Iran's Khamenei says protests were planned before vote

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's supreme leader said on Wednesday opposition protests that erupted after the country's June presidential vote were planned in advance, but he said he did not believe its leaders were agents of foreigners.

Iranian officials have previously portrayed the protests as a foreign-backed bid to topple the clerical establishment. They have accused Western powers, particularly the United States and Britain of fomenting the unrest, a charge denied by Washington and London.

The June 12 vote has plunged Iran into its most serious internal crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution and has exposed deep divisions in the establishment's ruling elite.

Some hardliners have repeatedly called for the arrest of opposition leaders who say the vote was rigged to secure the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"I do not accuse the leaders of recent events as being the agents of foreigners, including America and Britain because it has not been proven to me," Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted as saying by state television.

"But there is no doubt that this movement, whether its leaders know or not, was planned in advance," Khamenei said in a meeting with university students.

Rights groups say hundreds of people, including senior pro-reform politicians, journalists and activists, have been detained since the election. Many are still in jail.

But when asked by a student why leaders of post-election unrest were not yet arrested, Khamenei said:

"One can not move based on suspicions and rumors in issues with such high importance. Everyone can be sure that crimes will not be tolerated but in such important issues, the judiciary should judge based on strong reasons and evidences," Khamenei added.

Iran began the fourth mass trial of moderates arrested for involvement in the unrest on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Hossein Jaseb, Writing by Zahra Hosseinian, Editing by Angus MacSwan)