From Tehran-based reformist newspaper "Etemad-e-Melli," owned by 2009 presidential candidate Mehdi Karrubi:
"These days, our society is in crisis. Everyone worries about the future of Iran. It is the responsibility of political and social leaders, academics, and the clerics to use their logic and minds to change this ultra-emotional atmosphere.... It is true that society without emotion is a dead society, but…it is necessary to return to logic... However, it is clear that there is no unity.... Everyone sees things from different perspectives, and they get their understanding mixed up with their feelings and emotion.
In such an emotional situation it is very important to be able to overcome emotions.... As a philosophy teacher, I say that the only solution is to face the reality: the election is over but the results have split the society into two groups: one that rejects the results and the other that accepts them. Both groups have their own evidence and logic but all of it is tied to emotion....
Some even call it a 'Velvet Revolution.' Therefore, to really understand the present situation it's important to remember that people are not facing it realistically...our society split two years ago...the results of two different ideologies...the division between tradition and modernity. This has not been shaped by the recent election or the ninth government [referring to Ahmadinejad's first term]. The fight goes back two centuries."
-- Bijan Abdulkarimi, June 21
From ultra-conservative Tehran-based newspaper "Kayhan," owned by Supreme Leader Khamenei and run by hard-liner Hossein Shariatmadari:
"Imam Ali said: do not start a job you don't know how to finish…. Musavi and his wife announced that they won the election 24 hours before the results were announced. However, they lost the election by 12 million votes.
Then, in a press conference with more foreign journalists than Iranian journalists, they said that the election was fraudulent. They announced that Musavi is the real president of Iran and asked his supporters to protest in the streets. Yet how is it possible that Musavi had 40,000 representatives around the country to monitor the vote? They told the BBC that the election was a sham and gave some naive reason for their victory.
What is the meaning of this behavior? Does Musavi really believe that the election was fraudulent?...
If he does not trust the Guardians Council or the Interior Ministry, why did he announce his candidacy? If he has some evidence that he does not want to hand over to the Guardians Council, why doesn't he publish it in a newspaper?
In the name of Musavi, rebels are attacking civilians every day, killing innocent people. Who is responsible for that? The situation Musavi has created plays into the hands of our enemies."
-- June 21, 2009
From the reformist-friendly newspaper "Ettela'at," owned by Supreme Leader Khamenei and run by Mahmood Doaee, who was close to Khomenei:
"One of the reasons the televised presidential debates were more sensitive, provocative, and serious was the braveness, dauntlessness, and seriousness of the candidates from the beginning till the end of the debates...
This time, people discussed the news not in taxis or buses but on state TV. This time, they got it straight from the leaders of the revolution.... That is why the Supreme Leader [Khamenei] told listeners at Friday Prayers that “when the candidates tried to discredit the current administration" during the debates, it "created anxiety" but the discussions also "defeated the foreign propaganda that considered the election an unreal election."
The presidential debates gave people freedom of speech, educated them on the campaign issues, and allowed them to better judge the candidates. They brought debate into people's homes, every Iranian citizen should be open to criticizing and questioning."
-- Jalal Rafie, June 21
From conservative paper "Jomhouri Islami" (Islamic Revolution), owned by Supreme Leader Khamenei and run by Masih Mohajeri:
"There are two major incidents in the history of Iran. The first was the introduction of Islam and the second was the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Though there have been other things, like the...nationalization of the oil industry and the Constitutional Revolution [1905-1911], they were not as important.
In the last 30 years, clerics have been attacked by the enemies of the revolution, but these attacks have increased in recent years. Critics target the revolutionary clerics rather than the neutral ones because revolutionary clerics have been more influential. They are trying to divide clerics, and they have succeeded to some extent. However, it is not too late to reunite. Clerics can work together to fight the enemies of revolution."
-- June 17
"These days, our society is in crisis. Everyone worries about the future of Iran. It is the responsibility of political and social leaders, academics, and the clerics to use their logic and minds to change this ultra-emotional atmosphere.... It is true that society without emotion is a dead society, but…it is necessary to return to logic... However, it is clear that there is no unity.... Everyone sees things from different perspectives, and they get their understanding mixed up with their feelings and emotion.
In such an emotional situation it is very important to be able to overcome emotions.... As a philosophy teacher, I say that the only solution is to face the reality: the election is over but the results have split the society into two groups: one that rejects the results and the other that accepts them. Both groups have their own evidence and logic but all of it is tied to emotion....
Some even call it a 'Velvet Revolution.' Therefore, to really understand the present situation it's important to remember that people are not facing it realistically...our society split two years ago...the results of two different ideologies...the division between tradition and modernity. This has not been shaped by the recent election or the ninth government [referring to Ahmadinejad's first term]. The fight goes back two centuries."
-- Bijan Abdulkarimi, June 21
From ultra-conservative Tehran-based newspaper "Kayhan," owned by Supreme Leader Khamenei and run by hard-liner Hossein Shariatmadari:
"Imam Ali said: do not start a job you don't know how to finish…. Musavi and his wife announced that they won the election 24 hours before the results were announced. However, they lost the election by 12 million votes.
Then, in a press conference with more foreign journalists than Iranian journalists, they said that the election was fraudulent. They announced that Musavi is the real president of Iran and asked his supporters to protest in the streets. Yet how is it possible that Musavi had 40,000 representatives around the country to monitor the vote? They told the BBC that the election was a sham and gave some naive reason for their victory.
What is the meaning of this behavior? Does Musavi really believe that the election was fraudulent?...
If he does not trust the Guardians Council or the Interior Ministry, why did he announce his candidacy? If he has some evidence that he does not want to hand over to the Guardians Council, why doesn't he publish it in a newspaper?
In the name of Musavi, rebels are attacking civilians every day, killing innocent people. Who is responsible for that? The situation Musavi has created plays into the hands of our enemies."
-- June 21, 2009
From the reformist-friendly newspaper "Ettela'at," owned by Supreme Leader Khamenei and run by Mahmood Doaee, who was close to Khomenei:
"One of the reasons the televised presidential debates were more sensitive, provocative, and serious was the braveness, dauntlessness, and seriousness of the candidates from the beginning till the end of the debates...
This time, people discussed the news not in taxis or buses but on state TV. This time, they got it straight from the leaders of the revolution.... That is why the Supreme Leader [Khamenei] told listeners at Friday Prayers that “when the candidates tried to discredit the current administration" during the debates, it "created anxiety" but the discussions also "defeated the foreign propaganda that considered the election an unreal election."
The presidential debates gave people freedom of speech, educated them on the campaign issues, and allowed them to better judge the candidates. They brought debate into people's homes, every Iranian citizen should be open to criticizing and questioning."
-- Jalal Rafie, June 21
From conservative paper "Jomhouri Islami" (Islamic Revolution), owned by Supreme Leader Khamenei and run by Masih Mohajeri:
"There are two major incidents in the history of Iran. The first was the introduction of Islam and the second was the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Though there have been other things, like the...nationalization of the oil industry and the Constitutional Revolution [1905-1911], they were not as important.
In the last 30 years, clerics have been attacked by the enemies of the revolution, but these attacks have increased in recent years. Critics target the revolutionary clerics rather than the neutral ones because revolutionary clerics have been more influential. They are trying to divide clerics, and they have succeeded to some extent. However, it is not too late to reunite. Clerics can work together to fight the enemies of revolution."
-- June 17