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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: Foreign hand behind post-election unrest nor proven

27 August 2009 09:05 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“APA. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says he does not believe that groups protesting the presidential election results had foreign backing.

Wednesday evening, state television quoted Ayatollah Khamenei as saying he did not believe outside powers supported the protests. However, he said he thought the protests had been planned in advance of the election.

"I do not accuse the leaders of the recent incidents to be subordinate to the foreigners, like the United States and Britain, since this issue has not been proven for me," said Ayatollah Khamenei, in a statement read out on Iranian television.

"This plot was defeated, since fortunately our enemies still do not understand the issue in Iran," he said.
"Our enemies were given a slap in face by the Iranian nation, but they are still hopeful and they are pursuing the issue."
Grand Ayatollah Hossein Montazeri said on Wednesday that the ruling system under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has misused Islam in its crackdown against opposition supporters.
He said Iranian authorities also showed their true nature with the violent suppression of hundreds of thousands of demonstrators who filled the streets of the capital, Tehran, to protest against the results of the June 12 vote.
"The biggest oppression ... is despotic treatment of the people in the name of Islam," The Associated Press news agency reported, citing a statement from Montazeri posted on his website.
"I hope the responsible authorities give up the deviant path they are pursuing and restore the trampled rights of the people," he wrote.
"I hope authorities ... have the courage to announce that this ruling system is neither a republic nor Islamic and that nobody has the right to express opinion or criticism."