'Confessions Pleased Me'

[TEHRAN BUREAU] Source: Asr Iran Hojjatoleslam Seyyed Yahya Jafari, Kerman's Friday Prayer Leader, urged Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi to resort to their 'senses,' even if they lacked 'faith.'

In a Wednesday meeting with Kerman Province members of the Assembly of Experts and the 'Sacred Defense' [the eight-year Iraq-Iran war] writers, Jafari said, "If Mousavi and Karroubi were sane Muslims, they would have accepted the official vote result and issued a statement in its support, which would have prevented this unrest."

"If the election is held a second time and these candidates once again fail to win the vote, what guarantee is there that they will not demand a third vote?" he queried.

"I had a different opinion about some of the candidates, but the recent events have completely changed my mind. When a person, whether he be a cleric or layman, does not use his head, he is capable of making mistakes."

Referring to the 10 percent partial vote recount, Jafari said some of the defeated candidates, in their opposition, had demonstrated that they hold no regard for the Guardian Council or Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

"This is no secret that if these two gentlemen [Mousavi and Karroubi] had not incited the people the recent riots would not have broken out."

He went on to accuse Western media outlets of propagating lies about vote fraud and instigating the unrest [as well].

Jafari described Mohammad Atrianfar and Mohammad-Ali Abtahi's confessions in court as the truth, "even though some had called them forced."

"I was very pleased to see these two courageously announce that they had been imagining things and that they had made a mistake," he said.

He urged everyone to follow the guidance of Ayatollah Khamenei and accept his words as the final say on all matters in order to prevent new problems from arising.

Photo: Hojjatoleslam Seyyed Yahya Jafari (black turban), seated next to Ahmadinejad.