TEHRAN — Iran has sentenced three prominent political activists to six years in prison each for involvement in the country’s post-election turmoil, the official IRNA news agency reported Monday.
The three are among more than 100 opposition figures who were put on a mass trial after the country’s disputed presidential elections in June. The trial has led to a dozen death sentences so far.
IRNA said the activists — Mohsen Mirdamadi, Mostafa Tajzadeh and Davood Soleimani — were convicted of spreading propaganda against Iran. The court also banned them from any kind of political activity for 10 years.
The Iranian opposition, led by Mir Hossein Mousavi, charges that the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was fraudulent and that Mousavi was the rightful winner.
As part of its anti-opposition campaign, the government on Monday revoked licenses for two opposition parties.
Mahmoud Abbaszadeh Meshkini, head of the Interior Ministry’s political department, said the parties are the Islamic Iran Participation Front, or IIPF, which is the largest opposition group, and the reformist Islamic Revolution Mujahedeen Organization. The three activists who were sentenced belonged to the IIPF.
Ali Shakourirad, a senior leader of the IIPF, said the party won’t stop its activities.
“Until there is a court ruling, no one can stop the political activities of a party,” Shakourirad was quoted by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying Monday.
In the latest developments in the government push to silence reformist voices, a pro-reform newspaper, the Bahar daily, was ordered shut down over charges of questioning the election and criticizing government officials. Since the post-election crisis, authorities have primarily targeted newspapers critical of Ahmadinejad.
