Khamenei talks tough with West

TEHERAN: Iran's supreme leader warned Western governments yesterday of a "negative impact" on relations over what he called their meddling in Iran's post-election riots, state television reported.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments reflect efforts by the government to blame Western powers such as the US and Britain for unrest following the country's disputed presidential election.

"Some leaders of Western countries at the level of president, prime minister and foreign minister openly intervened in Iran's internal affairs that had nothing to do with them. Then, they said they don't intervene in Iran's internal affairs," the television quoted Khamenei as telling thousands of Iranians during a ceremony to commemorate a revered Shiite saint.

Iran dispersed street protests following its disputed June 12 election, and the leadership has been trying to erase any doubts about the legitimacy of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by portraying the unrest as sparked by foreign meddling.

Reformist opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi has said the government stole the election results and that he was the rightful winner of the vote. Khamenei has sided with Ahmadinejad.

While street protests have ended, the continued opposition being voiced by reformist politicians and their allies through other channels has produced a rare challenge in a country where the supreme leader's word is final.

Khamenei said Iran will pay attention to the remarks and behavior of Western governments and said that these will negatively impact future relations with Iran.

"These governments must be careful of their hostile remarks and behaviors because the Iranian nation will" react, the television quoted Khamenei as saying. "We will calculate the interventionist remarks and behaviors of these governments. Definitely, it will have a negative impact on future relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran."

In the post-election fallout, Iran detained more than a 1,000 protesters. While most protesters have been released, dozens of prominent political activists remain in jail on charges of "acting against national security".

Iranian authorities also detained 9 local employees of the British Embassy, leading to vocal protests from Britain and the European Union.

Embassy staff freed

Britain's Foreign Office said yesterday that Iran has released another British Embassy staff member, leaving one employee still in custody.

Last week, Iran said it would put detained local employees of the British Embassy on trial for inciting post-election protests.

Hossein Rassam, a political analyst at the embassy, still remains in detention, according to his lawyer Abdolsamad Khorramshi. Khorramshi said on Saturday that his client has been charged with "acting against national security". Britain has dismissed claims of intervention as baseless.

'Better leaders needed'

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said yesterday the people of Iran deserve better leadership and pledged to support Britain in its standoff with Teheran.

"Really, the Iranian people deserve better than the leaders they have today," he said at a news conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Sarkozy said Britain could count on France's full support in the dispute over the detention of some of its diplomatic staff in Teheran.

AP-Reuters

(China Daily 07/07/2009 page11)