Iran cleric says obeying Ahmadinejad like obeying God

          
          Iran cleric says obeying Almiadinejad like obeying God Reuterscom ht ://www .reuters .con 'VardclePrint?articleId —USHAP233O482OO9O813
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          Iran cleric says obeying Ahmadinejad like
          obeying God
          Thu Aug 13, 2009 1:15pm EDT
          By Parisa Hafezi
          TEHRAN (Reuters) - A senior Iranian cleric seen as President Mahmoud
          Ahmadinejad's spiritual mentor said obeying the head of government was
          like obeying God, the moderate Etemad-e Melli newspaper said on
          Thursday.
          Firebrand cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi believes the
          authority of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ai Khamenei comes from God, not
          from the people.
          Khamenei presides over a complex political and clerical system as vail-ye
          faqih, or religious jurisprudent, with the president running the day-today
          governing of the country.
          “When a president is endorsed by the vail-ye faqih, obeying the president is
          like obeying God,” the daily quoted Mesbah-Yazdi as saying.
          Khamenei swiftly endorsed Ahmadinejad's re-election after the June 12
          presidential vote which was followed by the biggest anti-government
          protests since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
          The losing candidates say the poll was rigged, a charge denied by Iran's
          authorities, including Khamenei, who has accused Western powers of
          fomenting the vote unrest.
          Moderates say 69 protesters were killed in the demonstrations,
          contradicting the official report of 26 deaths.
          Mesbah-Yazdi has long held that democracy and elections are incompatible
          with Islam. Ahmadinejad's allies deny the president takes orders from the
          cleric, who is a defender of the supreme leader's absolute power.
          “When a president is ... endorsed by the supreme leader and becomes an
          agent of the leader, the leader's light is also shed on the president,”
          Mesbah-Yazdi said.
          Mesbah-Yazdi is a member of a popularly elected conservative-dominated
          panel of 86 Shi'ite Muslim clergymen with the power to elect and dismiss
          the supreme leader. But despite its powerful mandate, the Assembly of
          Experts has never sought to oust a leader in the 30 years of the Islamic
          Republic.
          Mesbah-Yazdi's followers have great sway among Iran's elite Revolutionary
          Guards and the Basij volunteer paramilitary force.
          The Guards political chief Yadollah Javani has called for defeated
          candidates Mehdi Karoubi and Mirhossein Mousavi as well as moderate
          former President Mohammad Khatami to be put on trial for inciting election
          unrest.
          LEGITIMACY
          Iran's police and security forces quelled the protests and the judiciary has
          now begun mass trials of than 100 moderates, despite the damage it might
          inflict on the government's legitimacy and relations with the West.
          At least 200 people still remain in jail, including senior moderate politicians,
          activists, lawyers and journalists.
          Defeated candidate Karoubi said on Sunday some protesters, both men and
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          Iran cleric says obeying Almiadinejad like obeying God Reuterscom ht ://www .reuters .con 'VardclePrint?articleId —USHAP233O482OO9O813
          women, were raped in prison. The abuse allegations, were rejected by
          authorities, including by parliament speaker and Tehran's police chief.
          Many of the detainees were held in south Tehran's Kahrizak prison and at
          least three people died in custody there and widespread anger erupted as
          reports of abuse in jail spread.
          Last month Khamenei ordered the closure of the “sub-standard” detention
          center at Kahrizak. Iranian authorities have acknowledged some protesters
          were tortured at Kahrizak and said its director had been jailed.
          Such allegations have created a rift among hardline politicians, many of
          whom backed Ahmadinejad's election win.
          An association of hundreds of former parliamentarians wrote a letter to the
          Assembly of Experts, urging its head Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to
          investigate the post election events. Rafsanjani, a former president, is an
          ally of the defeated moderate candidates.
          The United States, its European allies and Iranian moderates have
          denounced the mass trials as a “sham.”
          Among those being tried are French teaching assistant Clotilde Reiss and
          two employees of French and British embassies in Tehran, accused of
          espionage and taking part in a Western plot, charges France and Britain
          say are baseless.
          The father of Reiss said on Thursday he hoped his daughter would leave
          prison later in the day, after France agreed to provide bail for her
          conditional release.
          Iran's display of intolerance of internal opposition has alarmed the West,
          which had hoped for new talks on what it suspects is an Iranian nuclear
          arms quest. Tehran denies this.
          (Wrfting by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Jon Hemming)
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