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TEHRAN : President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned his US counterpart Barack Obama on Thursday to stop meddling in Iran's affairs as the regime clamped down further on the opposition despite growing global concern.
Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi said he was under pressure to withdraw his complaints of widespread irregularities in the vote he lost to Ahmadinejad, with his website reporting that scores of supporters had been rounded up.
Mousavi, a former premier who emerged as a strong contender for president and has since led a massive public protest compaign over what he brands a "shameful fraud" has demanded the results be scrapped and a new vote held.
"The recent pressure on me aims to make me give up my demand for the election to be cancelled," Mousavi said on his Kalameh website. "My access to people is completely restricted."
Iran is blaming Western powers for stoking the unrest, with the regime insisting it will not back down over the vote and the regime's security forces moving swiftly to crush any public protests.
"I hope you (Obama) will avoid interfering in Iran's affairs," Ahmadinejad said, accusing the US leader of using words similar to those of his predecessor George W. Bush who took a hard line against the Islamic republic.
"Will you use this language with Iran (in any future dialogue)? If this is your stance, there will be nothing left to talk about," said Ahmadinejad.
Ahmadinejad also took aim at Britain, which Iran has repeatedly accused deliberately fomenting unrest, saying Britain and other European countries were led by "a bunch of politically retarded people."
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2009 |
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