RFE/RL's Radio Farda listeners, most of whom wished to remain anonymous, give their voice-mail reactions to Khamenei's speech today:
It was the silent majority that presented the country to the mullahs 30 years ago. I hope that this silent majority that has come on to the streets in support of the people and young people will prove to the government that they no longer approve of this situation. It was Khamenei's statements and threats in today's Friday prayers that showed how keen he is for Ahmadinejad to stay in his position.
In today’s statement, Khamenei said that all four candidates are among us, all are revolutionary and belong on our side, and the street [protests] are being directed by outsiders, while we all know that those protesters in the streets are supporters of Musavi. They have no problem with the political system but want to know what happened to their votes and have to keep on pursuing it. Other than that we are not taking any directions from outsiders. Don't put this blame on us. How is it that we, the supporters of Musavi, are directed by outsiders when Musavi himself is on his own?
I am Mehdi, calling from Hamedan. I wanted to say that all Khamenei wanted to point out in his statement was that Musavi has no role in these politics and there are others behind the curtain who are playing this game of politics.
I wanted to let Khamenei know that there's no use crying over spilt milk. All people are asking for is their rights. Thirty years of cruelty, injustice, and corruption, it has come to an end for us now. People want their rights. They have to respect peoples' votes and annul the election results.
I think Khamenei's statements today made everything clear for everyone. It wasn't predictable, but now the ball is in the Iranian nation's court. They can either bend to their threats, injustices, cheating, and corrupt ballot counting, or stand up to them and defend their rights and Iranian identity and continue their protests in the streets. Its Majid, calling from Boroujerd.
Its Omid calling. I have a question: If we, the Iranian nation, do not want this government, this regime, who should we go to with this problem of ours? They are not giving us our rights, killing our youth, if we are the real thugs who are protesting, then what is the Iranian nation? Only those who support Ahmadinejad and the Islamic regime? It's more than enough. It has been 30 years. By God, this is the limit. They have really crossed the limit.
