Ahmadinejad urges punishment for unrest architects

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for a severe punishment of the orchestrators of the post-election unrest that followed the presidential election.

In a pre-sermon speech to Friday prayers, President Ahmadinejad touched upon the events ensuing from the 10th presidential election.

Calling the post-election events 'painful', the president said that certain individuals deceived by the enemy's schemes did their best to undermine the high voter turnout in the election and to shake the foundations of the Islamic establishment.

The president said electoral fraud with a huge discrepancy was not possible in Iran. He called the June 12 election 'the healthiest' election against which no single evidence could be found to undermine the results.

President Ahmadinejad then called on officials to bring to justice the architects of the post-election unrest.

"I call upon security and judicial officials to decisively and mercilessly act with those who committed inhumane acts in the guise of the friends [of the establishment] since they inflicted damage on people and tarnished the image of the establishment, security and police forces."

He then called on authorities to administer justice and firmly deal with those who "orchestrated and provoked" the unrest and instead treat those deceived in the course of the election with 'Islamic compassion'.

President Ahmadinejad also lashed out at Western countries for interfering in the internal affairs of the country both before and after the election.

They tried to undermine the 'dignity and pride' of the Iranian nation and sought in vain to mar the image of the Islamic establishment, President Ahmadinejad said, but reiterated that the Islamic Revolution has instead gained 'more strength' following the election developments.

The president then advised Western countries to compensate for their 'blunders'.

After the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June 12 presidential election, the defeated candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi disputed the veracity of the votes and rejected the result as 'fraudulent'.

Tehran and some other Iranian cities became the scene of rallies with some of them turning violent and resulting in the death of at least 30 people. A large number of people including well-known opposition figures, political activists and journalists were also arrested following the election.

Tehran accuses Western countries for instigating the post-election protests in Iran, arguing that the widespread post-vote unrest was a foreign-led attempt aimed at staging a 'velvet coup' to overthrow the Islamic establishment.

The opposition leaders deny having any links to foreign countries, adding that the outcry has been prompted by national doubts over the official result of the vote.