mousavi, mr. khatami. he served in previous term. as a matter of fact, these people have always been bringing forces together and they've been attacking this government, criticizing this government trying to hurt this government. of course people know all about this, but they should also realize the fact that i am not standing, i am not competing one single candidate, it is a group of people with mr. mousavi of access and cooperating and moving against me. the reason for this heavy pressure on me the past four years and also heavier pressure during the election days, i think this comes down to one thing. in the past three governments the administrative structures were formed some managerial chains were formed and they went awry. they distanced themselves from the revolution. i don't mean that military services in europe rendered, but gradually, there was a current that came in and acted as if they were as if they possessed and they manipulate it and they had an open hand and doing everything they wanted to do. they stood in front of

mousavi. if you look at the way the debates were perceived, this is the first time iran has had that. i think mr. ahmadinejad's performance in those debates served him very well, particularly in comparison with mr. mousavi. there are some complaints about economic conditions in iran. in returning to the paul, it would suggest that -- in returning to the poll, most iranians do not hold up when the judge responsible for those economic conditions. and i would say mr. mousavi in the course of his campaign allied himself with a number of prominent figures, perhaps most notably with profs and johnny -- with a popular figure and known as a deeply corrupt figure. mr. ahmadinejad was able to do an effective job in hanging him around his neck. it was him that ahmadinejad been so handily the first time he won the presidency, in 2005. in that final round, the percentage of the vote he won was essentially the same percentage that he won against mr. mousavi this year. host: let me remind viewers of the out

. >> thank you very much, mr. mousavi. i think if all the judgment based on what you said you should realize this, i'm telling you as a friend. i like you as a person and such judgments based on false data and information it is too bad. sailors from britain arrested -- blair wrote a letter in which he apologized and said our policies regarding iran, we will change those, this is a document at the ministry. it is there. and then we decided the issues, one of the best things the islam of republic has done is the attitude towards the sailors. for 27, 28 years, they call as aggressors and hostage leaders, this is what they told the world about us. in that incident we separated the people of england from the government. that was the best thing that could be done. .. there was a waive oman muslims and their were speeches and excitement, and they welcomes their favorite iranian nation. regarding the issue of the holocaust, it is so interesting. in saudi arabia, how is the relation with saudi arabia had during mr. mousavi's time?

mr. mousavi. guest: this is ironic. when i went back to iran in 1979 he was the prime minister, one of the main architects of the revolution. while we were teaching at the university of tehran he was one of the main architects of the cultural revolution the closedown universities and try to bring about islamic ideology into the universities. as years went by a mr. mousavi became more and more withdrawn and quieter. we did not hear much from him until the elections in 1997. there were rumors that the opposition, the reformist candidates were considering him, but that did not go over because they thought that a cleric would do better. it is very interesting to see the transformation from a person in position to a person of opposition. host: the belief he has changed or has changed his public image? guest: i think both. the important thing is that this satisfaction comes not only from seculars for people who have been losing a great deal but from people in power. when someone like mr. mousavi or another, the speaker of the

when you look at people who have an important role like mr. mousavi, mr. rafsanjani, mr. kasai me, they are all part of the regime. but this movement go far beyond -- does this movement go far beyond? how do you envision the future of iran? will it be an overthrow of hypocrisy -- will it be an overthrow of the theocracy? but will do you envision for yourself and the family? -- what role do you envision yourself and the family? >> as a partially explain earlier, the situation has grown just -- has grown beyond just the result of an election and a candidate. most iranians are quite aware of the fact that having always been limited to prescreened candidates of the regime's choice as to who they get to vote for, to begin with, they were stuck in a position of having to choose between a lesser of two evils, or multiple evils, whenever it is. it presents an opportunity for such prescreened candidates to join with the masses, and it would be difficult for us not to anticipate for caller: calleat t we would be faced with an impasse. you cannot at the same time hold allegiance to

