Iran to stage protests against opposition leaders
By DPA, IANSFriday, February 18, 2011
TEHRAN/BERLIN - The Iranian authorities Friday are to stage a demonstration against the two main opposition leaders.
More than 200 legislators, several clerical groups and government supporters have called for the arrest and execution of Mir-Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi for allegedly undermining the Islamic system and collaborating with foreigners.
Those demands are expected to be repeated in the gathering scheduled for after Friday prayers in central Tehran.
Moussavi and Karroubi, the leaders of the Green Wave opposition movement, have angered the establishment by calling a rally Monday in solidarity with anti-government demonstrators in Egypt.
Two people died when the rally was violently dispersed by the security forces.
The demonstration aimed to draw attention to protest Tehran’s refusal to grant Iranians the same demonstration rights as in Egypt.
The head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli-Larijani, Thursday distanced himself from the demands for a swift arrest and execution of the opposition leaders, saying the investigations should be lawful and fair.
In separate online statements, Moussavi and Karroubi condemned the suppression of Monday’s protests and rejected the accusations of links to foreign powers.
Opposition websites in the meantime called for more rallies Sunday afternoon in Tehran in memory of the two victims of the crackdown.
Ex-premier Moussavi and former parliament speaker Karroubi were not only two of the main architects of the 1979 revolution but also close aides of the late supreme leader, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in the 1980s.
