London, Asharq Al-Awsat- Ebrahim Yazdi, the Secretary-General of the “Freedom Movement of Iran” which is one of the parties of Iran’s reformist movement warned that Iran is following in the path of the of the former Soviet Union, being a “strong totalitarian regime with a very high effective but corrupt secret police.”

Yazdi clarified to Asharq Al-Awsat that “the former Soviet Union collapsed because the leadership moved too late to respond to the demands of the people and implement reform…I believe Iran is following this same path but with two key differences; firstly Iran is not an empire that can be broken up into different republics and countries. Secondly, the collapse of the Soviet Union signaled the end of the Marxist ideology…however Islam will not disappear as Marxism did. Islam is a part of our identity and culture. I am not worried about Islam, for Islam has a God to protect it…however I am afraid for the Republic of Iran and [the fate of] democracy in my country.”

He added “I know that we need Jacob’s patience, Noah’s longevity, and Mohamed’s tact [to overcome this].”

Yazdi also informed Asharq Al-Awsat that the Reformist movement is looking at a number of different ideas to continue its protest against the results of the recent presidential elections, and that some of these ideas include forming a “consultative council” comprised of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Mohammad Khatami. He added that this consultative council “will place Ali Akber Hashemi Rafsanjani in a better position to aid the Reformists via official institutes.”

Yazdi expressed his regret for attacking Mehdi Karroubi and other demonstrators during a Friday prayers sermon given by Hashemi Rafsanjani. Yazdi added to Asharq Al-Awsat that the attacks on the protestors have merely deepened the crisis of confidence between the regime and the public, although he stressed that the Reformist movement will continue to exert political pressure, saying “the immediate demands are what Hashemi [Rafsanjani] called for in his Friday prayers sermon; firstly the release of the hundreds of political prisoners in Iran, some of whom are senior leaders of the Reformist movement. The second demand is an investigation into the deaths that took place during the demonstrations. Who gave the orders? Who fired the shots? The Reformist movement wants the judiciary to take responsibility for this investigation.”