Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has said he was ready to sacrifice his life in his campaign to have the disputed June re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad overturned.
"I am not unwilling to become a martyr like those who made that sacrifice after the election for their rightful national and religious demands," Mousavi said on Friday in his first statement on his Kaleme.org website since deadly clashes last Sunday.
"My blood is no redder than theirs," he added.
Mousavi's nephew, Ali, was among at least eight people who died during Sunday's opposition protests during Shi'ite Muslim rituals for Ashura.
He called on Ahmadinejad's government to halt its crackdown against his supporters, which saw hundreds of people arrested during the demonstrations.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
He urged the government "take responsibility for the problems it has created in the country... release political prisoners... and recognise people's right to lawful assembly."
"I say openly that until there is an acknowledgment of the existence of a serious crisis in the country, there will be no possibility of resolving the problems and issues," he said.
The former prime minister rejected demands from hardliners for him to renounce his accusations of fraud in the June election in which he was Ahmadinejad's main challenger.
"I clearly and explicitly say that the order to execute, kill or jail (former parliament speaker and pro-reform presidential candidate Mehdi) Karroubi, Mousavi and people like us will not solve anything.
"Supposedly you calmed things down through your arrests, violence, threats and closure of newspapers and other media. What appreciation does that show for the change in public opinion about the Islamic republic?"
Mousavi rejected charges by Ahmadinejad and other officials that he and his supporters were "lackeys" of Iran's Western foes.
"We are neither Americans nor Britons. We have sent no congratulations cards to the leaders of major powers," he said, in mocking allusion to a card the Iranian president sent to Barack Obama on his election as US president in 2008.
"I consider it necessary to stress that we and the Green Movement have an Islamic and national identity and are against the domination of foreigners," he said of his election campaign colour that has become the opposition's signature.
"We are loyal to the constitution," he added, dismissing accusations by hardliners that the opposition's protests against Ahmadinejad's re-election have turned into a campaign to topple the Islamic regime.
