
 
 
Iranian  government officials warned Wednesday that they would seek the death penalty for  detainees who have been arrested for organizing post-election opposition rallies  in Tehran and elsewhere around the country.
The Iranian Fars news agency  quoted Mohammadreza Habibi, an Iranian provincial prosecutor as saying the "few  elements" behind the unrest could face the death penalty under Islamic law. The  prosecutor-general of the central province of Esfahan said "these few elements"  were controlled from outside the country and warned them to stop their "criminal  activities."
Government forces continued to attack Iranian demonstrators  protesting irregularities in Friday's presidential election.
Nevertheless, thousands of Iranians planned to protest for a fifth day in the capital against the skewed results of an election they insist was rigged against challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi, a former president, in defiance of a government ban on all demonstrations. The election results announced by government officials had showed incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with an almost 2 to 1 victory over Mousavi barely two hours after the polls closed, even in Mousavi's own hometown. Numerous polling locations had reported irregularities as well.