Put Moussavi, Khatami, Karroubi on trial says Iran general (Roundup)

Aug 9, 2009, 13:32 GMT

Tehran - A senior general of the Iranian revolutionary guards said Sunday that top opposition leaders should be tried for having planned a coup against the Islamic establishment, the official news agency IRNA reported Sunday.

Yadollah Javani, head of the guards' political bureau, demanded that Mir-Hossein Moussavi, former president Mohammad Khatami and former parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi be put on trial.

The demand came as the European Union, Britain and France all strongly hit out at the trial of some 100 people - including British and French embassy staff members - for demonstrating against the June re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The opposition has repeatedly claimed the election - in which Moussavi was the main candidate opposing Ahmadinejad - was rigged, but Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose word is final in the Islamic republic, insists that Ahmadinejad has his backing.

Javani said that as Moussavi, Khatami and Karroubi were the main elements behind the unrest over the June 12 presidential vote, they should be arrested, tried and punished.

Since the post-election protest movements, Khatami, Moussavi, Karroubi and also ex-president Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani have become the leading opposition quartet.

It was announced Saturday that Rafsanjani is to speak at next Friday's prayers at Tehran University, prompting speculation of further street demonstrations.

The Tehran daily Etemad Melli had already reported last Wednesday that some of the pro-Ahmadinejad parliament deputies called on Tehran prosecutor Saeid Mortazavi to order the arrest of Moussavi on charges of provoking what the MPs called illegal unrest.

The same MPs also called for former reformist president Khatami to be prohibited from leaving Iran following rumours that he would seek asylum in a European country.

There have been unconfirmed reports that the moderate cleric and initiator of the Dialogue Among Civilizations project might seek asylum in Switzerland.

In further criticism of the opposition from a senior establishment figure, General Massoud Jazayeri, a deputy commander of the Iranian Army, warned Sunday the next 'coup' against Iran would be via the foreign media.

'Right after the failure of the Green Coup, the foreign elements and their agents inside have started programming the next phase of the coup against Iran,' he was quoted as saying by IRNA news agency.

The Green Coup refers to the reform movement of Moussavi, who had chosen the colour as symbol for change in Iran.

'The new coup scenario is using intelligence, security and espionage via the (foreign) media and this new plan requires special attention,' Jazayeri added.

Meanwhile the European Union sharpened its criticism of the trials of regime opponents Sunday, with Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt saying these challenged the whole of the EU.

   In an interview with the TT news agency in Sweden, which holds the rotating EU presidency, Bildt repeated accusations that the proceedings in Tehran were a 'show trial.'

   On Saturday, the second hearing in the trial focused on Iranian staff at the British and French embassies in Tehran, as well as a French citizen, charged with spying and involvement in protests.

Bildt said that the EU 'must be very clear' on demanding the immediate release of the accused. The situation in Tehran was 'insecure,' he said, and required caution.

   Among the defendants in Saturday's hearing was French lecturer Clothilde Reiss, arrested last month on charges of espionage, and Iranian Hossein Rassam, chief political analyst at the British embassy, also accused of spying. The two were also alleged to have been involved in the 'illegal' post-election protests and unrest.

   British Foreign Minister David Miliband said the trials of the embassy workers brought the Iranian government 'into further disrepute', while the French Foreign Ministry issued a strong protest over Reiss and a woman embassy staff member, Nazak Afshar, being put on trial, saying the charges were without foundation, and neither had been allowed access to legal support.