Khamenei to Opposition: We Will Punch You in the Mouth

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed today to deliver a "punch in the mouth" to the country’s opposition if it goes ahead with new protests on Thursday 11 February. The opposition has called for a large turnout of its supporters during a government-sponsored demonstration in Tehran marking the 31st anniversary of the Iranian revolution. It was not clear whether Khamenei objected to their participation in the official demonstration, or if he feared that the participants would turn the occasion into an anti-government protest. The opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has announced that he would participate in the demonstration.

“[Iranians] will punch them in their mouths to shock them," Khamenei said. "Today, it is clear that those who stand against the great job done by the Iranian nation in the election, are not a part of the people [of Iran].”

The opposition claims that the presidential election that resulted in Ahmadinejad’s victory for a second term was fraudulent.

In a related development, an Islamic Republic revolutionary court today sentenced Iran’s former deputy foreign minister and foreign spokesman Mohsen Aminzadeh to six years in prison. Aminzadeh is one of the most senior reformist figures yet to be sentenced. He was charged with “spreading propaganda” against the regime [ISNA, 8 February]. Aminzadeh served during the 1997-2005 administration of former pro-reform president Mohammad Khatami.

More than 100 reform activists and politicians were brought in front of a mass show trial late last year. In the past month, two people have been executed, and death sentences have been announced against nine others. A score of others have been sentenced to six years prison terms for participation in or sympathy toward the postelection protests.