Iran commander urges more control of embassies

Amid Iran’s mass trials of opposition activists and protesters, a top Iranian commander urges more control over foreign embassies.

“After the failure of the ‘green coup’ in Iran, leading foreign elements inside the country began planning for the next phases of the coup,” said the deputy head of Iran’s armed forces headquarters, Brigadier General Seyyed Massoud Jazayeri on Sunday.

“The new coup scenario is based on the use of intelligence, security and espionage via the media. This new plan needs close attention,” he added.

The commander called for more control over certain embassies in Tehran; the ratification of appropriate measures in modern forms of espionage; and the adoption of harsh policies towards key leaders of the coup as a number of ways to thwart plots of a ‘velvet revolution’.

Jazayeri’s remarks came following the resumption of mass trials against those charged with involvement in the unrest that followed the June 12 presidential election.

Iran has accused foreign countries, particularly Britain, of orchestrating demonstrations in which supporters of major political rivals of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the government of vote rigging.

Jazayeri cautioned against what he described as enemy’s psychological warfare vis-?-vis the Islamic Republic, saying, “We should expect new schemes of psychological warfare which aims to divide the government and the nation.”

Saturday’s trial was held after nearly 3,000 people were arrested in post-election unrest.

Protests were held in Tehran and some other cities after defeated presidential candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi rejected the election outcome, which declared Ahmadinejad as the tenth president of the Islamic Republic.