2009 presidential candidate and opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi issued a video message on the occasion of the new Iranian year Nowrouz in which he has openly criticised the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the policy of exclusion practiced by authorities.

Following video messages by other opposition leaders Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard, Mahdi Karroubi released a short video message in which he condemned the authorities’ policy of exclusion.

In a clear reference to the leader’s recent remarks, he said that the “ship of the regime” had been turned into a “boat” in which few were able to identify with. [Khamenei had stated he does not want anyone to disembark from the “ship of the regime” unless they insist on getting off.]

It should be noted that the video message was posted just hours before the televised address of Ali Khamenei on the occasion of the New Year.

Karroubi named a number of radical supporters of the Supreme Leader and his “president” Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as people who were currently on this “boat of the regime,” among them the head of the Guardians council Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, Janati, and the current illegitimate president Mahmoud Ahmadineajd.

Karroubi reassured everyone that he was still devoted to Islam and the Islamic republic, but not to in a regime that belonged to the “tastes of a small group” in the country.  Free Iran:  For those that criticize Karroubi for saying that he believes in the Islamic republic, my humble opinion is to think the enemy of my enemy is my friend – at least for now.  Without uniting with the reformists, it’s impossible for those of us in the outside that believe in a secular, democratic republic to do anything about what’s going on in Iran.  Venting and talking is not enough or blogging for that matter.  The sincerity of the reformists about creating a more open and pluralistic society is a bridge we need to cross at a later  date.  For now, the main object should be to weaken the hardliners.

The former speaker of parliament also pointed out the murderous post-election clampdowns of the government and the stifling of freedom of speech by measures such as the imprisonment of journalists and independent media.