Mohajerani underlines need to carry out stoning

In a press conference in Tehran, Ata'ollah Mohajerani, Khatami's government spokesman and Guidance Minister, underscored the "need to defend" the anti-human and anti-Islamic verdict for stoning, but reiterated that it should be carried out "by a limited number of people in a restricted area" so as to prevent the backlash it creates on the international level.

Mohajerani was reacting to worldwide outrage directed toward the regime after the Mojahedin showed shocking scenes of stoning captured on video which they had smuggled out of Iran.

Facing the media for the first time after returning from France and Sweden, Mohajerani said: "We should keep the interests of our country in mind in an open atmosphere of international public relations. Would it be in our interest if an act of stoning is filmed and broadcast abroad? If not, we should consider carrying out the verdict in front of a small crowd of the believers in order to forestall public backlash."

These comments by Mohajerani, who is Khatami's confidant and his government spokesman, demonstrate the extent to which claims about "prospects of fundamental change" in the clerical regime, "rule of law" and "civil society" are hollow and far from reality. Indeed, they are simply designed to legitimize business dealings with Khomeini's anti-human regime.

Secretariat of the National Council of Resistance of Iran
April 9, 1998

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