Hardline Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami is not alone among regime voices calling for harsh response to unrest, say rights groups
A senior Iranian cleric has demanded the execution of protesters after a brutal crackdown raised the death toll in Iran and quelled the nationwide protest movement.
In a sermon on Friday, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami railed against demonstrators, saying “armed hypocrites should be put to death”. He described protesters as “butlers” and “soldiers” of Israel and the US, vowing that neither country should “expect peace”.
Khatami, a member of the Guardian Council and a senior member of the Assembly of Experts, which appoints the supreme leader, is a hardline, influential cleric in Iran.
The speech was in striking contrast to statements from the US president, Donald Trump this week, who appeared to postpone a military strike in Iran, telling reporters that Iranian authorities had agreed to halt the executions of protesters.
