TEHRAN – Hundreds of thousands of government supporters rallied across Iran yesterday, swearing allegiance to the clerical establishment and accusing opposition leaders of causing unrest in the Islamic state.
Iran’s police chief warned supporters of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi to expect harsh treatment if they joined illegal anti-government rallies, three days after eight protesters were killed in demonstrations.
Hundreds of thousands took part in the government-organised demonstrations, which state television broadcast live. They chanted slogans against the opposition leaders – Mr Mousavi and moderate defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karoubi.
“You should repent . . . otherwise the system will confront you as a mohareb [enemy of God],” cleric Ahmad Alamolhoda told a Tehran rally, directing his remarks at reformist leaders, state television reported.
Under Iran’s sharia law, the sentence for a mohareb is death.
Iran’s state news agency, Irna, said two leaders of “sedition” had fled to a northern Iranian province. “Two of those who played a major role in igniting tension in Iran following the vote fled Tehran and went to a northern province because they were scared of people who demanded their punishment,” Irna reported, without naming the two.
The report was immediately denied by a son of Mr Karoubi.
“My father and Mr Mousavi are in Tehran and Irna’s report is baseless. They are still pursuing the people’s demands,” Hossein Karoubi told moderate Parlemannews.
In Tehran, crowds burned American and British flags, condemning what they said was interference by Washington and London in Iran’s internal affairs.
Semi-official Fars news agency said a group of hardliners gathered in front of the British embassy in Tehran, chanting “the British embassy should be closed down”.
Iran’s top authority accused the West of basing its actions towards Iran on “distorted realities”.
“They are under influence of foreign and Zionist news agencies’ reports,” Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was reported as saying.
There was no word of any opposition supporters on the streets yesterday, despite talk of demonstrations on reformist websites. Foreign media are restricted from moving around to report on such protests, which are illegal.
In Iran’s bloodiest unrest since the immediate aftermath of the disputed June 12th presidential election, eight people were killed on Sunday and at least 20 pro-reform figures were arrested. – (Reuters)