Iranian authorities vow "no mercy" to opponents

Iranian authorities accused opposition leaders on Thursday of links to "foreign enemies" and warned they would be shown no mercy unless they changed course.

"Again we are warning the opposition leaders to immediately separate their path from the foreign enemies and the anti-revolution groups," the Intelligence Ministry said.

"Otherwise they will be confronted with no mercy."

Iranian police fired teargas to disperse a crowd of anti-government protesters who had gathered in central Tehran, an opposition website reported earlier.

"Supporters of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi clashed with police in Haft-e-Tir Square and police fired two rounds of teargas to disperse the protesters," the Jaras website said.

Because of a ban on foreign media reporting on illegal demonstrations, the report could not be independently verified.

Protests

Iranian authorities earlier ordered their opponents to cease anti-government protests and denied an opposition website report that troops were heading for Tehran ahead of a planned opposition rally.

The authorities have signaled they will tolerate no more protests after eight people were killed in fiery demonstrations on Sunday during the Shiite ritual of Ashura. A nephew of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi was killed the same day.

State television showed a group of pro-government demonstrators wearing white shrouds and carrying placards that read: "We are ready to sacrifice our lives for the leader" -- referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Jaras opposition website said troops and armored vehicles were moving towards Tehran and that security forces had deployed in several city squares to foil the opposition rally.

Officials denied the report that troops, which have not previously been used for crowd control, had been called in.

Independent verification was impossible because foreign media have been barred from covering protests directly.

Iran's Intelligence Ministry accused the opposition leaders of links to "foreign enemies and anti-revolutionary groups" and vowed to confront them with no mercy unless they changed course.

The authorities have often blamed foreign-backed forces for plotting to topple the clerical establishment, which is also locked in a standoff with the West over Iran's nuclear work.

U.S. deadline

A deadline set by the United States and its allies for Iran to accept a deal designed to calm fears that Tehran's nuclear program is a cover for bomb-making expires on Thursday.

Iran, which may face tougher international sanctions in 2010, says its atomic work aims only to produce electricity.

Hardline leaders have been calling this week for opposition leaders to be punished for fomenting unrest in Iran, which has been rocked by political turmoil since a disputed June election.

Iran's police chief warned Mousavi supporters on Wednesday to halt their "illegal" demonstrations or face harsh treatment.

Authorities have arrested at least 20 pro-reform figures, including three senior advisers to Mousavi, his brother-in-law and a sister of Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi.

Hundreds of thousands of people have turned out for government-organized demonstrations which saw calls for the execution of Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, both losing candidates in the election won by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The poll, which reformist leaders said was rigged, touched off the worst internal crisis in the Islamic Republic's 30-year history. The government denied any fraud in the voting.

Neither side has shown much appetite for compromise in the six months since then and confrontations look set to intensify, amid a rancorous flood of accusations and counter-charges.

On Tuesday, Abbas Vaez-Tabasi, a representative of Khamenei, said opposition leaders were 'mohareb' (enemies of god) fit for execution under Islamic law.

Prosecutor-General Qolamhossein Mohseni-Ejei urged them to repent or "face charges of supporting apostates in defiance of God", the state-run newspaper Iran reported.