Iran Revolutionary Guard should avoid politics: Leader

By Mustafa Melih Ahishali

ISTANBUL (AA) - An Iranian opposition leader on Tuesday sent a letter to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in which he said the country’s formidable security apparatus should refrain from “meddling” in political and economic affairs, according to local media reports.

“The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and its affiliates continue to meddle in state policies and the national economy in contravention of Iran’s constitution,” Mehdi Karroubi wrote.

A former parliament speaker and prominent opposition leader, Karroubi has remained under house arrest since 2011.

In his letter, the opposition leader said Iran’s security apparatus and “deep bureaucracy” should refrain from interfering in administrative issues.

After losing 2009 presidential polls to hardline rival Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Karroubi -- who hails from Iran’s reformist camp -- had claimed the election was rigged in Ahmadinejad’s favor.

In 2011, Karroubi urged Iranians to hit the streets in solidarity with the “Arab Spring” uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, prompting the authorities to place him under house arrest without charge or trial.