TEHRAN: A newspaper editor seen as close to Iran’s top authority said on Saturday defeated election candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and a former pro-reform president had committed “terrible crimes” which should be tried in court. Besides, Iran is considering pressing charges against a British Embassy staffer, a Newsweek journalist and several reformist leaders, lawyers said on Saturday, as the regime intensifies its crackdown on protests over last month’s presidential election.
In a commentary published in his hard-line Kayhan daily, editor-in-chief Hossein Shariatmadari suggested Mousavi and his supporters in last month’s disputed election had acted on the instructions of the United States.
“An open court, in front of the people’s eyes, must deal with all the terrible crimes and clear betrayal committed by the main elements behind the recent unrest, including Mousavi and Khatami,” he wrote, referring to former President Mohammad Khatami, a leading reformist who backed Mousavi in the election.
Another hard-line newspaper, Javan, said 100 members of Parliament had signed a letter to the judiciary calling for the leaders of “post-election riots” to face trial, pointing to Mousavi and fellow defeated moderate Mehdi Karoubi.
“All they did and said was in line with the instructions announced by American officials in the past,” Shariatmadari, who is close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wrote.
Lawyer Abolsamad Khorramshahi said he was seeking permission to see detained British Embassy political analyst Hossein Rassam after being told by his family of the accusations against him.
“I have not met with him yet, but I will ask the judiciary for an appointment,” Khorramshahi told AFP. “I was told by a close relative that he is accused of acting against national security.”
A second lawyer acting for Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari and a number of reformist leaders said he too had so far been unable to see his clients. Nikbakht said he is also representing former Deputy Foreign Minister Mohsen Amizadeh, ex-government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, former Deputy Economy Minister Mohsen Safai-Farahani and former Vice-President Mohammad Ali Abtahi, all of whom served under Khatami.
Ahmadinejad, in a speech in Tehran to mark Mines and Industry Day on Saturday, said Western powers were whipping up controversy over the Iranian election to divert attention from their economic problems. “The countries suffering from the financial crisis have tried hard to divert the world public opinion from this huge crisis, for instance they created the swine flue issue or they have tried to make something else from our election,” he said.
Karoubi’s Etemad-e Melli website said on Saturday he had visited families of some of the many people detained after the election, including Abtahi, who was part of his campaign and was arrested on June 16.
