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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iranian hardliners poised for revenge on dissenters |
| 2009-07-06 |
| [Mail and Globe] Iran's hardline rulers are set to punish reformists linked to the boldest anti-government protests since the 1979 Islamic revolution, despite the damage this might inflict on the system's legitimacy and relations with the West. Now that security forces have quelled the street turmoil that erupted after a disputed June 12 presidential election, the leadership is preparing to put on trial some of the hundreds of political activists and opinion-makers detained since the vote. Hints abound that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, shocked by the furore over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election in a vote critics say was rigged, is striking back. The editor of hardline Kayhan daily urged on Saturday that losing candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and reformist ex-President Mohammad Khatami be tried for their "terrible crimes". On Friday, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, head of the Guardian Council that certified the election, said British embassy local staffers accused of inciting unrest had confessed and would face trial. They include the mission's chief political analyst. The hardline Javan newspaper said 100 lawmakers had asked the judiciary to prosecute the leaders of "post-election riots", citing Mousavi and another defeated candidate, Mehdi Karoubi. Further stifling of dissent risks discrediting "republican" institutions that have in the past cloaked Iran's clerical rulers with a degree of popular legitimacy, analysts said. "Once the attempt to steal the elections didn't go as planned, Ahmadinejad opted for the politics of elimination," said Trita Parsi, president of the Washington-based National Iranian American Council. "That too will fail, I believe. "The violence and brutality shown by the government will not be forgotten. It came at the expense of whatever legitimacy the government had left," he said. "Khamenei and Ahmadinejad can only rule by force now. Their reliance on the security apparatus is greater now than ever before." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 only an idiot or an america hater would have given this govt legitimacy before the election and some idiots and america haters are still fans of the govt |
| Posted by: lord garth 2009-07-06 21:12 |
| #1 I wasn't aware that this government needed legitimacy. They have the guns and Allah's Will and a healthy lust for power on their side. They need more to force a brutal clamp down on any dissent? I don't get it. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2009-07-06 08:42 |