Tehran, July 04: An Iranian official has denied reports that six people who had protested against the results of the June 12 presidential vote were hanged in the city of Mashhad.
“No-one has been detained or executed during the post-election turmoil in Mashhad,” the city’s Chief Prosecutor Seyyed Hassan Shariati said in an interview.
In a recent report, the Israeli Jerusalem Post daily had cited anonymous sources as claiming that six supporters of defeated candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi had been hanged in Mashhad.
The paper claimed that sources had told it that the hangings occurred on Monday, after the results giving the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a second term in office were confirmed by the country’s election supervisory body, the Guardian Council.
Although the report had not been confirmed independently, it also appeared on the website of USA Today.
“We will launch an official lawsuit against the source of this rumor or lie, if we locate him/her,” Shariati said.
—–Agencies