TEHRAN – A representative of Iran’s leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said yesterday that opposition leaders were “enemies of God” who should be executed under the country’s sharia law.
The statement by cleric Abbas Vaez-Tabasi coincided with rallies by tens of thousands of government supporters calling for opposition leaders to be punished for fomenting unrest after June’s disputed presidential election, state media said.
“Those who are behind the current sedition in the country . . . are mohareb [enemies of God] and the law is very clear about punishment of a mohareb,” said the representative of the ayatollah, who possesses ultimate authority in Iran, on state television. Under Iran’s Islamic sharia law, the sentence for mohareb is execution.
Ayatollah Vaez-Tabasi’s remarks came two days after eight people were killed in anti-government protests sparked by the June poll which was won by hardliner incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Political turmoil has entered a new phase in Iran marked by bloody face-offs and arrests, with security forces calling on authorities to deal “firmly” with opposition leaders.
The establishment intensified a crackdown on the reform movement on Sunday by rounding up leading moderates to try to end street protests after the deadly weekend clashes erupted during the Shia Muslim religious ritual of Ashura.
At least 20 opposition figures have been arrested since Sunday, including three senior advisers to opposition leader and presidential challenger last June, Mirhossein Mousavi, his brother-in-law and a sister of Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, opposition websites said.
Ms Ebadi told French radio France Info that Iranian authorities were trying to silence her by arresting her sister.
“This arrest is illegal because my sister is a dentist, she is not in any way active in human rights or politics . . . and she didn’t participate in any protests.”
Ms Ebadi said intelligence officials entered her sister’s house on Monday night to arrest her without a warrant, rifled through her belongings and confiscated computers.
Yesterday state TV showed footage of huge pro-government rallies in various cities, with demonstrators carrying pictures of the late founder of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and Ayatollah Khamenei.
The crowd chanted: “The blood in our veins is a gift to our leader Khamenei”, and “Death to hypocrites”.
The elite Revolutionary Guards accused foreign media of joining hands with the opposition to harm the Islamic state. The British ambassador to Tehran was summoned by the Iranian government to be accused of “interference” in state matters.
“If Britain does not stop talking nonsense it will get a slap in the mouth,” Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said. The British government said its envoy would respond “robustly” to any criticism.
“Trying to overthrow the system will reach nowhere . . . designers of the unrest will soon pay the cost of their insolence,” the Revolutionary Guards said in a statement.
“The opposition, which has joined hands with the foreign media, is backed by foreign enemies.”
The wife of another opposition leader, Mehdi Karoubi, who was fourth in the June vote, said the establishment “was responsible for the safety of her family”, the opposition Jaras website said.
“My family and I do not enjoy any security against the rogue forces’ nightly attacks,” said Fatemeh Karoubi.
Jaras reported that hardliners attacked offices of moderate cleric Grand Ayatollah Yusef Sanei in various cities.
Jaras said fresh clashes took place at a Tehran university and also in the central city of Shiraz between students and security forces. The reports could not be independently verified because of restrictions on foreign media covering protests. – (Reuters)