Iranian hardliner calls opposition leader US agent

Tehran, July 04: A top aide of Iran’s supreme leader has called the country’s main opposition figure a US agent and accused him of committing crimes against the nation.

Prominent hardliner Hossein Shariatmadari cited “undeniable documents” linking opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi to foreign powers in a Saturday editorial in the daily Kayhan.

He called for Mousavi and former reformist president Mohammad Khatami to be tried in court for treason.

This is the first time Mousavi has been publicly called a foreign agent.

Shariatmadari does not hold any official government position, but he is a close aide to the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mousavi accused the government of perpetrating fraud in June 12 Presidential Elections, sparking weeks of protests in Iran.

—Agencies