Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the top religious figure in Iran, warned protesters to halt their activities today in a sermon today at Tehran University.  The cleric, who is also the true political power in the Iranian government, said those marching over allegations of fraud in the recent Presidential elections should stop, “otherwise they will be responsible for its consequences, and consequences of any chaos.”

Khamenei also defended the legitimacy of the highly controversial election saying that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s reported win was an “absolute and definitive victory,” and that, “The legal structures and electoral regulations of this country do not allow vote rigging.”

The protests currently underway in Iran appear to have set the stage for not only the mass demonstration conflicts on the street, but also an internal power struggle amongst Iran’s elite Ayatollahs.  Earlier this week the Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, the most senior Ayatollah, stated “No one in their right mind can believe” the results of the election.  He went on to warn government forces dealing with the protests, saying “I ask the police and army personals [personnel] not to ’sell their religion,’ and beware that receiving orders will not excuse them before God.”

Khamenei’s threat to the protesters in his sermon strikes me as telling of a weakness in his position.  If the top religious leader in the country no longer has the faith and support of a large chunk of the population and needs to resorts to threats of violence, a sea change is quite possibly about to shake the Iranian government.  The protesters are already agitated and have dealt with the police for over a week at this point, so it’s unclear what effect a threat to them by the top cleric would have, especially when it comes paired with a support for the election that is root cause of the uprising.  The battle for people’s hearts and minds appears to be over if violence is now on the table and things could get ugly very soon.  For the sake of Iranian people, let’s hope that the government exercises restraint in dealing with the historic protests on the streets of Tehran, and a fair and sensible solution can be forged without more bloodshed.

LINKS:

Al Jazeera: Khamenei backs Iran vote outcome

NY Times: Iran’s Supreme Leader Warns Protesters

AFP: Iran’s Khamenei slams protests, says right man won