the June election was rigged, a reformist newspaper reported on Monday.
Mir Hossein Mousavi and cleric Mehdi Karroubi met at the weekend and decided they want to go on television to challenge the authorities who say they have no evidence to back claims the poll was fraudulent, the report said.
The reformist Sarmayeh newspaper also quoted Mousavi as saying that Iranian officials were giving "wrong" data to the people about the post-vote unrest which rocked the country.
"Look how many times the number of the killed has been changed? They say that fraud in the election is a lie. Some gathered to say that there was no fraud ... okay, then if you are so sure then why are you afraid of us appearing on television?" Mousavi said during his meeting with Karroubi, the report said.
Mousavi, an ex-prime minister, was the main challenger to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June 12 poll, which returned the hardline President to office for a second term.
Karroubi too voiced similar concerns during the meeting, Sarmayeh said.
"Some talk about the election as if nothing has happened, nothing occurred," the reformist cleric said.
"You think people do not know what has happened to them? Then why these protests? They are saying I had only 300,000 votes and I did not have a single vote in 10,000 ballot boxes, which means I did not have a single supporter," he said.
Bureau Report
