A leading conservative cleric on Friday called on the people of Iran to rise up against corruption and emphasized the need to enforce Islamic laws.
"Koranic laws should all be carried out today, small or big, they should all be carried out because all of the Koranic laws are great," Ayatollah Ahmad Janati told worshippers during weekly Muslim prayers at Tehran University.
Addressing the Iranian people, the cleric who serves as secretary of the powerful conservative-led Guardians Council, a body, which decides whether proposed laws conform with Islam, said, "I ask of you to rise up against corruption!
"Wherever you see corruption, shout! If the ministry of culture issues an inappropriate license (for a publication), then shout! If state television broadcasts a corrupt film, then shout out!" he declared, according to AFP.
"No matter who commits a crime, you should cry out. Why are Islamic laws not being enforced?" Janati asked in his sermon broadcast live on state radio.
Janati's remarks come amidst a new judiciary-led crackdown on "corrupt" Western ways of having fun, especially among youth, who back moderate President Mohammad Khatami.
They are increasingly seen as scapegoats in the political tug-of-war between the country's powerful conservatives and the reformist camp.
Roadblocks manned by Basij volunteers, an Islamic police force answerable only to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have sprung up again on the streets of Tehran, after having become a rare sight over the past two years.
Their targets are "juvenile delinquents", or unmarried couples spending time together under "un-Islamic" conditions. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
