Iran,  The Left

Execute protestors “without mercy” – Ahmad Khatami

Leading Iranian cleric Ahmad Khatami has, according to Reuters, “called for the execution of ‘rioters’ in the latest sign of the authorities’ determination to stamp out opposition to the June 12 presidential election”.

“I want the judiciary to … punish leading rioters firmly and without showing any mercy to teach everyone a lesson,” Ahmad Khatami told worshippers at Tehran University.

Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts, said the judiciary should charge the leading “rioters” as being “mohareb” or one who wages war against God.

“They should be punished ruthlessly and savagely,” he said. Under Iran’s Islamic law, punishment for people convicted as mohareb is execution.

Now, in 2007, Khatami told PressTV, Iran’s propaganda channel, the following:

“The US has always taken velvet revolution into consideration by promoting Western culture in the society and by causing strife between people and the government through propaganda, organizing certain individuals, psychological warfare and making intentional use of media, intellectual circles, university student’s establishments and feminism movements in order to implement its interfering policies,”

Astute readers will observe that this is precisely the narrative being offered today in the UK by George Galloway and other dim bulbs (I almost said ‘leading lights’) of the so-called “anti-imperialist” Left, to explain the current events in Iran.

I wonder how many of his executions they will tolerate before they blush. Certainly, while Socialist Unity act as Galloway’s own tweedlefiddledeedee and tweedleverydumb, the Daily Kos has his number.