until now mr. mousavi has not been in a position of power since he was prime minister to show whether he would act any differently in regards to the nuclear issue, among others. we will wait and see. host: raleigh, n.c. on our end of the line. caller: good morning. i want to thank the program about the iranian people. i have a message. iranian are not asking americans to intervene. it is just because their turn to get their intention -- the united nations is in the united states. -- they're trying to get their attention. they do not realizrecognize ahmadinejad's government as iranian government. when the time comes for him to come to speak to the american people we hope that americans do not give him a visa. he is the one who claims to have democracy and freedom of speech. i want americans to know that iranians are just looking at the united states and try to get their voice out

the fate of people like mr. mousavi lies, in my opinion, as it clear demarcation from the regime. you cannot on the one hand be a candidate of people demanding justice and peace of the the regime -- demanding justice vis- a-vis the regime and uphel the system. that will be the question of whether or not he has actually peeled away from the system for the people. you cannot have any more. -- cannot hedge any more. you have to pick one of the other. >> i am a member of the national press club and a freelance writer from buffalo, new york. in your earlier answer, you leave open the door for future participation in a democratic iran. can you tell us, if you have any research today, that tells how many people would support you in iran? in other words, in this turbulent time, what is your approval rating? >> well, people support me because of the very fact we're talking the same language -- freedom,, democracy, human rights. i'm not demanding people to support me today because of me. i'm demanding people support me so that i can best serve them achieve what their goal is, which is to ac

these people mr. mousavi supporters have too much to loose in many ways. they already enjoy the freedom. where as mr. ahmadinejad's supporters are more likely >> any idea if mr. ahmadinejad will change the policy because of the turn outs? >> no. he has been very defient in responding to his critics at home and in the stance taken towards the west. >> what with do we care some finalization of this issue? >> it should be saturday or early sunday morning. >> thank you for joining us from tehran. >> thank you. >> if you want to comment on the results of the eye roon election. the numbers are on the scene. twitter is c-span wj. on the democrat line. thank you. go ahead. guest: i feel sorry for the people of iran. i feel like this is a fixed election. it reminds me of the year 2000 in our own country. there's not too much those people can do over there. it's like, wow, good thing we have a change every four to eight years, we would have the same thing to the extreme of this. we are already having problems with the rhetoric of rush limbaugh insighting all the cra

. >> thank you, mr. president. a couple of weeks ago on iran, you suggested there were few differences between mr. mousavi and president ahmadinejad. i am wondering if you have changed your view on that? and will you apologize for interfering into their affairs like he suggested you should? >> jeff, how many questions are you getting in here? you got two in, and we want to make sure we give some other folks a chance. >> first of all, what i said originally was that given the structure of the iranian government and that power resided ultimately with khomeini, the supreme leader, and fitch at that point this weren't significant differences in the core national security interests that we had talked about diplomatically, i.e., nuclear weapons development in iran, the scomportation of terrorist activity, that we could not automatically assume that there would be a huge shift on those particular national security issues depending on who won that election. i think what is slultly clear is over the course of subsequent day

since then, i think that most iranians today, including the cab of mr. mousavi and others, are realizing that this is far beyond the question of the election result. it has become a question of not only the sanctity of the ballot box, but the very fact that it is of national sovereignty, national liberty, which, until this regime, with such a supreme leader, that in such a clear matter has pretty much drawn the line in the sand, will make it almost impossible for anyone to demand anything less than moving beyond the system. it is going in that direction. the momentum is there. there is no ave or recourse left for that nation for my compatriots to find any resolution for the problem. the latest decision made by the council of guardians reiterates once again that even if they are willing to admit that there was a discrepancy, they claim is not enough to warrant even a recount. pretty much the line has been drawn in the sand. i think that from now on the question is to offer every opportunity for anyone who is joining with the people today to get off this s

i think where maybe mr. ahmadinejad's supporters are more reticent and would have been inflamed by the opposite results but mr. mousavi's supporters will really not have a lot of action on the streets over the next week or so. it is difficult how they could be a lot of anger in this security situation that they have. i hate to say it but i think this is just going to come to pass, that people will have to swallow the election results, even though they won't like it. >> any suggestion that ahmadinejad will change policy or at least attempt to improve the economic situation over there because of the turnout and result of this election? >> i think it will be business as usual. he has been very defiant in responding to

