Iran: Revolutionary Guards arrest 100 protest leaders, Friday preacher

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Revolutionary Guards have detained about 100 protest leaders, the Iranian judiciary said on Friday, and Khatib in Tehran and a member of the Assembly of Experts, Ahmad Khatami, acknowledged the constitution allowed for non-violent protests, but said some protest leaders deserved the death penalty.

"The Revolutionary Guards have identified about 100 leaders of the recent unrest and their most prominent figures and arrested them," judicial spokesman Gholamhossein Ismaili said.

In his Friday sermon, Ahmad Khatami said, "The country's constitution guarantees the right to demonstrate and protest, but provided that this does not interfere with the use of weapons and the targeting of the country's security and stability.

He accused the United States, France and Germany of supporting the leaders of the protests. "Saudi Arabia is behind these events through financial support," he said.

Khatib said Friday prayers in Tehran that "some chaotic leaders of anarchists deserve the death penalty," and that the worst demonstrators are attacking mosques and other Islamic institutions.

"There has been a global war against the regime and the revolution. Fortunately, the child died the moment he was born," said Major General Salar Abnoush, deputy head of the Basij militia.

Abnoush added that the interrogations revealed that the "coalition of evil" consisting of "Zionists, America and Saudi Arabia" was behind the "sedition."

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Iran of cutting off the Internet to cover up "death and tragedy," and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed to "expose and punish the perpetrators."

He urged the Iranians in a tweet to send "videos, photos and information documenting the regime's repression."

The UN Human Rights Office said it was concerned about reports that live ammunition used by security forces to quell unrest had caused "a large number of deaths."

Amnesty International accused the authorities of using excessive use of "lethal force to crush mostly peaceful demonstrations" and estimated that "at least 106 demonstrators have been killed" so far.

Minister of Communications
Meanwhile, Iranian Communications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi said on Tuesday that Internet access cut off a few days ago had returned in some parts of the country, adding that "other places will be reconnected" on the orders of the Supreme National Security Council.

But other sources said the government still severely restricted the service after the protests, and the broadband Internet connections used by most Iranians on their smartphones were still on hold.

"We are punishing Iran's communications minister for restricting access to the Internet, including common messaging applications that help tens of millions of Iranians stay in touch with each other and the outside world," US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin said in a statement today.

Iranian officials are aware that a free and open Internet will expose their illegitimacy, so they seek to impose restrictions on them and stifle demonstrations, he said.