Shayan Ghajar and Mahour S.

Few opposition movement notables have publicly aired their opinions regarding President Ahmadinejad’s nuclear deal with Brazil and Turkey, for a variety of reasons. Those who have addressed the deal, however, seem to indicate reluctant approval of the fuel swap agreement.

Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the de facto leaders of the Green Movement, have refrained from issuing any public or private statements clarifying their opinions on Ahmadinejad’s newly-brokered deal. Their previous stances, however, are unlikely to have changed: Karroubi, before the June 2009 elections, supported the idea of a similar deal for a fuel swap. His silence likely stems from his reluctance to endorse any actions Ahmadinejad’s government have undertaken, as long as the impasse between the Greens and government remains regarding the suspect results of the elections last year.

Moussavi, on the other hand, was more confrontational in his stance on the nuclear issue in the months prior to last year’s elections, taking a view more similar to many conservatives by asserting that Iran had no legal obligations to assuage Western fears. His lack of recent public statements on the nuclear deal also stems from political pressure, however.

Just yesterday, Kaleme, Moussavi’s news website, announced that the government had arrested Moussavi’s chief bodyguard of 27 years of personal service. The Iranian Labor News Agency said today the government denies arresting him, but did dismiss him from service because “his period of service was complete.” More likely, it is yet another tactic the government is using to keep the pressure on Moussavi ahead of the June 12 election anniversary. Considering the external pressures on Moussavi, and the ideological obstacles to endorsing any action of Ahmadinejad’s government, it is unlikely he will make any comments on the deal to the public.

On the other hand, notable intellectual and political figures involved with the Green Movement have made their opinions known. Today, two opinion pieces featured on RaheSabz, the Green Movement’s most prominent website, came out with qualified support for the nuclear fuel swap agreement.

Ata’ollah Mohajerani, who was Karoubi’s representative outside the country during the presidential election, wrote an opinion piece for Rah-e Sabz, supporting the agreement, calling it “timely and appropriate.” Similar to the religious-nationalists whom he quotes at length in his article, he calls it a step away from the government’s policy of adventurism and a compromise in the best interests of the country.

He continues to state that this agreement is only opposed by reactionary hardliners inside Iran, benefiting from silencing opposition in the name of an Israeli or American threat. He believes that all should “praise and approve” of this latest development.

Taqi Rahmani, a religious-nationalist activist also praised the agreement in an interview with Deutsche Welle. In the interview he states that all factions should look beyond their own interests to see that this agreement is in the best interests of the country at large. Sanctions and the economic downturn only hurt ordinary Iranians, and if this agreement can lessen that burden, he states, all should come out in its support. “We must have rational relationships with the outside world to be able to carry out our nuclear program” he goes on to state in the interview.

Responding to a question on whether the agreement would hurt or further strengthen the democratic movement inside Iran, Rahmani responds that by lessening international pressure on Iran, this agreement will ease the burden on the democratic movement. “So long as we continue tensions with the West, the ruling establishment will suppress all democratic movements under the pretense that we are in sensitive circumstances and under international pressure.”
Ironically, then, a general trend of approval may exist amongst the Greens for Ahmadinejad’s nuclear deal simply because the easing of international pressure on Iran will eliminate some of the government’s pretexts for cracking down on dissidents. Additionally, many reformists and religious nationalists support Iran’s right to nuclear energy, yet do not want to come out in support of the government itself.

As opposition reactions to the United States’ call for more sanctions are issued, a clearer portrait of the Green Movement’s sentiments on the nuclear impasse will emerge.