Iran - after Ashura protests

MPs call for crackdown, reformists back protesters

Article published on the 2009-12-29 Latest update 2009-12-29 14:32 TU

A demonstrator pursues a police officer on Sunday's protests
(Photo: Reuters)

Iran's parliament has called for a crackdown after the violent protests in several cities on Sunday during Shia-Muslim Ashura rituals. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday claimed the demonstrations were organised by "the Zionists and the Americans".

"Parliament wants the judiciary and intelligence bodies to arrest those who insult religion and impose the maximum punishment on them without reservation," said the statement read out by parliament speaker Ali Larijani on television.

Parliament also condemned "disgusting comments" by Western governments about Sunday's unrest. On Sunday, US President Barack Obama called on Tehran to free protesters who had been arrested.

The hardline MPs called protesters, who have become known as  the "Green Movement", "anti-religion" and "counter-revolutionaries".

The statement called on opposition leaders to "clearly separate their path from this wicked movement".

But the reformist Islamic Iran Particpation Front (IIPF) called the recent re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a "coup d'état" and condemned "attacks on defenceless people".

"The Green Movement is peaceful and law-abiding. It avoids any violence and will press ahead on its path," it said in a statement carried by the opposition norooznews website.

Iran says it will summon British envoy Simon Gass over criticism of the crackdown, while pro-government website Rajanews claimed that a British citizen was among those arrested.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi has announced that her sister, who is a professor of medicine, was arrested on Monday.

"She is not an activist and her arrest is in fact new pressure to stop my human rights work," she told the Rahesabz website.

Ebadi left Iran the day before the 12 June election.

The Iranian judiciary has confirmed that an Iran-based Syrian journalist was arrested on Sunday. Reza al-Basha works for Dubai TV and United Arab Emirates journalists' association has called on the International Federation of Journalists to intervene on his behalf.