By Parisa Hafezi
TEHRAN (Reuters) - A hardline Iranian cleric called on Friday 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.
EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.
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 percent 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 television 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."
HARSH PUNISHMENT
Iranian authorities have accused Mousavi of responsibility for the bloodshed, while he says the government is to blame.
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 percent of all ballot boxes would be recounted in the presence of senior officials representing government and opposition.
Political and religious figures should send election-related questions to the council and the defeated candidates had 24 hours to present their representatives for the recount, he told the students' news agency ISNA.
Mousavi's supporters plan to release thousands of balloons on Friday with the message: "Neda you will always remain in our hearts," in memory of Neda Agha Soltan, the young woman killed last week who has become an icon of the demonstrations. There was no sign of the balloons by late Friday afternoon.
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 street since Saturday with small gatherings dispersed with tear gas and baton charges.
Russia, which along with China congratulated Ahmadinejad on his re-election earlier this month, said on Friday it was seriously concerned by the use of force in Iran.
Russia was among G8 countries anxious not to slam the door on possible talks with Iran, the world's fifth largest oil exporter, over its disputed nuclear programme.
"We sincerely hope that Iran will seize this opportunity to give diplomacy a chance to find a negotiated solution to the nuclear issue," the G8 statement said.
The 12-man Guardian Council's statement leaves little scope for more legal challenges to the election result, short of an attack on the position of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has expressed strong support for Ahmadinejad.
"The Guardian Council has almost finished reviewing defeated candidates' election complaints ... the reviews showed that the election was the healthiest since the revolution ... There were no major violations in the election," said Kadkhodai.
Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a Mousavi ally, chairs the Assembly of Experts which has the constitutional power to depose Khamenei. The assembly has never tried to do so and Rafsanjani is seen as unlikely to take such a radical step.
Mousavi said he was determined to keep challenging the election results despite pressure to stop. He called on his supporters to continue "legal" protests and said restrictions on the opposition could lead to more violence.
(Writing by Philippa Fletcher; Editing by Peter Millership)
