Iran said on Tuesday it would soon hang nine more rioters over the unrest that erupted after the June presidential vote, and the leader of the opposition said such repression showed the 1979 Islamic revolution had failed.
"Nine others will be hanged soon. The nine, and the two who were hanged on Thursday, were surely arrested in the recent riots and had links to anti-revolutionary groups," said senior judiciary official Ebrahim Raisi, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
Dictatorship in the name of religion is the worst kind. The most evident manifestation of a continued tyrannical attitude is the abuse of parliament and judiciary. We have completely lost hope in the judiciary
The two men hanged last week were among a group of 11 people sentenced to death on charges including "waging war against God" and being members of armed groups.
Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, said on Tuesday the repression showed the 1979 Islamic revolution that overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah "had not achieved its goals".
The ex-premier, once rated as a key pillar of the Islamic revolution, added in a strongly worded interview posted on his website Kaleme.org that present day Iran showed the "attitude of a historic tyrant regime everywhere."
"Filling the prisons and brutally killing protesters show that the root of ... dictatorship remain from the monarchist era," he said.
"Dictatorship in the name of religion is the worst kind. The most evident manifestation of a continued tyrannical attitude is the abuse of parliament and judiciary. We have completely lost hope in the judiciary," he added.
Mousavi also slammed influential cleric Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati for praising the hangings and for urging the judiciary on Friday to execute more.
"The cruel cleric praises the judiciary for the hangings despite serious concerns over the methods used for getting confessions from detainees," Mousavi said.
Eight people, including a nephew of Mousavi, were killed in demonstrations during the Shiite ritual of Ashura on Dec. 27 and officials said over 1,000 were arrested.
"The 'green movement' will not abandon its peaceful fight ... until people's rights are preserved," Mousavi told the Kalemeh website. "Peaceful protests are Iranians' right."
Anniversary of revolution
The cruel cleric praises the judiciary for the hangings despite serious concerns over the methods used for getting confessions from detainees
Celebrations marking the 1979 return from exile of hardline cleric Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini began on Monday and will climax on February 11, the anniversary of the fall of shah who had ruled Iran for nearly four decades.
Mousavi’s comments may encourage supporters to take to the streets again. If so, clashes are expected.
Since a disputed presidential election in June that gave President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a second term, the opposition has used state rallies to stage anti-government protests. Mousavi and another defeated candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, have urged their supporters to attend the Feb. 11 events.
"Under no condition will we let the 'green movement' show up ... it will be firmly confronted by us," said Hossein Hamedani, a commander of the Revolutionary Guards.
The poll, which reformist leaders said was rigged, touched off the worst internal crisis in the Islamic Republic's history. The government denied any fraud in the voting.
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