A hardline Iranian cleric yesterday called for the execution of leading "rioters" to teach a lesson to the tens of thousands who have protested against the result of the presidential election two weeks ago.
Iran's top legislative body, the Guardian Council, said it had found no major violations in the election, which it described as the "healthiest" since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but said 10 per cent of ballot boxes would be recounted.
The council has rejected a call for the annulment of the vote by moderate former Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi, who has led mass protests since he was declared a distant second in the election behind incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"I want the judiciary to... punish leading rioters firmly and without showing any mercy to teach everyone a lesson," Ahmad Khatami told worshippers at Tehran University.
Iranian state TV said on Thursday that eight Basij militiamen were killed by "rioters" during the protests. State media previously said 20 people were killed in the marches.
The Group of Eight foreign ministers, meeting in Italy, said they "deplored" the post-election violence, while also urging Tehran to accept an offer of negotiations over its disputed nuclear programme.
"The crisis should be settled soon through democratic dialogue and peaceful means on the basis of the rule of law," said a statement by the G8 ministers. "We call on the Iranian government to guarantee that the will of the Iranian people is reflected in the electoral process."
Iranian authorities have accused Mr Mousavi of responsibility for the bloodshed, while he says the government is to blame.
Ayatollah Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts, said the judiciary should charge the leading "rioters" as "mohareb" or one who wages war against God.
"They should be punished ruthlessly and savagely," he said. Under Iran's Islamic law, punishment for people convicted as "mohareb" is execution.
Abbasali Kadkhodai, spokesman for the Guardian Council, said that to remove all ambiguities over the vote, 10 per cent of all ballot boxes would be recounted in the presence of senior officials representing government and opposition.
With regards to Neda Agha Soltan, the young woman killed last week who has become an icon of the demonstrations, Ayatollah Khatami said Neda was shot by government opponents for propaganda purposes. "By watching the film, any wise person can understand that rioters killed her," he said.
Britain's Times newspaper quoted Dr Arash Hejazi, an Iranian who appeared on internet videos helping Neda, as echoing opposition charges the 26-year-old music student was killed by a government militiaman.
The authorities have used a combination of warnings, arrests and the threat of police action to drive large demonstrations off Tehran's streets since Saturday with small gatherings dispersed with tear gas and baton charges.