Ayatollah: 'UK Is Most Treacherous'

Iran's supreme leader has insisted there was no vote-rigging in a presidential election and attacked "enemies" - naming the UK government as the "most treacherous".

Anger after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected led to the biggest street demonstrations in the Islamic Republic's history.

"Today the Iranian nation needs calm," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in his first address to the nation since the upheaval began.

But the Ayatollah offered no concession to opposition supporters who are demanding the elections be cancelled and held again, sternly warning against further protests.

He blamed Great Britain and Iran's external enemies for the unrest, vigorously defending the ruling system.

"The enemies (of Iran) are targeting the Islamic establishment's legitimacy by questioning the election and its authenticity before and after (the vote)," the Ayatollah continued.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, talking to Sky's political editor Adam Boulton, said: "What we want is to have a good relationship with Iran in the future.

"But that depends on Iran being able to show to the world that its elections have been conducted fairly and that there is no unfair suppression of rights and individuals in that country."

The supreme leader, Iran's ultimate authority, had earlier urged his compatriots to unite behind hard-line President Ahmadinejad, who won the election by a landslide.

"If the difference was 100,000 or 500,000 or 1 million (ballots), well, one may say fraud could have happened. But how can one rig 11 million votes?" Khamenei asked.

But supporters of runner-up Mirhossein Mousavi have so far ignored the Ayatollah, holding huge unauthorised rallies.

Khamenei went on that the opposition will be blamed for any violence linked to protests.

Tens of thousands of Iranians had gathered in and around Tehran University to hear Khamenei's Friday prayer sermon.

Some in the crowd were draped in Iranian flags. Others held placards with anti-Western slogans.

Iran is at odds with the West over its nuclear programme.

As passions soared, the crowd reportedly chanted: "Death to the UK, Israel and the US."

American President Barack Obama's administration has muted its comments to keep the door ajar for possible dialogue.

Khamenei's speech followed six days of protests by Mousavi supporters.



On Thursday, tens of thousands of black-clad marchers bore candles to mourn those killed in earlier rallies.

Iranian state media has reported seven or eight people killed in protests since the election results were published on June 13.

Scores of reformists have been arrested and authorities have cracked down on both foreign and domestic media.