Iran anti-gov't protesters may face 'serious penalties'

By Khalilur Rahman Salahshoor, Mustafa Melih Ahishali and Sahin Demir

ISTANBUL

The head of Tehran Revolutionary Court said Tuesday that protesters who rallied against the government after the second day may face "serious penalties".

The revolutionary courts in Iran have special jurisdictions which include trying suspects involved in attempts to overthrow the Islamic government.

Mousa Ghazanfar Abadi told Iran’s Tasnim News Agency: "Protesters arrested on the third day and later will face serious penalties."

Thousands of Iranians hit the streets Thursday in the northeastern cities of Mashhad and Kashmar to protest rising commodity prices and perceived government mismanagement, according to local media reports.

Thursday's protests were followed by pro-government protests on Saturday.

At least 23 people, including a police officer, have been killed in the protests which have now entered their fifth day.

In addition, nearly 400 people have been detained, including 200 in the capital Tehran.

Abadi said protesters who demonstrated after the second day were not using their civil rights. In fact they were inciting citizens despite warnings from Iranian authorities, he added.

He claimed one of the arrested protesters was a foreign national and had links to a foreign intelligence service.

Earlier on Tuesday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Khamenei accused enemies of the Islamic Republic for stirring trouble.

“Enemies of Iran, allied with security organs, want to cause trouble [for Iran] by using some means, such as money, arms, and politics,” Khamenei said.

On Sunday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned Iranians against the ongoing anti-government protests.

Meanwhile, Hashmatullah Flahat Bisha, a member of Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, accused the government of not disclosing the real economic data.

“The economic problem of the people is real. The statistics that the government explains about the economic condition of the people do not reflect the real situation the people are facing. Now we are observing them in demonstrations on the streets,” Bisha told the Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency (ICANA).

“The government announces unemployment rates as 11 percent, but the real figure is well above it. The same thing is in inflation. It is not at the normal level as some authorities have mentioned,” Bisha added, urging the parliament to explore the issue.