Ahmadinejad's Call

Iran's President Mahmood Ahmadinejad has called for the arrest of reformist leaders:

"Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has called for opposition leaders to be punished over the unrest sparked by his disputed election victory...

"The call came in a speech to a crowd of thousands before Friday Prayers in Tehran...

"Hard-liners have in recent weeks called for the arrest of opposition leader and former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Musavi over the street protests that followed the contested June polls.

"A senior commander of the powerful Revolutionary Guard, Yadollah Javani, was quoted earlier this month as saying that Musavi, former President Mohammad Khatami, and former parliament speaker Mehdi Karrubi should be put on trial for inciting unrest."

The article mentions that the regime has probably refrained from arresting Mousavi and Karroubi because of the possible backlash. What worries me is that Ahmadinejad's call is part of a sustained effort to generate active support for such a move from among their own supporters.

(Crossposted to American Footprints)