Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has cast doubt on the Green Movement leader's call for a referendum on Iran's political future, saying any vote under Iran’s current constitution cannot bring about democratic change.
“The precondition for any referendum is the removal of power from the Islamic Republic,” Ebadi wrote, rejecting Mir Hossein Mousavi’s recent call for a national vote to reform the state’s political structure.
Earlier this month, Mousavi said in a statement that the current structure of the Islamic Republic “does not represent all Iranians.”
“The twelve-day war (with Israel) showed that the only guarantee for the nation’s survival is respect for every citizen’s right to self-determination,” the former prime minister added.
Mousavi, under house arrest since 2009, had urged the formation of a constitutional assembly through a public vote. His message was endorsed by over 800 civil and political figures who demanded the release of political prisoners and the drafting of a new constitution based on democracy and human rights.
But Ebadi, a prominent critic of the Islamic Republic, said such a process is legally unworkable within the current framework. She said Iran’s constitution explicitly bars changes to core principles such as clerical rule, Islamic law, and the system’s Islamic identity.
“Such a structure rules out the formation of a democratic and secular government,” she said.
She dismissed the latest wave of endorsements for Mousavi’s initiative as driven by sentiment rather than strategy.
“The recent statement signed by over 800 activists seems driven more by Mousavi’s political charisma than by any viable solution to Iran’s crisis."
Referendum seen as a trap
Ebadi also warned that a referendum sanctioned by the ruling establishment could become a tool to legitimize its hold on power.
“Any government is legally bound by its own constitution and cannot hold a referendum against its own existence. Therefore, such a request from the government is baseless,” she wrote.
Ebadi called instead for a UN-supervised referendum to manage a transition away from the Islamic Republic, citing a 2018 statement she co-authored with 14 other dissidents advocating for a full political break.
Along with cleric Mehdi Karroubi, Mousavi was a candidate in the disputed 2009 presidential election and challenged the results, leading large protests dubbed the Green Movement for months before he was arrested and placed under house arrest.
His wife Zahra Rahnavard and Karroubi were also accused of sedition against the Islamic Republic and remain under house arrest.
