Iranian Cleric Calls for Killing of Reformists
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TEHRAN — A hard-line cleric urged his followers to kill pro-reform writers and activists who he says are undermining Iran’s revolutionary principles, a newspaper reported Wednesday.
“They [reformists] insult Islamic sanctities. They attend a conference to say nonsense. Kill them wherever you find them. This is God’s unchangeable tradition,” the daily Sobh-e Emrooz quoted Ayatollah Abolqasem Khazali as saying.
He was referring to a conference titled “Post-Elections Iran” held recently in Berlin and attended by several pro-reform writers and activists.
“It is an obligation to launch jihad [holy war] once every year, just as it is an obligation to fast one month a year. If the enemy does not attack you, you should attack them,” said Khazali, a former member of the hard-line Guardians Council and a senior cleric at the holy city of Qom, about 80 miles south of Tehran.
Khazali was not available for comment, but the editor of a reformist newspaper said Khazali’s remarks did not reflect purist Muslim ideology.
Moderate President Mohammad Khatami and his allies want to loosen strict Islamic laws and social restrictions.
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