Hardline Iran editor calls for Mousavi to face trial

By Fredrik Dahl and Hossein Jaseb

TEHRAN (Reuters) - An editor seen as close to Iran's leadership said on Saturday that opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi should go on trial, and a lawyer said other reformists had already been accused of acting against national security.

Mousavi and his supporters in last month's disputed presidential election had acted on the instructions of the United States in protesting against the results, said Hossein Shariatmadari, editor-in-chief of the hardline Kayhan daily.

"An open court, in front of the people's eyes, must deal with all the terrible crimes and clear betrayal committed by the main elements behind the recent unrest, including Mousavi and (former President Mohammad) Khatami," he wrote in a commentary.

Another hardline newspaper, Javan, said 100 members of parliament had signed a letter to the judiciary calling for the leaders of "post-election riots" to face trial, pointing to Mousavi and fellow defeated moderate Mehdi Karoubi.

The authorities have portrayed mass pro-Mousavi protests, which erupted after official results of the June 12 vote showed hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been re-elected by a landslide, as the work of local subversives and foreign powers. Reformers have dismissed such accusations.

At least 20 people died in post-election violence.

"All they did and said was in line with the instructions announced by American officials in the past," Shariatmadari, who is close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wrote.

Ahmadinejad, in a speech in Tehran to mark Mines and Industry Day, said Western powers were whipping up controversy over the Iranian election to divert attention from their economic problems.

"The countries suffering from the financial crisis have tried hard to divert the world public opinion from this huge crisis," he said.

In a separate meeting, he said the election result was "a strong slap in their faces" for "domineering" foreign powers who had tried to create conflict in Iran.

Security forces quelled the election protests, but Mousavi and allies who say the election was rigged have refused to back down. Administration hardliners seem determined to stop them.

Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who backed Mousavi, said post-election events had caused "bitterness."

"I don't think (anybody with a) vigilant conscience is satisfied with the current situation," Mehr News Agency quoted him as saying at a meeting with detainees' families, in apparent criticism of the authorities' handling of the protests.

"I hope with good management and wisdom the issues would be settled in the next days," added the influential 75-year-old, seen as a possible mediator.

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