WASHINGTON, June 12: The United States on Thursday gave its full backing to anti-government protesters in Iran.

At the same time, though, the State Department denied charges from Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Washington is fomenting the protests because it realized it could not topple the government by force.

“Iranians like all people have a right to determine their own destiny,” spokesman Richard Boucher said. “The United States fully supports their aspirations to live in freedom.

“It’s our hope that the voice of the Iranian people and their call for the rule of law and democracy will be heard and transform Iran into a force for stability in the region,” he told reporters.

Mr Boucher went through the longstanding litany of US complaints about Iran’s policies, notably its support for organizations Washington deems to be terrorist, its alleged nuclear weapons program and its poor human rights record.

“We applaud the Iranian people for calling attention to the destructive policies of the Iranian government that do such a disservice to its population,” he said.

“Iran’s support for terrorism, pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and denial of human rights deter the kind of foreign investment that could help create jobs for numerous unemployed and underemployed Iranians,” Boucher said.

He added that the United States was concerned about reports that Iranian authorities had arrested some 80 protestors and called on Tehran to respect their human rights and release them.

Mr Boucher’s comments came after Khameni said in a speech that Washington “wanted to create trouble in Iran ... divide the people and create a chasm between the regime and the populace.”

The speech was broadcast on state television on Thursday just hours after parts of the Iranian capital were brought to a standstill as thousands of protestors jammed the streets Wednesday for a second straight night.

The protests reflect popular frustration over the unending deadlock between reformists loyal to President Mohammad Khatami, himself increasingly the target of student anger, and Islamic conservative hardliners who wield greater power through the courts and legislative oversight bodies.

Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi has said the protests are “organized by foreign media and satellite television channels,” a reference to pro-monarchist Persian-language media based in the United States.

KHAMENEI SLAMS US: In his speech Ayatollah Khamenei said Washington had realized it could not overthrow the Islamic republic’s regime militarily and “wanted to create trouble in Iran ... divide the people and create a chasm between the regime and the populace”.

He said if the United States “see that disgruntled people and adventurers want to cause trouble, and if they can turn them into mercenaries, they will not hesitate to do so in giving them their support”.

“Four people on a street corner raise their voices and (the United States) immediately announces that it supports them,” he said.

Khamenei’s speech was broadcast only hours after parts of the Iranian capital were brought to a standstill as thousands of protestors jammed the streets Wednesday for a second straight night.

The ayatollah warned that Iran would be “pitiless” towards rabble-rousers.

He also slammed people at home who by their words or actions “feed the despair and deception” of the populace, an apparent allusion to reformist MPs and other liberals who have been pressing him to break a political deadlock.

But he also appealed for calm, calling on “young believers and Hezbollahis (partisans of God)” to avoid direct confrontation with the troublemakers to avoid “giving a pretext to the enemies”.

He added that, if necessary, the people would respond by organizing demonstrations in favor of the regime.

Most of Wednesday night’s demonstrators had set out in their cars, but police and hardline vigilantes kept them well away from Tehran university’s dormitories, the heart of the protests.

Instead, demonstrators were forced to drive around in circles, honking their horns and shouting virulent slogans directed at the very top of the Islamic regime, including “Freedom, political freedom” and “Death to the Dictator.”—AFP