The people in the streets vs. Khatami, Moussavi, and Karroubi

The “people in the streets”:

“Iran Azad!”

“Where Is My Vote?”

“Ya Hossein, Mir Hossein!”

“Zende baad Karroubi! Payande baad Moussavi Khamenei!” (Long Live Karroubi! Long endure Moussavi Khamenei!)

“We Want Another Revolution!”

“Allahu Akbar!” (God is great!; a revolution-era slogan)

“Marg bar Diktador!” (Death to the Dictator!; at first for Ahmadi Nejad, now for Khamenei)

“Marg bar Khamenei!” (Death to [Supreme Leader] Khamenei!)

“Velayet-e faqih morde ast” (Velayet-e faqih is Dead!)

“Marg bar Velayet e faqih!” (Death to the rule of the [clerical] jurist)

“Marg bar Basiji!” (Death to the Basiji!)

“Mojtaba, [Khamenei] die and never get to be the leader.”

“We don’t want an Islamic regime!”

“Esteghlal! Azadi! Jomhuri-ye Irani!” (Independence! Freedom! Iranian Republic!)

“Not for Gaza, not for Lebanon, I give my life for Iran!”

“Change Not Reform!”

“Marg bar hijab e ejbari!” (Death to forced hijab!)

“Death to the Taliban — in Kabul and Tehran!”

“Khamenei is a murderer, his leadership is invalid!”

“We are an Aryan race, religion and politics don’t mix!”

“Azadi! Azadi! Faryade had Irani!” (Freedom! Freedom! This is the cry of every Iranian!)

“Zende baad Azadi!” (Long live Freedom!)

“I am an Iranian before I am a Muslim, but more importantly I am a human before I am an Iranian.”

“Every Iranian is a leader.”

“Na Ghaza, na Lobnan; Tunis o Misr o Iran!” (Not Gaza, not Lebanon; Tunisia and Egypt and Iran)

“Mubarak, Ben Ali, Nobateh Seyyed Ali!” (Mubarak, Ben Ali, Now [it’s your turn] Seyed Ali!)

“Diktador farar kon! Mubarak ro negah kon!” (Dictator, run! Look at Mubarak!)

“Nezami joda sho! Ba mellat hamseda sho!” (Military, separate! Join your voice with the nation's!)

“Azadi! Azadi! Azadi!”, sometimes interspersed with drum beats.

“Political prisoners must be freed!”

“Iranians with dignity, Support! Support!”

“Tehran or Cairo, the dictators got to go!”

“Marg bar to!” (Death to you!), referring to the leaders of the regime.

“Pitiful dictator, the Green Movement is Alive!”

“I will kill, I will kill, he who killed my brother!”

“Don’t be afraid! Don’t be afraid! We are all together!”

“Death to the entire Supreme Leader Regime!”

“Death to despots, whether in Cairo or Tehran!”

“What happened to the oil money? It went to the Basijis!”

"Khamenei haya kon! Mubarak ro negah kon!" (Khamenei, have some shame! Look at Mubarak!)

“Referendum! Referendum!”

They also sing the nationalist songs “Ey Iran” and “Yare Dabestani”.

Khatami, Moussavi, and Karroubi:

“The role of the press is to be a sounding board for the views of the people. The people’s views are identical to those of Islam and of Imam Khomeini.” – Mohammad Khatami, upon leaving Kayhan to be Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance at the height of the Iranian Cultural Revolution, November 1982 (Aban 1361)

“Anyone can think whatever he wants in his heart, but if he speaks out, or acts against the revolution, he will see the regime fighting him with all its strength.” – Mir Hossein Moussavi Khamenei, then Prime Minister, September 1983 (Shahrivar 1362)

“Some unidentified people and even counter-revolutionaries make baseless statements against the political establishment, its organs, and officials, and are accepted by him [i.e., Grand Ayatollah Montazeri], [to the extent that] he becomes their spokesman, and repeats the same in his [public] speeches and messages...” – letter signed by Mehdi Karroubi, along with two others, condemning Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri, for publicly speaking out against the massacre of imprisoned dissidents in 1988 (1367)

“They had plans to perpetrate killings and massacres. We had to crush the conspiracy ... in that respect we have no mercy.” – Mir Hossein Moussavi Khamenei to an Austrian reporter on the victims of the prison massacres, December 1988 (Azar 1367)

“I assure you that we will defend the integrity and honor of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the best of our ability.” – Mohammad Khatami, September 1998 (Mehr 1377)

"If I retreated, I retreated against the system I believed in. I considered it necessary to save the ruling establishment." – Mohammad Khatami, 6 December 2004 (16 Azar 1383)

"I really believe in this system and the revolution and that this system can be developed from within." – Mohammad Khatami, 6 December 2004 (16 Azar 1383)

"The way toward democracy is through and within the Islamic Republic." – Mohammad Khatami, 6 December 2004 (16 Azar 1383)

“We have freedom of expression. We just don’t have freedom after expression.” - statement of Iranian student in response to Khatami’s claim that Iranians had more civil liberties than any other Third World country

Do you have fundamental differences with him [Khamenei] in any specific field?

Moussavi Khamenei: “No.” – interview with Financial Times, 12 April 2009 (23 Farvardin 1388)

“Thirty years ago, in this country a revolution became victorious in the name of Islam. An unprecedented enlightenment captured our society, I am certain that those who have seen those days will not be satisfied with anything less.” Mir Hossein Moussavi Khamenei, 20 June 2009 (30 Khordad 1388)

"Those who respect me would never allow the slightest insult to Imam Khomeini and they always respect him." – Mir Hossein Moussavi Khamenei, 17 December 2009 (26 Azar 1388)

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“We disapprove of those who don’t respect their country’s national and religious beliefs and customs. The extremist slogans chanted and acts carried out by some protesters on Ashura are unacceptable.” – Mir Hossein Moussavi Khamenei, from Statement 17, 1 January 2010 (11 Dey 1388)

‎“Our position has been and [always] will be clear: Islam, revolution and the Islamic Republic.” – Mohammad Khatami, 12 January 2010 (22 Dey 1388)

“Even if several persons voice law-breaking [i.e. ‘adventurous’ or ‘extremist’] slogans it should be condemned.” – Mohammad Khatami, 12 January 2010

"Our slogan has been and will be: 'Independence, Freedom, Islamic Republic.' And any other slogan is not approved by the majority of our people. Any other slogan is a diversion from the path of the revolution." – Mohammad Khatami, 12 January 2010 (22 Dey 1388)

"I accept velayat-e faghih. I accept the Islamic republic and I accept the constitution. I don’t agree with slogans that call for changing power structures." – Mehdi Karroubi, 27 January 2010 (7 Bahman 1388)

“My advice to followers of the Green Movement is to reduce their identifying features, whether they are used to help them stand out a little or a lot.” – Mir Hossein Moussavi Khamenei, 2 February 2010 (13 Bahman 1388)

In the same interview, Moussavi Khamenei echoed Khatami’s call use of the slogan “Independence! Freedom! Islamic Republic!”.

“We all know that your participation in the 22 Bahman rally was…a demonstration of your love of Iran, the Islamic Revolution, and Imam Khomeini.” – Mehdi Karroubi, 22 February 2010 (3 Esfand 1388)

"The Green Movement’s main goal has always been to revive the ideals and aspirations of Imam Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution." Mir Hossein Moussavi Khamenei, 14 February 2011 (25 Bahman 1389)

“I remain faithful to the ideals of Imam Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution of 1357 (1979).” - Mehdi Karroubi, 14 February 2011 (25 Bahman 1389)