TEHRAN’S TOP prosecutor called for Iran’s largest reformist party to be disbanded yesterday as the government held the fourth mass trial of opposition moderates since June’s disputed election.
In the latest effort by the regime to uproot the opposition, Saeed Mortazavi, the prosecutor general, said in his indictment that the Islamic Iran Participation Front worked with foreigners to overthrow the regime, deviated from Islam and disrupted “security” before and after the presidential election on June 12th.
The vote plunged Iran into its most serious internal crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution, exposing deep divisions in its ruling elite and further straining ties with the West.
Iran’s government has accused the opposition, most of whom have once been senior figures in the regime, of being linked to western countries’ attempts to overthrow the government using “soft” methods, including claiming the election had been rigged.
Authorities accused the Islamic Iran Participation Front, which is close to former reformist president Mohammad Khatami, of intending to “localise” a “velvet revolution” modelled on US-backed changes in eastern Europe and central Asia.
The party was also accused of seeking help from George Soros, the US philanthropist, who supports open society activities under repressive regimes.
Similar charges were levelled against another prominent reformist party, the Islamic Revolution Mujahedin Organisation, which the prosecutor said should also be disbanded.
The prosecutor general said the Islamic Iran Participation Front had turned Tehran into a “war zone” by encouraging protests.
Saeed Hajjarian, disabled after an assassination attempt against him in 2000, was among several prominent opposition figures in the dock charged with fomenting the street protests. Also on trial were senior members of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, including Mohsen Mirdamadi, the secretary general, and Mostafa Tajzadeh, a strategist.
Mr Hajjarian told the court that he decided to resign from the Islamic Iran Participation Front because: “I don’t see the party a proper place for me any more.”
The prosecutor general asked for “maximum punishment” for Mr Hajjarian. The articles of the Islamic penal code referred to in the indictment sets out penalties ranging from two months to a maximum of five years imprisonment and 74 lashes for the charges against Mr Hajjarian. No death penalty is envisaged.
The front had earlier condemned the “show trials” and its members said they would consider confessions made under pressure invalid. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009)