Well, this was inevitable: after flirting with the idea that the trouble must be coming from the U.S. and Britain, Khamenei reverts to default mode: it's all the Jews' fault.
"Ruling Cleric Warns Iranian Protesters," by Nazila Fathi and Alan Cowell for the New York Times, June 19 (thanks to James):
TEHRAN - In his first public response to days of mass protests, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sternly warned opposition supporters on Friday to stay off the streets and raised the prospect of violence if the defiant, vast demonstrations continued.
Opposition leaders, he said, will be "responsible for bloodshed and chaos" if they do not stop further rallies.
He said he would never give in to "illegal pressures" and denied their accusations that last week's presidential election was rigged, praising the officially declared landslide for the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as an "epic moment that became a historic moment."...
"Street challenge is not acceptable," Ayatollah Khamenei said, according to a rendering by the BBC. "This questions the principles of election and democracy."...
Reiterating his Saturday affirmation of the official election results, he said that the participation, as officially reported, had shown "the hand of the Lord of ages supporting such a great development."
"This is a sign of God's mercy for this nation. The fate of the country should be decided in ballot boxes, not on the streets."Ayatollah Khamenei framed his position as a commitment to the law and the orderly functioning of government. "If we break the law, we will have to do it in every election and no election would be immune," he said. "This is wrong. This is the beginning of dictatorship."
He insisted that the margin of victory - 11 million votes - accorded to Mr. Ahmadinejad in the official tally was so big that it could not have been falsified.
"How can 11 million votes be replaced or changed?" he said.
"The Islamic Republic would not cheat and would not betray the vote of the people," he declared....
He blamed "media belonging to Zionists, evil media" for seeking to show divisions between those who supported the Iranian state and those who did not, while, in fact, the election had shown Iranians to be united in their commitment to the Islamic revolutionary state.
"There are 40 million votes for the revolution, not just 24 million for the chosen president," he said, referring to the official count that gave Mr. Ahmadinejad more than 60 percent of the ballot.
He also sought to make sure that the protesters didn't start asking more sweeping questions than just, "What happened to my vote for Mousavi?":
Ayatollah Khamenei said the election " was a competition among people who believe in the state."
He also spoke of the religious roots of "our revolutionary society."
"Despite all the diversions, our people are faithful," he said, but urged young Iranians to lead more spiritual lives. "The youth are confused. Being away from spirituality has caused confusion. They don't know what to do," he said....
