Mousavi says the supreme leader's actions are not 'in the interests of the country,' and the crackdown imperils the Islamic Republic.

    Tehran - Iran's leading opposition figurehead, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, launched a lengthy broadside against the Iranian leadership and state-owned media in comments published today on his website as authorities arrested 70 university professors who had met with him.

    The former prime minister, in comments apparently delivered Wednesday to the arrested social scientists and posted on one of his websites today, accused Iran's supreme leader of not acting in the interests of the country and said a dramatic change for the worse had taken place in the country.

    He slammed state-controlled broadcast outlets, which have intensified a media blitz against the West and alleged that the recent unrest over disputed June 12 presidential election was the work of Iran's international antagonists.

    "The leadership's support to the government under normal circumstances is helpful," Mousavi said in a reference to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is usually beyond public reproach by establishment insiders. "However, if the leadership and the president are the same, it will not be in the interests of the country."

    He pointedly warned authorities that an ongoing crackdown targeting his supporters put the entire Islamic Republic at risk by putting the government's legitimacy in question.

    "If the recent moves made in the past few days are not well-managed, people outside the country and the system will find the opportunity to manage it," he said. "We should be careful. The most important asset we have is our independence, and we should not allow foreigners to interfere."

    Khamenei vowed Wednesday that he would neither reconsider the lopsided vote results nor bow to public pressure over the disputed reelection of his ally, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who won amid charges of massive fraud that led to ongoing political upheaval and street violence between pro-government forces and demonstrators demanding an annulment of the election.

    Hundreds have been arrested for allegedly taking part in or inciting the disturbances, including 70 members of the Islamic Society of University Professors who were arrested after they met with Mousavi on Wednesday afternoon. Their whereabouts are unknown, said Kalameh.ir, Mousavi's website.

    President Obama and Washington's Western allies have condemned the crackdown, further straining relations between Tehran and the West as the U.S. was preparing to open diplomatic talks with Iran over its nuclear program.

    Ahmadinejad, unusually silent since June 14, when his description of his opponents as "dirt" triggered a spontaneous rally that drew hundreds of thousands in central Tehran, today warned Obama to avoid the path of his predecessor, President George W. Bush.

    "We do not expect anything from the British and the European countries' governments, which are not honorable and their history is known to the world," Ahmadienjad said in comments broadcast on state television. "But why has Mr. Obama been caught up in this trap while he has the slogan of change?"

    An advisor to Khamenei today lashed out at Britain's decision to freeze $1.6 billion in Iranian assets as a gesture of support for human rights in Iran.

    "In their media they repeatedly claim to be advocates of human rights in Iran," said Ali-Akbar Velayati, the leader's foreign affairs advisor. "They say they are defending the Iranian people but such a move is obviously against the Iranian nation because the assets belong to the people, not to particular individuals."

    But while the U.S. and West have condemned the Iranian government's crackdown, Moscow said it believes that Tehran has acted within the law.

    "We are convinced that all the issues that arise in connection with the recent election should be resolved in accordance with Iranian laws, with procedures set out in these laws. And, as we understand, this is exactly what is happening," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference in Berne, the Swiss capital, according to the Interfax news agency.

    "At the same time we call on everyone to avoid any actions which can cause problems," he said. "Above all, to avoid violence."

    Iran's power brokers have been huddling to defuse the crisis. Mousavi and his backer Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani met with lawmakers Wednesday in an effort to quell the unrest, Ala'eddin Boroujerdi, head of parliament's committee on national security and foreign policy, told the Fars news agency today.

    "The lawmakers asked Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani to help solve the problems and he vowed support and we hope that we would witness practical measures to be taken to end the current situation soon," the report quoted Boroujerdi as saying. "During the meeting, the governing board of the committee explained their expectations from Mr. Mousavi and he voiced his interest to help in solving the issues."

    But Mousavi's latest remarks, his most extensive in many days, suggest he has not yet relented, though he indicated that he and his supporters should weigh their options.

    "Our society at the moment is different from that of six months ago," he said, according to Kalameh.ir "At the moment, we are facing a new society which we need to get to know before doing anything else. The features, demands, requirements ... of this society will have to be reviewed and analyzed."

    Mousavi fired back at a state media campaign seeking to depict him and his green-bedecked political movement as dupes of Western intelligence agencies, and even Saudi Arabia. "The recent pressures on me are aimed at making me change my position regarding the annulment of the election," he said. "Insulting monologues will not solve anything"

    He complained that authorities have restricted his access to his supporters and shuttered his newspaper and arrested its staff. He warned of a more "violent atmosphere" if the repression continued.

    "Because we are unable to respond, the defamation has increased to a point that stereotypical comments such as linking popular movements to foreigners are being raised," he said.

    He noted that respected officials, including a deputy oil minister, have been fired for voicing criticism of the election and sought to portray himself as a champion of Iran's emerging middle class.

    "At the moment, some sort of self-awareness has been created among the middle class," he reportedly said. "If this self-awareness is directed toward a goal, it will create positive energy which will be very helpful for the reconstruction of the country."