Iran media wants Mousavi treason trial
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Treason charges: The newspaper says Mr Mousavi should be tried for acting against national security. (AFP)
An Iranian newspaper has called for opposition leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi to face trial for inciting the wave of protests after last month's presidential election.
It has accused him of treason.
The hardline Kayhan daily is considered to have close ties to Iran's leadership.
Its weekend edition says Mr Mousavi should be tried for acting against national security.
Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor, says Mr Mousavi had acted on the instructions of the United States in protesting against the election result.
He says an open trial in front of the people's eyes must deal with the terrible crimes and betrayal of those behind the unrest.
Another hardline paper, Javan, says 100 members of parliament have signed a letter to the judiciary calling for leaders of the post-election riots to face trial, naming both Mr Mousavi and the other moderate candidate, Mehdi Karoubi.
The authorities have portrayed mass pro-Mousavi protests, which erupted after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been re-elected by a landslide, as the work of local subversives and foreign powers.
Reformers have dismissed such accusations.
At least 20 people died in post-election violence last month.
"All they did and said was in line with the instructions announced by American officials in the past," Mr Shariatmadari, who is close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wrote.
Mr Ahmadinejad on Saturday said Western powers were whipping up controversy over the Iranian election to divert attention from their economic problems.
Iran's police chief says most of the 1,032 people detained in connection with the unrest have been freed and the rest referred to the courts.
Human rights activists say as many as 2,000 people are being held.
A senior Iranian cleric said on Saturday that detained British embassy staff would face trial for their alleged role in post-election unrest.
British officials say two Iranian embassy staff are still in detention out of nine originally held.
- ABC/Reuters
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