Cleric calls for Iranian ‘rioters’ to be executed

A HARDLINE Iranian cleric called yesterday for the execution of leading “rioters” to teach a lesson to the thousands who have protested against the June 12 presidential election result.

Iran’s top legislative body, the Guardian Council, said it had found no major violations in the election, which it described as the “healthiest” since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The council had already rejected a call for the annulment of the vote by moderate former prime minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, who has led mass protests since he was declared a distant second in the election behind incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.