Back to Brief on Iran
TEHRAN - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday called on rival factions to end a bitter row over the killings of dissidents.
Khamenei's call for calm came amid public concern over a new wave of killings in Tehran which did not appear to be political in nature.
There was wide concern among residents of the capital after more gruesome murders in which a prominent elderly engineer and his wife, and the wife of a prize-winning translator were killed at their homes by unknown intruders last week.
Newspapers have given wide coverage to the murders, in which no suspects have been arrested, and the earlier killing of a prominent physician who lived in the same high-security Tehran district as President Mohammed Khatami.
They also reported that Reza Alijani, editor of the Islamist monthly Iran-e Farda, had received death threats by unknown telephone callers who claimed to be from a little-known hardline group which has hailed the recent killings and voiced similar threats against Khatami.
The row and the new killings have created an atmosphere of uncertainty among Tehran residents and featured strongly in newspapers as Iran prepares to mark the 20th anniversary of its revolution next month.
"Our dear and pious nation must...stand
hand in hand behind our committed officials and not allow their unity to
be breached," Khamenei told worshippers.
Hard-liners Stop Prayers Sermon, Reuter, January 16
TEHRAN - Stone-throwing Iranian hardline militants disrupted a sermon by a senior cleric backing Mohammad Khatami, amid a bitter row over a spate of recent killings, newspapers reported on Saturday.
The daily Salam said some 100 Islamic militants cut speaker wires and threw sticks, stones and metal rods at a podium where Ayatollah Jalaleddin Taheri was about to deliver his sermon at Friday prayers in the central city of Isfahan.
"When an iron rod was thrown at Ayatollah Taheri, his bodyguard fired blank rounds in the air, but the agitators kept throwing stones and shoes. (So) Ayatollah Taheri left the podium," Salam said.
Taheri's office earlier issued a statement
accusing police and security forces of standing by during Friday's disturbance
and "sometimes cooperating with the agitators," Salam said.
Regime Holds Nationwide Rallies to Denounce Israel, Reuter, January 15
TEHRAN - Large crowds chanting "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" marched on Friday in Tehran to mark a nationwide day of protests against Israel.
Near the Tehran University campus, some marchers burned an Israeli flag and an Uncle Sam puppet.
President Mohammad Khatami joined the march near the campus as enthusiastic youths tried to shake his hand.
Rafsanjani also slammed the Middle East peace process, saying Israel could not be trusted to carry out accords it had signed.
A resolution read at the rally called
for "continued resistance and struggle until the disappearance of the aggressive
Zionist regime (Israel)."
Speaker Calls For Israel's Destruction, Agence France Presse, January 15
TEHRAN - Iran's conservative speaker of parliament Ali Akbar Nateq-Nuri made a passionate appeal Friday to Arab nations to unite for the destruction of Israel as the Islamic republic marked International Qods (Jerusalem) Day.
"Come out openly, like Iran, and say you don't accept such a country as Israel on the world map. Have courage. We can make good use of our weapons, military equipment and all our forces," he said.
"Don't seek to recognize Israel. Don't
humiliate Islam by siting at the negotiating table with the Zionists,"
Nateq-Nuri said. "A dignified death is better than a wretched and humiliating
life."
Regime Shaken by Murders and Insecurity, Agence France Presse, January 17
TEHRAN -Political killings and kidnappings, death threats against intellectuals and political figures, and violent killings of citizens on an almost daily basis, have deepened a sense of insecurity in Iran ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Islamic revolution.
Iran has been gripped by a vicious cycle of death threats and murders, as rival political factions are locked in a power struggle ahead of the anniversary on February 11.
News of horrific murders in Tehran's northern residential suburbs in recent weeks, widespread political violence and arrests, disappearances and failed assassination attempts are also becoming commonplace.