Those who draw swords against the regime will be confronted," Khamenei

http://farsi.khamenei.ir/ndata/news/8028/880620-khotbe2.mp3
Khamenei warns opposition it will be 'confronted'
Updated at: 1545 PST, Friday, September 11, 2009
TEHRAN: Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned opposition groups they will be "confronted" if they jeopardise the nation's security, in an address during Friday prayers in Tehran.

"Those who draw swords against the regime will be confronted," Khamenei, who has the final say on all national issues, said as he led the weekly Muslim prayers at Tehran university.

"Differences of views should not lead to conflicts ... the policy of the regime is to work with the majority. But if opposition groups have ideas that are against the nation's security and the principles of the regime, they will be confronted,"

he said.

The Islamic republic is engulfed in its worst crisis following the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the June 12 poll, which his rivals claim was the result of massive vote rigging.

The all-powerful Khamenei has steadfastly defended Ahmadinejad's victory.


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Iran leader: "harsh response" if system resisted

11 Sep 2009 09:54:33 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds quotes, detail, background)

TEHRAN, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Iran's top authority warned on Friday that anybody fighting against the Islamic Republic would face a "harsh response," in an apparent reference to street protests that erupted after the disputed June election.

"Resisting the system and taking out the sword against the system will be followed by a harsh response," Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Friday prayer worshippers in a sermon broadcast live on state television.

"If somebody stands against the basis of the (Islamic) system and violates people's security, the system is forced to stand against it,"

he said.

But he added criticism and differences among officials were acceptable.

It was the first time Khamenei led Friday prayers in Tehran since the one he held a week after the disputed June poll, when he endorsed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election, blamed the opposition for any bloodshed and accused Western powers of interfering in Iran's domestic affairs.

The election and its turbulent aftermath plunged Iran into its deepest internal crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution, exposing deepening divisions within its ruling elites and adding to tension with the West.

Rights groups say thousands of people, including senior pro-reform figures, were arrested after the presidential poll. Most have been freed but more than 200 remain in jail, according to the opposition.

Khamenei urged people to show up for next Friday's annual demonstrations in Tehran and other cities in favour of the Palestinians.

But he also warned that some people may want to use the Qods (Jerusalem) day "to create discord", reflecting the authorities' concern that the opposition may try to stage election-related rallies on that day.

(Reporting by Zahra Hosseinian and Reza Derakhshi; writing by Fredrik Dahl; editing by Samia Nakhoul)