Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Ayatollah warns against helping Iran's enemies
Mon Jul 20, 2009 10:26am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Zahra Hosseinian
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned senior officials on Monday not to help Tehran's enemies after two former presidents expressed defiant opposition to the result of June's disputed presidential poll.
Clashes erupted between police and reformist protesters for the first time in weeks in Tehran on Friday after former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani declared the Islamic Republic in crisis and said there were doubts about the election result.
That statement was a clear challenge to the authority of Khamenei, Iran's most powerful figure whose endorsement of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's landslide victory was meant to be the final word on the fairness of the June 12 poll.
Reformist former president, Mohammad Khatami, on Monday weighed in, calling for a referendum on the legitimacy of the government and defeated reformist candidate Mirhossein Mousavi called for the release of hundreds arrested in widespread June street protests against the election result.
"Elites should know that any talk, action or analysis that helps (the enemy) is a move against the nation. We should be very careful," Khamenei said in a speech to Iranian officials in a clear reference to recent statements questioning the poll.
"People regard with hate anyone, in any position, who wants to move society toward insecurity," Khamenei said. "There are things that should not be said. If we say them, we have moved against the nation. This is now a test for the elites and failing in this test ... means falling down."
Mousavi said it was wrong to accuse those detained in the protests of being linked to plots by foreign powers. It was unclear whether he made the comment in response to Khamenei's remarks.
Khamenei normally mediates above the political fray, but backed Ahmadinejad's victory soon after the poll while reformists cried foul and said the result was rigged.
Rafsanjani, a veteran insider who heads a body that can in theory dismiss the supreme leader, is now fighting for political survival because Khamenei ignored pleas to rein in Ahmadinejad after he accused the former president of corruption.
CALL FOR REFERENDUM
On top of the June protests, the biggest in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution, the public battle within Iran's clerical establishment poses an unprecedented challenge to the authority of Khamenei who came to power in 1989.
Reformers, aware of the rising expectations of a population mostly born since the revolution, argue the Islamic Republic must become more open and accountable to its people to survive.
"The only way out of the current situation is to hold a referendum," websites on Monday quoted Khatami as saying.
"People should be asked whether they are happy with the current situation ... If the vast majority of people are happy with the current situation, we will accept it as well."
Hardliners condemned Rafsanjani's Friday sermon. One cleric said Iran's government drew its legitimacy from "almighty God." Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Honduras coup rivals on collision course
Swine Flu
H1N1 virus spreading too fast to count
The World Health Organization says that the H1N1 flu pandemic is the fastest-moving pandemic ever and that it is now pointless to count every case. Full Coverage | Slideshow
Flu outbreak means lost summer for Mexican tourism
Blog: Graphic timeline of global flu pandemics
Factbox: How to fight flu spread
More International News
Honduras coup rivals on collision course
| Video
Mumbai attacker in surprise guilty plea
"Escort tapes" put Berlusconi back in spotlight
Indonesia TV identifies Jakarta hotel bombing suspect
| Video
British fighter jet crashes in south Afghanistan
| Video
More International News...
Related News
Iran's Khatami wants referendum on government's legitimacy
9:36am EDT
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
CIT Group on cusp of $3 billion rescue
A new Tour starts for beaten Armstrong
Netanyahu defies U.S. on East Jerusalem settlement
Human Genome's Lupus drug succeeds in trial
UPDATE 2-Human Genome soars as Lupus drug succeeds in trial
U.S. recession easing but likely not over: survey | Video
Clinton says U.S. will do everything to free soldier | Video
UPDATE 1-Analysts give mixed 2009 outlook for BofA, Citigroup
CIT lost in gamble to pressure FDIC
Clinton: U.S. will do everything to free soldier
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Honduras crisis talks break down
German landslide sweeps away houses
Bars fume over Turkey smoke ban
Canadian wildfires force evacuations
Video of captured U.S. soldier
Cloned dogs sniff out drugs
Beckham confronts angry fans
Miss Moscow can take the heat
Family butchered in Australia
Jakarta attackers not yet identified
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
We want to hear from you
Join the Reuters Consumer Insight Panel and help us get to know you better
Please take a moment to complete our survey
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.