Tehran - Iranian reformers yesterday expressed their dissatisfaction with the verdicts, handed down on Saturday by the Tehran military court in the "serial murder" case, writes Michael Jansen.
This involved the killing of four dissident intellectuals in 1998 by allegedly "rogue" operatives from the intelligence ministry. Three of the accused were condemned to death, five were imprisoned for life, seven received sentences of two to 10 years, and four were acquitted.
The Islamic Participation Front allied with the President, Mr Muhammad Khatami, castigated the court for handing out harsher sentences to the "soldier" than to "his commander".
The detention without explanation yesterday of Mr Hossein Loqmanian, a reformist deputy from the city of Hamedan, showed that the conservatives intend to continue battling Mr Khatami's supporters ahead of June's presidential poll.