mr. mousavi did not appear in public on monday but he posted a state optometrist supporters in his website. it says, the country belongs to you, protests lies and fraud is your right. britain, which iran's supreme leader called evil, said it was evacuating the families of diplomats in iran. iranian state media reported the country's raferse started a low-altitude bombing exercise over the persian gulf and sea of oman. they said the unrest hadn't affected the country's oil output or crude exports. next a call from lee from alabama. caller: let me read something briefly out of one of the local newspapers, the "tribune" here in marshall county. it was on the front page, these are biweekly newspapers, it says national health care network has singled out marshall medical centers north and south for being the top 1% of hospitals nationwide. these are great hospitals up here, but my point is, i sure wish i could have got in the discussion with him, we pay -- we have blue cross and blue shield in

two things that we want to point out from this piece about iran this morning, first, mr. mousavi did not appear in public this morning, but he did publish a statement saying "the country belongs to you. protesting lies is your right. also -- is your right." also, iranian officials appeared eager to flex the military muscle. the air force the start of a low altitude bombing exercise over the persian gulf and the sea of ahman. -- iman. next is a call from lee in alabama. good morning. caller: yes, let me read something briefly out of one of the local newspapers, the arab tribune of in marshall county. in was onç the front page. these are by weekly newspapers. it says, national health care network has singled out marshal medical centers, north and south, for being the top 1% of hospitals nationwide. these are great hospitals up here. but my point is, i wish i surely could have gone in a discussion with them. we pay blue cross blue shield insurance, and we have the best. witches, we do not pay anything up front. -- which is, we do not pay anything of fraud. it is $304.12 pe

suggesting that mr. mir hossein mousavi was taking a confrontational stance. waiting to hear from you on what is next from iran, the first person is joe on the republican line. massachusetts. caller: unfortunately i think this will be a massacre. there is no other option for the ruling elite in iran. this is a great opportunity for us to get hold of those nuclear weapons in iran. host: ted, democratic line. good morning. caller: thank you for c-span. i think that this is going to be a case of natural evolution. we do not know yet halthat the ayatollahs will not seize control in a hardline wave. if not this week, next week, maybe even next year, but people change in iran like i feel that would have changed in iraq. this is almost a statement of how mistaken our former president and defense secretary were when they undertook the war in iraq. ultimately, iran will go in a way that will be more humane. i hope that it not -- it does not take 20 years. host: this front page of "the new york times" photograph is from tehran. we have been monitoring video on youtube,

guest: i think that mr. mir hossein mousavi, in his own town, was swamped. that makes no sense at all. guest: i was talking to end iranian experts this week in washington. his guess, fairly inform, was that the ayatollah khamenei wanted a big victory from -- for ahmadinejad. the word went out. they all became overly successful, getting into the 60's, when they probably needed an election of 57%, not 62%. they overplayed their hand. all of the thousands of people who are responsible, and the boat got higher than the regime expected. -- vote got higher than the regime expected. it strain plausibility. you might not have had people in the streets were not for a small percentage. guest: 1972, nixon decided to manipulate that election a little bit. guest: i would not want to comment on that. guest: i am saying that the over the top behavior is something that the government wanted to do and it has come back at them. host: basically, according to this, "we cannot fight their battles for them nor, as conservative hawks fantasize, trigger regime change." saying that

caller: yes, mr. ambassador, you're very familiar with iran, obviously, and the squeography of iran and we've heard for the last few years, especially the 8 years of the bush administration, and the right wing elements in israel that perhaps we should bomb, carpet bomb, the nuclear facilities if they confine them in iran, and as a former ambassador there, is it not true that if the west gave israel the green light or actually participated in a bombing of the so-called nuclear facilities, wouldn't iran immediately, with their mobile missile systems, totally blockade the strait of hormuz, which would shut off about 50% of the world's oil, raise the price of oil up to $400 or $500 a barrel, and in addition, free up the revoluntionary volunteers from iran to take on our $130,000-member army currently next door in iraq and next door in afghanistan? host: ambassador dalton. guest: i agree with you the consequences of a strike on iranian nuclear facilities in the present circumstances could be much as you su