Hardline Iran cleric urges tough stance on detainees

          
          Hardlim Iran cleric urges tough stance ondetairiees Reuters ,com ht ://www ,reuters ,con 'VardclePrint?articleId —USHAP233O482OO9O814
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          Hard line Iran cleric urges tough stance on
          detainees
          Fri Aug 14, 2009 10:42am EDT
          By Parisa Hafezi and Reza Derakhshi
          TEHRAN (Reuters) - A hardline cleric on Friday said Iran's judiciary should
          resist attempts by European powers to bully them into releasing Western-
          linked detainees, held over the unrest that followed a disputed presidential
          election.
          In a speech broadcast live on state radio, senior cleric Ahmad Khatami told
          worshippers at Tehran University that Britain and other states had used their
          embassies in Tehran to plot against Iran's clerical leadership.
          Iran has staged mass trials of those arrested after the June 12 vote,
          including a Frenchwoman and Iranian employees of the British and French
          embassies, a process aimed at uprooting the opposition and putting an end
          to protests.
          “It became clear that some embassies in Iran, particularly the British
          embassy, were involved in some plots and some of their employees took
          part in post-election protests,” Khatami said.
          “The Iranian nation expects the judiciary to ... resist the bullying of the
          European countries,” he said.
          Khatami is a member of the Assembly of Experts, a powerful, conservative-
          dominated panel of 86 clerics that has the right to elect and dismiss Iran's
          Supreme Leader, currently Ayatollah Ji Khamenei.
          The opposition says the June poll was rigged to secure the re-election of
          President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was sworn in last week. The
          authorities say Ahmadinejad's landslide win was an accurate reflection of
          the voters' wishes.
          Mass street protests over the vote triggered the worst unrest in Iran since
          the 1979 Islamic revolution, and the authorities' failure to end weeks of
          criticism by opposition figures have highlighted deep divisions in the
          establishment.
          The fallout from the post-election unrest has further clouded the prospect of
          Iran accepting U.S. President Barack Obama's offer of direct talks on Iran's
          nuclear program.
          Tehran denies it has nuclear arms ambitions and its ambassador to the UN
          nuclear watchdog, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said Iran would propose banning
          military attacks on nuclear facilities at a meeting next month.
          Israel, believed to be the Middle East's only nuclear power, sees Iran's
          nuclear program as a threat to its existence and has not ruled out military
          action to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran refuses to
          recognize Israel.
          “SHEER LIES”
          Khamenei has accused Western powers of fomenting the post-vote unrest.
          Losing candidates say 69 people were killed, more than double the official
          death toll of 26.
          Mehdi Karoubi, the most liberal of the candidates that lost to Ahmadinejad,
          has angered hardliners by alleging that some of those arrested after the
          election were tortured to death.
          He has also alleged on his Internet website that male and female prisoners
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          Hardlim Iran cleric urges tough stance ondetairiees Reuters.com ht ://www .reuters .com ardclePrint?articleId —USHAP233O482OO9O814
          in Tehran's Kahrizak prison were raped, a charge the authorities have
          rejected as “baseless.”
          Khatami, in forthright criticism of Karoubi, said the allegations of the former
          parliament speaker had “made America, Israel and other enemies happy.”
          “This letter harmed the system's prestige. We expect the Islamic system to
          confront him properly ... for issuing such a letter that was baseless and full
          of sheer lies, according to the judiciary and parliament.”
          The stream of criticism by Karoubi, another defeated candidate Mirhossein
          Mousavi, as well as moderate former President Mohammad Khatami, have
          angered hardliners.
          The Revolutionary Guard's political chief Yadollah Javani has called for all
          three to be put on trial for inciting unrest.
          Reports of detainee abuse have caused widespread anger which official
          denials have failed to quell. Many protesters were held in Kahrizak prison in
          south Tehran, where at least three people died in custody.
          The abuse allegations have created a rift even among hardline politicians,
          many of whom backed Ahmadinejad's re-election. Khamenei ordered
          Kahrizak closed last month.
          The uproar over alleged detainee abuse from moderates and conservatives
          could yet complicate Ahmadinejad's attempts to name a cabinet. He must
          win parliament's approval in what may prove to be a stormy process.
          (Additional reporting by Boris Groendah l in Vienna; Editing by Jon Boyle)
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