Meanwhile, officers from the Tehran prosecutor's office appeared at Etemad Melli's newspaper headquarters (mouthpiece for Etemad Melli website, led by Karoubi) and prevented the publication of the statement in the last issue of the daily.  The daily's staff insisted that they could not censor Karoubi's statement, forcing the officer from the Tehran prosecutor's office to prevent the publication from going to print on Wednesday.

In his statement addressed to the Iranian people, Mehdi Karoubi writes, "Given the mechanisms at work before the election and acts conducted by the administration, Guardian Council and certain other public institutions, as well as the manner of administering the election, the government's interference and the Guardian Council's recount charade, and events that transpired afterward, I believe that the election was invalid and, on this basis, I consider the government derived from it to lack legitimacy and credibility and will not participate in any program, including it's inauguration and swearing in ceremonies." 

Karoubi is a former Majlis Speaker and the head of the reformist Etemad Melli party, who ran in the presidential race in 2005 as well.

In his statement, Karoubi noted his efforts and discussions to annul the elections results, which were in vain: "I have not ignored any opportunity including getting in touch with, speaking with and sending confidential notes with grand ayatollahs, the person of the supreme leader and every other influential figure, and I tell you in all honesty that I have done what has been in my power." 

Recounting his reasons for running for the presidency, Karoubi wrote, "We had come forward for change, some power groups prevented such change in the executive branch.  Nevertheless, after the election a huge change took place in the country's conditions and people's mentality and awareness, and I admit that this change was far more extensive than what I imagined." 

This presidential candidate went on to denounce the post-election violence and the crackdown of protestors that followed: "Forces attacked people's lives and property with boots and batons, hundreds of mobilized forces attacked student dormitories and tore apart a young girl's heart with bullets; they shot people from mosque rooftops with bullets and arrested hundreds of people in their homes and on the streets and beat people to death." 

Karoubi then shared his suggested solutions after the Guardian Council formally certified the results of the presidential election: "I announce my readiness to cooperate in any way with individuals and political groups seeking change," adding, "I will stay fateful until I live to this people and the Islamic Revolution and will continue to pursue the nation's demands in every possible way and will continue my fight under any circumstance and using every resource."