Regime’s threat to execute protesters
IRAN’s unelected supreme leader yesterday accused his country’s ‘enemies’ of orchestrating deadly antigovernment protests across the nation.
And a prominent judge said protesters could face the death penalty.
The ultra-conservative cleric Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 78, appeared to blame foreign nations for meddling in Iran’s internal affairs and whipping up discontent.
In comments posted to his official website, Khamenei appeared to blame foreign nations for at least exacerbating the unrest gripping Iran.
In his first public remarks since the demonstrations began, he said: ‘In the recent days’ incidents, enemies of Iran utilised various means, including money, weapons, politics and intelligence apparatuses, to create problems for the Islamic system.’ Khamenei said he would elaborate further in the coming days. Iranian leaders often accuse the United states, Israel and Britain of seeking to overthrow the clerically overseen government.
Meanwhile, the head of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court Mousa Ghazanfarabadi reportedly said: ‘Obviously one of their charges can be Moharebeh (waging war against God). That’s a death penalty offence in Iran.’
In a sign the rhetoric is hardening, senior Revolutionary Guards commander Esmail Kowsari vowed elite forces would crush those he said were disturbing the country’s security. In the event that the unrest continued, ‘ the authorities will undoubtedly make a decision and finish the business’, Kowsari said.
The demonstrations, the largest seen in Iran since its disputed 2009 presidential election, entered their sixth day yesterday.
They have seen at least 21 people killed, with nine dying in overnight clashes on Monday, and hundreds arrested.
Donald Trump said the Us was watching the ‘brutal and corrupt Iranian regime’ in a fiery message posted on his Twitter feed.
He added: ‘ All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their “pockets”.
‘The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The Us is watching!’
Mr Trump was apparently referring to the Obama administration’s unfreezing of some Iranian assets and payment of a cash settlement after the Iran nuclear deal. Earlier Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani played down the protests and acknowledged that Iranians had the right to protest legally.
The protests began last Thursday over Iran’s weak economy, a jump in food prices and alleged corruption.
Nasrollah Mohammadi, a mechanic near the capital Tehran’s Enghelab square, the site of many past protests, said he supports the demonstrators.
‘They are right. Corruption is high and opportunities are given to their own friends,’ Mohammadi said, referring to government officials. ‘I have two sons, 27 and 30, at home without jobs years after graduation.’
A 23-year-old student at the city’s Azad University said: ‘I voted for Rouhani, but I see his hands are tied and he cannot fulfil his promises.’