Khamenei: ‘Punch in the mouth'

Tehran: Iran's supreme leader has vowed to deliver a "punch in the mouth" to the country's enemies if the opposition goes ahead with new protests planned for this week, as a senior pro-reform figure was sentenced to six years in prison over post-election unrest.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denounced the opposition as "counter-revolutionaries" being used by the country's enemies, the United States, Britain and Israel, and vowed that Iranian unity in support of the Islamic revolution would defeat them.

Reformist former president Mohammad Khatami urged people to attend rallies.

Opposition leaders Mir Hussain Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi had earlier called on their supporters to attend the events on Thursday, raising the prospect of new clashes with the security forces.