Iranian cleric calls for execution of protesters after Ayatollah Khamenei vows to 'break the backs of rebels'
Ahmad Khatami Photo: Ebrahim Noroozi / AP / Profimedia
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, has admitted for the first time that thousands of people have been killed during the protests that have rocked the country over the past two weeks. Another cleric, Ahmad Khatami, called for the execution of the protesters, writes The Guardian.
In a speech on Thursday, Khamenei said thousands of people had been killed, “some in inhuman, savage ways” and blamed the United States for the death toll. The supreme leader said the US president was “a criminal” over his declared support for the demonstrators and called for severe punishment for the protesters.
“Allah willing, the Iranian nation must break the back of the rebels as it broke the back of the rebellion,” Khamenei said.
Iranian authorities on Saturday released a compilation of footage that appears to show people armed with guns and knives alongside unarmed protesters, in what they say is evidence of foreign saboteurs.
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Ahmad Khatami, a senior cleric, called for the execution of the protesters, saying “the armed hypocrites should be put to death”. He described the protesters as “slackers” and “soldiers” of Israel and the United States, promising that neither of these two states would have peace.
Khatami, a member of the Council of Guardians and a member of the Assembly of Learned, which appoints the supreme leader, is an influential cleric who is a hard-line follower of the regime.
His speech contrasted with statements made by Trump this week, who appeared to have delayed a military strike on Iran after authorities in Tehran had agreed to halt the executions. On Friday, Trump thanked Iran for halting the execution of 800 protesters, without saying the source of that number.
According to Human Rights Activists, more than 3,090 people have been killed during the protests, and additional information is being sought for another 4,000. Over 22,100 people were arrested
After successfully suppressing the demonstrations, the authorities made a public show of punishing those involved, whom they accuse of having participated in a plot to destabilize the country, with foreign support.
Ahmad Khatami said in his Friday sermon that 350 mosques, 126 prayer halls and 20 other places of worship were damaged by the protesters, along with 400 hospitals, 106 ambulances, 71 fire engines and 50 other emergency services vehicles.
Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's last shah, who became a prominent opposition voice during the protests, continued to call for the overthrow of the government in Tehran and called on Trump to intervene. “I think the president is a man of his word,” Pahlavi said, adding that “regardless of whether action is taken, we as Iranians have no choice but to continue the fight.”
