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[1]Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafshanjani
Friday’ speech [2] of Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has paved the way to a new hope for real democracy in Iran.
‘All of us, the establishment, the security forces, police, parliament, and even protesters, should move within the framework of law’ he said. ‘We should open the doors to debate. We should not keep so many people in prison. We should free them to take care of their families’…’All Iranians need to restore public confidence , because it was badly damaged..’
As President of a Foundation which pursues continuos and robust dialogue as the only tool to solve social conflicts, I fully support this position.
In Iran the Media should be allowed to criticize the establishment.
Freedom of opinion and freedom of press are pillars of democracy, and with no criticism there is no room for dialogue, and hence for peace.
Romano Prodi[/lang_en]