Stop protests or expect violence says Iran’s supreme leader

Al-Shorfa and wire services
For Al-Shorfa.com
2009-06-19

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a sermon during Friday prayers at Tehran University on June 19. (Reuters/Morteza Nikoubazl)

TEHRAN – In his sermon during Friday prayers at the Tehran University mosque, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a defiant, unapologetic speech on June 19 upholding the contested presidential election and calling the massive street demonstrations "illegal".

The ayatollah spoke for nearly two hours, insisting there was no fraud in Iran's disputed presidential elections and that the state would not cheat. "The people have made their choice", he said.

He also gave President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad his full support. "It's natural to have differences of opinion", he said. "But I believe the president's [views] are closer to what they should be."

Speaking after six days of massive protests against the controversial re-election of Ahmadinejad, Khamenei said, "Today the Iranian nation needs calm."

Khamenei blamed “Iran's enemies" in the West, singling out the U.S., Great Britain and Israel for undermining the elections. The "Zionist-owned Western media", he said, are to blame too.

"The enemies [of Iran] are targeting the Islamic establishment's legitimacy by questioning the election and its authenticity before and after [the vote]", he said.

"After street protests, some foreign powers ... started to interfere in Iran's state matters by questioning the result of the vote. They do not know the Iranian nation. I strongly condemn such interference", Khamenei said.

More ominously for the opposition, Khamenei made it clear he disapproved of any "illegal" challenges.

"Elections are decided by the ballot box not in the streets", he said. Equally ominously, he explicitly warned opposition leaders, "If rallies continue, they will be responsible for violence." The opposition, so far, is undeterred and have not cancelled plans for today's rally.

Addressing the protestors, Khamenei said, "It is a wrong impression that by using street protests as a pressure tool, they can compel officials to accept their illegal demands. This would be the start of a dictatorship."

He challenged opposition supporters over charges of vote-rigging, saying, "Iran's laws do not allow vote-rigging ... With these laws, how could it be possible to have such vote-rigging?"

Hundreds of university students have protested against the election results in the past week, hurling stones at riot police. Tehran University was the site of serious clashes against student-led protests in 1999 and is one of the nerve centres of the pro-reform movement in Iran.

The protesters, seen on TV, many wearing black and holding photos and signs with the names of those killed, jammed Iman Khomeini square, according to various media reports. "Why did you kill our brothers?" read one sign, Reuters reported; "Our martyred brothers, we will take back your votes", read another.

[ABC, BBC, Reuters]

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