A leading Iranian opposition figure has compared the behaviour of his government with that of the Nazis during the Holocaust.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi said of the Iranian government, led by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "They've surpassed Goebbels in telling lies.”

He told an anti-government website: “Levelling accusations and telling lies is part of their ossified faith.”

Mr Mousavi, who stood against Mr Ahmadinejad in the contested 2009 Iranian presidential elections and whose defeat helped spark the Green Revolution, also likened the leadership to the oppressive Soviet-era dictatorships.

He said: "They are resorting to methods [against the opposition] used in totalitarian regimes like Stalin in the Soviet era or [Nicolae] Ceausescu in Romania.”

Mr Mousavi, who many Iranians view as the rightful winner of the election, is expected to face trial in the coming months for his role in the post-election protests along with his fellow opposition leader Mahdi Karroubi.