Iran Lashes Out At West, Media Over Election Unrest
TEHRAN (AFP)--Iran accused the U.K. and U.S. on Sunday of meddling in its
affairs, amid an international outcry over its crackdown on protests over the
results of last week's presidential election.
It hammered home its message by ordering the expulsion of BBC correspondent
Jon Leyne just two days after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the
U.K. of adopting an "evil" position in the face of a week of deadly protests.
"By making hasty comments, you will not have a place in the circle of the
Iranian nation's friends," the victorious incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned
London and Washington in a statement on his Web site.
"Therefore, I recommend you to correct your interfering positions," added
Ahmadinejad, whose election to a second four-year term in the June 12 poll is
being challenged by the opposition.
Foreign Minister Manouchechr Mottaki also complained to foreign diplomats
about Western interference, claiming that the U.K. had worked to sabotage the
election.
"Great Britain has plotted against the presidential election for more than two
years," Mottaki said, according to state-run Press TV.
"We witnessed an influx of people (from Britain) before the election. Elements
linked to the British secret service were flying in in droves."
Iran's supreme leader set the tone for the anti-Western diatribes on Friday as
he made his first public appearance since Ahmadinejad's disputed election win
unleashed the wave of protests.
"Today top diplomats of several Western countries who talked to us previously
within diplomatic formalities are showing their real face and most of all, the
evil British government," Khamenei said.
The Iranian authorities have restricted foreign media coverage of street
protests in Tehran, where state media have said at least 17 people have been
killed since the disturbances first broke out.
On Sunday, the Iranian authorities ordered the expulsion within 24 hours of
the BBC correspondent.
Leyne stood accused of "supporting the rioters," the Fars news agency
reported.
The Mehr news agency said Leyne was summoned by the ministry of culture and
Islamic guidance which had expressed particular concern about the election
coverage of the BBC's Persian service, which it described as an "obvious example
of interference in the domestic affairs of the Islamic republic."
It also warned of more stern action against the U.K. media.
"If various British radio and television networks continue to interfere in our
country's domestic affairs by broadcasting fake and incorrect reports of Iran or
ignoring international journalism ethics, there will be more stern action taken,
" Mehr quoted the ministry as saying.
The U.K., which has spearheaded criticism of Iran's handling of the election,
has dismissed Tehran's criticism.
"I reject categorically the idea that the protesters in Iran are manipulated
or motivated by foreign countries," Foreign Secretary David Miliband said.
The U.K. and other countries will not be dragged into a "dispute among
Iranians about the election results," he said.
"The U.K. is categorical that it is for the Iranian people to choose their
government, and for the Iranian authorities to ensure the fairness of the result
and the protection of their own people," he said.
On Saturday U.S. President Barack Obama directly addressed Iranian leaders,
saying: "The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching.
"The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the
United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights," he added.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-21-091006ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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